On paper there are a lot of things nutritionally that can really help someone. Putting that into practice isn’t always as straightforward though. Everyone responds differently to different things and a little trial and error is usually needed. That being said, if something doesn’t work the first time that doesn’t mean you have to write it off completely. Many athletes experience stomach issues during competitions and/or trainings which obviously isn’t ideal. There isn’t a universal obvious answer for everyone but often it stems from eating something the body hasn’t adapted to or too much overall. Just like you train your muscles when you exercise, gut training can help your gut to handle more.
What exactly is gut training?
Gut training is for the most part exactly what it sounds like. It’s getting the gut to be able to properly absorb and utilize the food and drinks you are consuming. For athletes, especially those doing long endurance events, fueling during competition is essential. Depending on what and how much is consumed can have both positive and negative results. With practice the gut is able to adapt and learn to tolerate more volume and do so efficiently. It’s almost impossible to eat enough to keep up with the energy being burned for most athletes. If able to close that gap though by being able to consume more, perhaps performance can improve too. Just like a car can go further with more gas, so can an athlete with more food/energy. Jumping in with too much too quickly though can result in problems though.
How to practice gut training
We’ve all seen or experienced first-hand when something doesn’t sit well and needing a bathroom immediately. Gut training helps the stomach learn how to handle additional nutrition to avoid that. Starting out it’s important to begin with small additions. For some people this could mean simply having a snack before training even starts. Many prefer to feel “light” and that food produces a “heavy” feeling. This is an indicator that the body hasn’t learned yet how to optimally handle food intake at that time.
Starting small though will start to force the body to learn to digest that food better. Something simple like a basic granola bar or a banana can be a wonderful start. As the body manages that and is feeling good during training, then we can continue to add. The next step would be to try consuming a little something during training as well. During training the body is primarily focused on keeping the muscles going to perform. Digestion typically is taking a bit of a back seat as a result of that. This combination can sometimes make mid-training/competition fueling the hardest part of gut training. If able to build this though, gradually increasing the intake, having more fuel in the body can help to increase endurance and thus performance. Again, it’s important to do this gradually and take things slow.
Be mindful of when you do this
Don’t try diving into things right away, especially if it’s during a game or competition! Practice and training sessions are when you should be experimenting with these strategies. This is exactly what practice is for and in case there is a negative response to something, it’s better to occur in practice than in a game. Rule number one is always “No new foods on game day!” When peak performance is needed, you don’t want to add any additional challenges to the body.
Should you try it?
If looking to get the most out of your body I would absolutely recommend gut training. There are times and places for training fasted but that is when specific adaptations are trying to be achieved. Focusing on peak performance here, helping keep the body fueled will always be beneficial. This is particularly true come breakfast time. How many times have you said or heard someone say “I don’t eat breakfast because I’m not hungry.” If you then ask when the last time they ate breakfast regularly they likely couldn’t answer that. Their body has adapted to not expect it and thus not release hunger or digestive hormones in anticipation. On the other hand someone who eats breakfast daily would be starving if they skipped breakfast! Gut training can help with these things but it’s important to go slow and be patient with it.
Study referenced: click here