Nutrition: Supplements

Now the first part of my Ironman training I am going to sort out is the nutrition. At University I had enough time to train twice a day and so although nutrition played a big part in my training, I still had a solid 14-18 hours of training per week under my belt. Now I am starting work I know I will have less flexible time available to me to keep these hours up. Therefore anything I can do to keep me in tip-top form is going to be worth it!

Nutrition really is a forth discipline and its often forgotten about by many amateur and even elite athletes. If you fuel a car with crappy diesel then it is going to suffer more than if you fill it with premium. Same for sport and definitly for triathlon.

You might want to consider buying a guide such as 'The Paleo Diet for Athletes' if you want to follow a strict nutrition plan. Although in reality, for the working class, sticking to such a plan is expensive and hard work. Otherwise please do buy Patrick Holfords Nutrition Bible, do not take my word for it, take your body's word for it, it WILL thank you!

Read through the ONB and perform the written tests that will work out how much of each vitamin and mineral you potentially will need when you begin to train. Taking into account all factors I am supplementing Vitamin C, a multivitamin (both staple supplements), a B Vitamin Complex, Chromium (due to deficiency) and Glucosamine. I take these as 2 with breakfast, 2 at lunch and 1 with dinner. Once into a regime its pretty easy.I also take a fat supplement such as Udo's choice.

Please note that alot of vitamins and minerals are water soluble, i.e. if you over supplement they will just be flushed out of the body. However certain vitamins like Vitamin A are stored in the fat of the body and over supplementation can lead to toxicity. Always consult a medical professional if you are unsure about supplementation and always do your homework. What works for me, may be wrong for you. You are unique.

Begin taking your vitamins a few weeks before you start training. This is much better than starting everything all at once.

I have managed to bring the cost of my vitamin supplementation, per month, down to around £10 which is a huge improvement, just from shopping around! You can try Higher Nature, Holland and Barrat or ZipVit.

On top of this you will want a recovery shake from one of the good suppliers such as High5 or SIS. You may also need an energy drink. After shopping around I decided I would make my own using products from MyProtein.com for £10 per month. This keeps my expenditure low which is key for me now I am starting work and having to be economical, unlike at University!

I hope this helps, please check back as this is a quick post and I will be adding product links etc into the post at a later date.

Cheers

Dom