Nutrition - Long version

By Vladimir Arnaoudov Here is the short practical version

As my great grandmother used to say, to get stronger you need to eat well, sleep well and train hard (and don’t forget to dress warm). This article is intended to provide a basic user-friendly “how to eat well” guide to be used as a starting point and adapted to each climber’s individual needs and lifestyle. I am not a sport nutritionist myself and this article does not purport to go into the scientific detail about sport nutrition. Having a long standing interest in sport nutrition, I thought that assembling some common scientific facts and conventional wisdom about sport nutrition might help to make an informed decision about one’s optimal climbing diet. Climbers obsess about their weight and this sometimes leads to poor diet decisions. While this is a controversial area it is useful to remember that there are some well established and sensible guidelines.

The Essentials

The essential nutrients required for normal body functioning are amino acids (proteins), carbohydrates, fatty acids (fats), minerals, vitamins and water. Carefully planned nutrition must provide both an energy balance (i.e. the right amount of calories) and a nutrient balance (i.e. sufficient quantity of each of the essential nutrients). The generally recommended daily caloric intake is about 2000 for women and 2500 for men. The recommended nutrient balance is 45-65% carbs, 25-35% fat and 15-35% protein.  Athletes will need to tweak these somewhat.

Proteins are essential to growth and repair of muscle, skin and other body tissues. Foods that are natural sources of proteins are eggs, diary products, meat, fish, beans, nuts and seeds. Some sources of protein are better absorbed by the human body than others (the measure of the proportion of absorption is called biological value). Isolated whey (available as whey protein supplements) claims to have the highest biological value, however some controversy exists as to whether isolated whey protein is used by the body for protein production or some is converted into carbs and burned as energy. So if your lifestyle allows it, try to get most of your protein from foods rich in protein instead of overusing whey protein supplements. Foods which are said to be high biological value sources of proteins are eggs, milk, chicken, turkey, lean beef and fish. Rice, nuts, soy beans and whole wheat are good vegetable sources of proteins, however (sadly for vegetarians) vegetable proteins seem to have a lower biological value e.g. gram for gram, protein from eggs is better absorbed by the body than protein from rice. Some dieticians recommend avoiding the yolk of eggs as it is a source of some bad fats. Also, milk is difficult to digest for some (a condition called lactose intolerance) and is generally not recommended. Some sport nutritionists highly praise beef and row fish as these are also a good natural source of creatine which enhances short-term, high intensity anaerobic efforts i.e. may increase your performance on boulders or short power-endurance type routes.

An active athlete’s daily protein intake should range between 1.5 and 2 grams of proteins per kilogram of body weight. There is a wide spread belief (uncorroborated by any solid scientific evidence) that the body cannot absorb more than about 30 grams of proteins per meal. So for a 70kg climber this would mean 100-140 grams of proteins per day, split between 3-5 meals. Bear in mind that 100 grams of protein rich food (e.g. chicken breast) does not give you more than 25 grams of pure proteins. And one egg only gives you about 6 grams of proteins. Naturally it makes more sense to each more protein rich foods on recovery days – see recommended meals below.

Carbs are our main source of energy. They constitute the essential body fuel and are crucial for all physical activities. Carbs are divided between simple carbs (sugars) and complex carbs (starch). Complex carbs rich foods are rice, pasta, bread, muesli potatoes. Chocolate, candy bars and sugar are richer in simple carbs. Carbs serve three main functions: they can be immediately burned to produce energy; they can be stored as energy in the liver and muscles; they can be stored as body fat if taken in excess. When stored as energy carbs take the form of glycogen. The amount of glycogen reserves stored in the muscles affects one’s performance – these reserves are only sufficient to provide energy for 2-3 hours of intense activity. Once they are depleted, in order to release the energy necessary for an intense activity such as hard climbing, the body may sometimes start breaking down its own proteins (process know as protein catabolism) – to put it in simplistic way, the body may “eat up” its own muscles which may result in reduction of your muscle mass and various negative side effects.

It is therefore important to keep and/or replenish one’s glycogen reserves by (i) eating carbs before a day of climbing (e.g. big pasta dish the evening before climbing is perfect)  and (ii) eating small amounts of carbs during a day of climbing. Complex carbs are more effective in replenishing glycogen stores than simple carbs. However excessive amounts of carbs and especially simple carbs are converted into fat which most climbers would probably want to avoid.  Another popular way to analyse carbs is through the Glycemic Index (GI) as different foods have different effects on blood sugar levels.  High GI foods like white bread, sugar and potatoes spike blood sugar levels and create a strong fat storing response. Low GI foods (meat, most vegetables, beans) release glucose more gradually.

Fats are an essential nutrient that the body needs to process vitamins and minerals, to provide energy for low intensity exercise (ideal for the hibernating sport climber waiting for the sunny days) and to keep you warm on icy winder bouldering days. Fats can be cowboyishly labelled good fats and bad fats. The bad fats (also known as saturated fats) are found in butter, lard, coconut oil, dairy products (especially cream and cheese), fat meat, chocolate and candy bars. These may have adverse health effects (may cause the arteries to clog) and their intake should be limited. Good fats are also called unsaturated fats. These are found in nuts and fish (among others). A form of fats known as omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids is essential for human growth and has proven health benefits. Fish oils are the best source of omega-3 fatty acids. Fats are not a particularly good source of energy for high intensity efforts as the metabolism of fatty acids is too slow.  However, fats have the most caloric value per gram of weight ( 9cal/gram versus 4cal/gram for protein and carbs) so are a favourite for those who have high caloric output  over long periods of time and need to carry their food such as big wall and alpine climbers.

Minerals and vitamins are essential nutrients that our body needs in small amounts to work properly. Minerals and vitamins can be found in varying amounts in a variety of foods such as meat, cereals (including cereal products such as bread), fish, milk and dairy foods, vegetables, fruit and nuts. The B vitamins are particularly important for physical efforts as they are responsible for providing energy to the body during the conversion of glucose from carbs. Good sources of B vitamins are animal products (meat, poultry), yeast extracts (Marmite) brown rice, wheat germ and wholegrain cereals.

The importance of water should (hopefully) need no explanation. Drink plenty of water, both on hot and on cold days, at the crag or in the gym. If you feel thirsty you are probably already dehydrated. To avoid this, drink regularly and do not wait until you feel thirsty.

Some practical suggestions

The recovery meal: Following a hard climbing session a climber’s glycogen stores are depleted and some of the muscle fibres are damaged. The recovery meal is crucial in order to allow you to replenish your energy reserves and to repair your muscles to be able to climb again soon. In order to replenish glycogen reserves you need to eat carbs, as soon as possible after climbing. Studies have shown that consuming carbs (approximately 2g per kg of body weight), and approximately 30g of protein within 2 hours after exercise speeds up the replenishment of glycogen and the muscle repair process and thus speeds up recovery time. Muscles are more receptive to retaining glycogen during the two hours after exercise. Even more glycogen can be stored if simple high GI carbs are consumed immediately following exercise. If you are having a day off, it makes sense to increase your protein intake to speed up the muscle fibre repair process. My ideal dinner between two climbing days is a big pasta meal and 100-150 grams of chicken breast.

The pre-session meal: If you are going to climb you need energy i.e. carbs. Avoid mixing too many different foods or eating too much before you climb (otherwise a lot of blood gets drawn into the stomach and a lot of energy is used for digestion – naturally, pulling hard on two finger pockets would be a better use for that energy). I find this is more important for route climbing days than bouldering (by definition anaerobic). As a rule of thumb, avoid too much proteins and fats before a climbing session. Endurance athletes famously eat rice or pasta for breakfast on training days. I have tried it and it works fabulously for me.

During a climbing session: If you are planning a hard day out climbing, to avoid depleting your glycogen stores try to have light snacks every two hours. Again it is better to avoid fats or proteins as this slows down digestion. Fruits (especially bananas or dried fruits), whole meal bread and … some pasta (no tomato sauce – try it with some sugar, it tastes surprisingly good) work quite well.

Final word of wisdom

Weight is important in climbing. But eating a balanced diet is essential for your health. A good balance for an active athlete is 60-70% carbs, mostly complex carbs (ie whole grains and fresh vegetables), 10-15% fats (good fats) and 15-30% protein (the higher end for muscle building and recovery). It is tempting for climbers to try to radically  limit the amount of carbs they eat to control their weight, but this is not sustainable. Better to focus on reducing a large intake of simple carbs and focusing on maintaining a healthy balance of foods. In any event often any focus on healthier food choices will result in sustainable weight loss and a lower body fat percentage. Or perhaps the best way to increase your performance is to get stronger. If you want to lose those 3 kilos that you think stop you from climbing 8b, why don’t you try to simply get stronger and keep the weight loss as an option of last resort?