As with any nutrition strategy, race day nutrition should be practiced during a training run. This will give your client the opportunity to trial the foods you suggest and they prefer, on their digestion and fine-tune the timings of when they eat and drink to support their race. This should increase their confidence around their race strategy and have a positive physiological impact on their performance. Of course, they also isolate the most important amino acids for building and maintaining lean muscle— leucine, isoleucine, and valine—in thirst-quenching drink powders that happen to taste like the sugary drinks that you might be craving anyway. All in all, we think that this is a pretty option that combines a range of important Amino Acids with other ingredients such as Caffeine and Green Tea Extract.

BCAA drinks are among the most widely used fitness supplements for a couple of important reasons. A big one is that they make it easier and more delicious to stay hydrated! BCAAs are so common these days that it's important to make sure the ones you choose have a good nutrient profile and aren't just glorified, sugar-filled sports drinks—and have flavors that make you excited to reach for them every day. We chose these specific products based on the following criteria: Caffeine is an effective ergogenic aid which can help cognitive function and energy. An intake of 1-3mg/kg.BW, 15-minutes to hour before the start of the race is optimal. Do not try anything new on race day and ideally have a test run in the weeks leading up to the race to find out what works for you to help you feel your best when you are at the start line. That’s about standard as far as BCAAs go, cheaper than the offerings from BPI and Jym and a tiny, tiny bit more expensive than Xtend and Evlution Nutrition on a grams-of-BCAA-per-serving basis. Essential Amino Energy Benefits and EffectivenessEssential Amino Energy’s label says that it’s for “anytime muscle recovery” and “energy and focus,” and it has perhaps more ingredients than any other BCAA supplement we’ve seen. Are they bogus, or could it be the ultimate BCAA? After the race before you go off and celebrate you need to replace the fluid you have lost. Signs of dehydration include severe headaches, muscle cramps and extreme fatigue, none of which are pleasant. Drink at least 500 ml in the first 30 minutes after the race, and then keep sipping every 5 to 10 minutes until you are passing pale coloured urine again.

With nutrition and hydration taken care of, the final thing to consider is supplementation. Caffeine is one of the most researched ergogenic aids and is regularly used to enhance endurance running performance [2]. Low-moderate dose of caffeine between 1-3mg/kg appears to be sufficient for enhancing endurance performance[3]. Concentrations are in the bloodstream after just 15 minutes and peak 1 hour after ingestion so aim to have you caffeine supplement within the final hour leading up to the race. You can then look to top up towards the end of the race to help power you through the final stages, around 60-90minsis a good time to take this on board, so if your target time is 4 hours, then around the 3 hour mark is fine.It’s also a bit frustrating that this is a proprietary blend. Is it 2:1:1 leucine to isoleucine and valine? Do we know how many grams of each amino acid it contains? I don’t know, and that’s important to a lot of people. Essential Amino Energy Taste