By Cameron Mottet
What is a Performance Plate?
As a runner, I know how important it is to fuel my body for
performance. One strategy I use is building myself a performance plate. A
performance plate is a meal that consists of the correct combination of foods
based on your training load and activity level. The foods we eat play a
significant role in our energy, hydration, and recovery status.
Important Components of a Performance Plate
There are five main components of a performance plate
including: whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, healthy fats,
and fluid/hydration. To build a nutritious energy dense meal we will need to
include these five important components on our plate.
- Whole grains & energy-enhancing foods: 100% whole wheat breads, whole-grain pasta, brown rice, beans, potatoes, oatmeal, whole-grain cereals
- Lean proteins or recovery/muscle-building foods: chicken breast, fish, turkey, lean beef, eggs, low-fat cheese, tofu
- Fruits and vegetables or antioxidant-rich foods: apples, bananas, oranges, blueberries, strawberries, broccoli, green beans, spinach, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes
- Healthy fat or immunity/flavor-enhancing foods: salmon, nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado, nut butters, oil-based salad dressings
Training Load and Macronutrient Intake
As I mentioned earlier, as a runner, it is important to take
into consideration the duration and intensity of my workout throughout the
week. My longer and harder runs will require more calories and carbohydrates
than my shorter and easier runs.
Light training days where I perform at a low intensity it is
recommended to consume 3-5 g/kg/d of body weight in carbohydrates. Moderate
training days where the duration of exercise is about an hour it is recommended
to consume 5-7 g/kg/d of body weight in carbohydrates. For high training days,
or endurance activity lasting from 1-3 h/d it is recommended to consume 6-10
g/kg/d of body weight in carbohydrates. Lastly, for very high duration greater
than 4 hours it is recommended to consume 8-12 g/kg/d of body weight in
carbohydrates.
Now, I know this may seem very confusing and hard to use,
but below I have an easy way to divide up your performance plate based on hard
and easy training days.
Hard Training Days
For competition days or harder training days, it is
recommended to fill your plate half full of whole grains or other
energy-enhancing foods, a quarter of your plate with lean proteins or
recovery/muscle-building foods, and a quarter of your plate with fruits and
vegetables or antioxidant rich-foods. You will also want to include a larger
amount of healthy fats and adequate fluid intake for hydration.
Moderate Training Days
For in-season or moderate training days, it is recommended
to fill your plate one third full of whole grains or other energy-enhancing
foods, one third full with lean proteins or recovery/muscle building foods, and
one third full with fruits and vegetables or antioxidant rich-foods. You will
also want to include moderate amounts of healthy fats and adequate fluid intake
for hydration
Light Training Days
For offseason, or lighter training days it is recommended to
fill your plate half full of fruits and vegetables or antioxidant-rich foods, a
quarter of your plate with whole grains or energy enhancing foods, and a
quarter of your plate with lean proteins or recovery/muscle-building foods. You
will want to include limited amounts of healthy fats and adequate fluids for
hydration.
Building Your Performance Plate
The easiest way for me to build my performance plate is to
look at these visuals provided by Team USA Nutrition. It breaks down hard,
moderate, and easy training days and shows a perfect example of what should be
on your performance plate.
References:
- CPSDA
- Team USA Nutrition
- SCAN
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