Starting Fat Adapted Running
Running is a difficult sport no matter what distance you are training for. However, the longer the distance, the more and more important nutrition becomes. Taking that into account, it is becoming more popular for long distance runners to change their diets to one that focuses primarily on fats as their primary source of energy. However, is fat adapted running even for you? Is it something you should consider? Check out the rest of the article to learn more about this nutrition plan and find out!
What is fat adapted running?
First, it is important to look at the basics of nutrition and running.
When you run, you need energy. Simple as that. However, there are two main energy sources that you can tap into: namely, sugar and fats, each with their advantages and disadvantages.
Sugars can quickly and efficiently. They can be used quickly by the body when you need energy to perform a task. However, at the same time, your body can only store a small amount of it. If you plan on running longer races, such as a half marathon or full marathon, your body doesn’t have nearly enough sugar to power you through the whole race.
On the other hand, your body can’t burn fat as quickly. Therefore, you don’t have enough available energy if you start running faster/harder.
However, the big advantage of fat as a fuel source is that you have virtually unlimited stores for your race. In other words, you most likely will never run out of enough fat while racing.
Therefore, when we talk about fat adapted running, we mean that you train your body to burn fat more efficiently so that you can use it as your primary source of energy as opposed to sugar.[1]https://runnersconnect.net/should-you-become-a-fat-adapted-runner/
Sugar Dependent Running
Before we talk about the fat adapted runner, it is important to understand who the sugar dependent runner is.
They are someone who is extremely inefficient at burning fat as a fuel source. Therefore, when they run, they must constantly be refueling with sugars in order to continue running. If they don’t refuel with sugar often enough, they will experience the dreaded bonk!
Because a sugar dependent runner can’t rely on fat as a source of energy, they must do and experience a few things, namely:[2]http://www.longrunliving.com/fat-adapted-running/
- Eat all the time
- Be hungry all the time
- Burning carbs but not fat
- Bad hormonal balance
Needless to say, if you really want to take your running to the next level, it is important to transform your body into a fat adapted running machine.
How to Become Fat Adapted
So how do you become fat adapted?
Fortunately, there are actually several ways to do so!
However, before looking at any of these strategies, it is important to understand that there is no magic bullet that works for everyone. You need to listen to your own body and experiment with different methods until you find out what works best for you.
Training
One of the easiest ways to become more fat adapted is through training.
A few ways to do this include:
- Train in the morning before eating breakfast
- Hard training in the evening, don’t eat a lot of carbs for dinner, than train in the morning before eating breakfast
- Train 2 times a day. Start by training hard in the morning, restricting carbs after your first training session, and then training again in the evenings
- Don’t consume carbs while exercising
Diet
Another effective way to become more fat adaptive is through diet.[3]https://trainright.com/fat-adapted-ultrarunner/
A few things you can do include:
- Consuming less overall carbs
- Adopting a keto diet
Fat Friendly Foods
When hearing the words fat and food in the same sentence, you probably automatically have negative connotations.
However, eating the proper fats in your diet is not only good for your health, it can help you become a better fat adapted runner!
It is important to know what are good fats and what are bad fats.
That is, don’t go about adding pounds of butter to your diet! Bad fats are not only fattening to your gut but can also increase LDL cholesterol levels!
You should be focusing on good fats, filled with omega-3 fatty acids and mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, found in things such as avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, ghee, eggs, and fatty fish.[4]https://www.educatedrunning.com/the-fat-adapted-runner[5]https://trailrunnermag.com/nutrition/daily-nutrition/fat-adapted-diet.html
The Negatives of Fat Adaptive Running
After having read everything above, you might be thinking that the fat adaptive running plan is great, why doesn’t everyone do it?
It is important that it is not necessarily for everyone.
What is the most important part of any running and nutrition plan is choosing something that works best with your own personality and lifestyle.
For example, the ketogenic diet is a very good way to become a fat adaptive runner. However, it also can be quite restrictive. For some people, due to their personality or lifestyle, this can be almost impossible to maintain.
In fact, according to Dr. Burke, head of the Australian institute of Sport, the best plan is a “periodized programme that includes some training sessions deliberately undertaken with low carbohydrate availability or a delay in replacing muscle glycogen after a session may promote greater cellular adaptations to training and enhance performance to a greater magnitude than undertaking all sessions with high carb availability.”[6]https://runnersconnect.net/should-you-become-a-fat-adapted-runner/
Final Words
As a runner, you probably have looked at every single aspect to improve your performance. While fat adaptive running might not be for you, you should at least consider aspects of this plan in order to get the best out of yourself the next to you find yourself in a race.
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