Frequently Asked Questions

In some cases — yes. For general types of exercise lasting less than one hour, water is still the best sports drink around. The nutrient you most need to replace during and after these types of workouts is water.

Carbohydrate-replacement beverages and glucose-electrolyte solution drinks (also known as sports drinks) do have their place — mostly for high-intensity intermittent exercise, for exercise lasting more than 45 minutes, and especially for use by endurance and ultraendurance athletes. These products are a mixture of water, carbohydrate, with or without electrolytes. Electrolytes are dissolved minerals that form a salty soup in and around cells. They conduct electrical charges that let them react with other minerals to relay nerve impulses, make muscles contract or relax, and regulate the fluid balance inside and outside cells. In hard workouts or athletic competitions lasting 60 minutes or longer, electrolytes can be lost through sweat. Carbohydrate-only beverages are great for replacing fuel losses during intense exercise when electrolyte losses are not high. Athletes training for hours, and certainly ultraendurance athletes should consider electrolyte replacement as well as carbohydrate and fluid replacement during long-duration exercise.

Where glucose-electrolyte solutions may have an edge over water during exercise of only short duration is in their flavor. A lot of people just don't drink much water because it doesn't taste good. When soldiers participating in a study at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine were given the choice of drinking plain chlorinated water, flavored water, or lemon-lime glucose-electrolyte solution drinks, most chose the glucose-electrolyte solutions or flavored water over plain water. One way to sneak more water in and still get the flavor is to dilute your glucose-electrolyte solution or use one of the new flavored waters such as Propel.

If you're an avid water drinker and really like water, you'll benefit just as much from water as you will from using a sports drink — unless you're exercising an hour or more. But if you don't like water, or tend to avoid it during exercise, try filtered water, which has an improved taste. Or try a glucose-electrolyte solution that contains less than 8 percent carbohydrate and some sodium. Another idea is to put some powdered sports drink mix into your water, although the powdered mixes don't taste as good as their pre-mixed counterparts. At the least, if a sports drink encourages you to drink more, it has done its job.

Absolutely! Whether to include or exclude meat in your diet is a matter of personal choice. If you decide to go meatless, plan your diet carefully to avoid certain nutritional danger zones-namely iron, zinc, and B12 deficiencies. These deficiencies can hurt exercise performance. Here are some tips for avoiding deficiencies if you're a vegetarian strength trainer.

Get Enough Protein
in Your Diet Make sure to get in the 1.6 grams of high-quality protein per kilogram of body weight (0.73 grams per pound) required daily to support muscle growth. You can do this by including plenty of low-fat dairy products and protein-rich plant sources, like soy, in your diet. If you are a pure vegan , increase your protein intake to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (0.91 grams per pound) a day.

Include Some Heme Iron Sources
in your Diet All types of animal protein contain the more easily absorbed form of iron, heme iron. If you're a semi-vegetarian-that is, still eating fish or chicken but no red meat-you're in luck. Chicken and fish contain heme iron.

Watch the Meat-Fish-Poultry Factor
Meat, fish, and poultry (MFP) also contain a special quality called the MFP factor that helps your body absorb more nonheme iron. When meat and vegetables are eaten together at the same meal, more nonheme iron is absorbed from the vegetables than if the vegetables had been eaten alone. If you're a semi-vegetarian, your body will absorb extra iron from vegetables.

Include Vitamin C Sources
Fruits, vegetables, and other foods that contain vitamin C help the body absorb nonheme iron. For example, if you eat citrus fruits with an iron-fortified cereal, your body will absorb more iron from the cereal than if it had been eaten alone.

Guard Against a B12 Deficiency
Vitamin B12 is one of the most significant nutrients typically missing from the diets of vegans. That's because vitamin B12 is available only from animal products. Fortunately, the body needs only tiny daily amounts of the vitamin. T he DRI is 2.4 micrograms for adults. Vegans should eat B12-fortified foods and take supplements to ensure a healthy diet.

Watch Iron and Zinc Blockers
Some foods contain phytates, oxalates, or other substances that block the absorption of iron and zinc in the intestine. Coffee and tea (regular and decaf), whole grains, bran, legumes, and spinach are a few examples of foods containing blockers. These foods are best eaten with heme iron sources or fitamin C sources to help your body absorb more iron and zinc.

Consider Iron and Zinc Supplements
Our bodies don't absorb the iron that comes from vegetables as easily as the iron that comes from animal foods. Nonmeat eaters, especially active people or menstruating women, must pay attention to their dietary iron needs.

Animal flesh is the major source of zinc in our diets. So all styles of vegetarian eaters may be at greater risk of having marginally low intakes of this mineral.

Although dietary supplements are not good replacements for food, it may be a good idea to supplement if iron and zinc are in short supply in your diet. Daily supplementation of iron and zinc at the level of 100 percent of the DRI is good insurance against harmful deficiencies.

With increases in training intensity, you need additional protein to support muscle growth and increases in certain blood compounds. On the basis of the latest research with strength trainers, I recommend that you eat 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (0.73 grams per pound) a day. Here's how you would figure that requirement if you weigh 150 pounds or 68 kilograms:

1.6 g protein x 68 kg = 108.8 (round up to 109) grams of protein per day.
0.73 g protein x 150 pounds = 109.5 grams of protein per day.

Strength trainers living in high altitudes need even more protein: 2.2 g per kg (1.0 g/lb) of body weight daily. And, vegan vegetarians should take in 2.2 g of protein per kg (1.0 g/lb) of body weight a day to make sure their diets are providing all the amino acids their bodies require.

Are you a brand new strength trainer? If so, you may need to eat more than a veteran strength trainer typically consumes — as much as 40 percent more.

! recommend that the majority of the starchy foods in your diet be whole grains. First, they are higher in fiber. Second, unlike refined foods, whole grains are less likely to cause insulin resistance — a condition in which elevated blood sugar circulates in the blood because body cells respond abnormally to the action of the hormone, insulin. High intakes of refined foods can lead to insulin resistance. Many of my clients have voiced the same concerns about a high fiber diet. Use the list below as a great resource for high fiber foods that are low on the gas-producing end.
Recommended Low-Gas Producing, High-Fiber Foods

To achieve superb shape and maximum performance, forgo the usual "three squares a day" approach to meals. Active people must fuel themselves throughout the day. That means frequent small meals and snacks every two to three hours. There are numerous research-confirmed benefits to doing so. For example, eating multiple meals (four or more a day) increases "thermogenesis," the production of heat by the body as it digests and absorbs food. During thermogenesis, metabolism steps up, and your body processes nutrients more efficiently. Increased meal frequency also stimulates fat burning, improves the body's use of protein, preserves lean muscle, and reduces appetite. Another advantage of multiple meals is mental performance. Regular, timed meals help you think and process information more effectively, increase your attention span, and boost your mood. So — the question is: What should you eat and when? (see next question below)

The key is to time your meals around your workout schedule. In a nutshell, exercise and food intake work in concert to build lean muscle. The table below provides a step-by-step look at how to time your meals properly and the benefits of doing so. For more detailed information see my book, Power Eating, Third Edition (Human Kinetics, 2007).

Throughout the Day

Before Exercise

During Exercise

After Exercise

Along with the vitamins, minerals, and fibers that are found in abundance primarily in fruits and vegetables and in small amounts in other foods, two other new types of chemicals have been identified that are absolutely essential for your health, and are pretty good reasons to keep plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet.

There are lots of reasons why we should be piling more fruits and vegetables on our plates. First, plant foods provide significant protection against many cancers. In fact, people who eat greater amounts of fruits and vegetables have about one-half the risk of getting cancer and less risk of dying of cancer.

Post-exercise recovery drinks:

From Kleiner ^SM, Greenwood-Robinson M.
Power Eating, Third Edition. Human Kinetics, 2007

**Kleiner’s Essential Muscle-Building Formula for Men**
1 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup calcium-fortified orange juice
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries
21 grams isolated whey protein powder
1 tsp (rounded) Omega-3 Brain Booster powder

Blend for 60 seconds until smooth.
One serving contains:
Nutrients                                    Food Group Servings
378 calories                                 1 1/2 fruit servings
54 grams carbohydrate             1/2 lean protein serving
36 grams protein                        3 very lean protein serving                       
2 grams fat                                   1 nonfat milk serving
1 grams dietary fiber                   4 tsp added sugar

**Kleiner’s Essential Muscle-Building Formula for Women**
1 cup nonfat milk
¼ cup calcium-fortified orange juice
¼ cup frozen strawberries
14 grams isolated whey protein powder
1 tsp (rounded) Omega-3 brain booster powder

Blend for 60 seconds until smooth.
One serving contains:
Nutrients                                    Food Group Servings
242 calories                                 1 fruit servings
29 grams carbohydrate              ½ lean protein serving           
27 grams protein                        2 very lean protein serving                       
2 grams fat                                   1 nonfat milk serving
<1 gram dietary fiber           

Chocolate milk works as a great convenient rehydrator and recovery formula between match tournaments and when you’re on the road.

Quite probably, creatine is the most important natural fuel-enhancing supplement yet to be discovered for strength trainers. Unlike a lot of supplements, creatine has been extensively researched. Exciting experiments show that creatine produces significant improvement in sports that require high levels of strength and power, including strength training, rowing, and cycling sprints. Another big plus for creatine: Several creatine supplementation studies have shown gains in body mass averaging 2 to 4 pounds. It was once thought that this increase was mostly water weight gain. But now we're seeing that a significant amount of the gain is pure muscle, and only a small portion is water.

How It Works
You "load" creatine into your muscles, just like endurance athletes do with carbs. Consequently, you can push harder and longer in your workouts because creatine boosts the pace of energy production in your muscle cells. Creatine supplementation doesn't build muscle directly. But it does have an indirect effect: You can work out more intensely, and this translates into muscle gains.

How Much?
Creatine usually comes in a powdered form as creatine monohydrate. Scientific research shows taking four 5-gram doses a day (that's about a teaspoon) will do the trick. From there, two grams a day — about half a teaspoon — will keep your muscles saturated with enough extra creatine.

The logic that if a small dose is good, a large dose is better isn't a good idea. The body has a ceiling on the amount of creatine that it will store in the muscles. If you keep taking more, creatine will not continue to load in the muscles.

While loading with creatine, make sure to drink extra water. This may control any cramping that may occur. And you're asking for trouble if you belt down daily dosages of 40 grams or more. Such high doses may cause possible liver and kidney damage, according to some reports. Before trying any supplement, you should make sure that your diet, your training, and your rest is the best that they can be. No supplement can replace food, training, or rest. I also don't recommend creatine for adolescents. With the benefit of growth on your side, the use of creatine should be unnecessary. Check with your physician before supplementing with creatine.

My favorite is Subway. They have done a great job offering healthy choices. But many of the restaurants are trying to change to healthier menu offerings and they make the nutritional information easily available to customers. Here are the keys to better choices:

Building muscle requires tremendous energy; energy to do the muscle-building exercise, plus the energy to build the tissue itself. In a 1990 study, researchers determined that the energy requirement for trained strength-trainers to maintain their muscle mass was 44 kilocalories per kilogram body weight (20 kcals/lb.). Further research has shown that to build muscle and maintain cardiovascular fitness, serious athletes need at least 52 kcals/kg (23.6 kcals/lb.) or more.

Getting in enough calories is important, but so is getting in the right kind of calories. The predominant energy source for muscle-building exercise is carbohydrate. The harder and longer your workout, the more glycogen your muscles require. Once your muscles are depleted of glycogen, your workout is over.

The bottom line is that with 500-600 grams of carbohydrate a day, your muscles will stay packed with enough glycogen to power both strength and cardiovascular training. To personalize carbohydrate needs, base your intake on a figure of 7-8 grams of carbohydrate per kg body weight (3.2-3.6g/lb.).