Nutrition For The Sprinter
Nutrition For The Sprinter
Nutrition For The Sprinter
KEVIN D. TIPTON
1
, ASKER E. JEUKENDRUP
1
, & PETER HESPEL
2
1
School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK and
2
Research Centre for Exercise and
Health, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
(Accepted 2 August 2007)
Abstract
The primary roles for nutrition in sprints are for recovery from training and competition and inuencing training
adaptations. Sprint success is determined largely by the power-to-mass ratio, so sprinters aim to increase muscle mass and
power. However, extra mass that does not increase power may be detrimental. Energy and protein intake are important for
increasing muscle mass. If energy balance is maintained, increased mass and strength are possible on a wide range of protein
intakes, so energy intake is crucial. Most sprinters likely consume ample protein. The quantity of energy and protein intake
necessary for optimal training adaptations depends on the individual athlete and training demands; specic recommenda-
tions for all sprinters are, at best, useless, and are potentially harmful. However, if carbohydrate and fat intake are sufcient
to maintain energy levels, then increased protein intake is unlikely to be detrimental. The type and timing of protein intake
and nutrients ingested concurrently must be considered when designing optimal nutritional strategies for increasing muscle
mass and power. On race day, athletes should avoid foods that result in gastrointestinal discomfort, dehydration or
sluggishness. Several supplements potentially inuence sprint training or performance. Beta-alanine and bicarbonate may be
useful as buffering agents in longer sprints. Creatine may be efcacious for increasing muscle mass and strength and perhaps
increasing intensity of repeat sprint performance during training.
Keywords: Muscle hypertrophy, training adaptations, net muscle protein balance, creatine, power-to-mass ratio
Introduction
The sprint events cover distances from 60 to 400 m.
These running and hurdle events rely primarily on
the development of power through anaerobic energy,
the phosphocreatine (shorter events, e.g. 100 m and
200 m), and glycolytic (longer events, e.g. 400 m)
systems for energy. A sprint consists of an all-out
effort for a short period of time; performance is
determined by the ability to achieve maximal velocity
and to limit the loss of power as the sprint progresses.
Biomechanical, neuromuscular, and metabolic fac-
tors all inuence performance.
Nutritional support for athletic performance is a
popular and widely covered topic. However, most
sports nutrition research has focused on endurance
performance. Relatively little has been written about
nutrition for sprinting performance. Although the
potential for an effect is arguably somewhat less than
for endurance sports, especially during an event,
nutritional choices and strategies will contribute to
adaptations to training and to performance in
sprinters.
Early work demonstrated that elite sprinters have
muscles composed predominantly of fast-twitch
bres (Costill et al., 1976). Thus, success requires
large, powerful muscles. Accordingly, the major role
for nutrition may be to modulate muscle hypertrophy
from training. In this review, we focus on the role of
nutrition for increasing muscle mass and strength, as
well as the potential for nutritional choices to
inuence competition day performance.
Nutritional support for athletes is often considered
for two general situations: training and competition.
Important considerations for the sprinter are:
. maintaining energy levels during training;
. quick recovery from training;
. optimizing training adaptations with nutrition;
. achieving a high power-to-weight ratio, thus
maximizing muscle mass and maintaining low
body fat;
. staying focused, sharp and maintaining concen-
tration during competition days;
. improved reaction times.
Correspondence: K. D. Tipton, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
E-mail: [email protected]
Journal of Sports Sciences, 2007; 25(S1): S5 S15
ISSN 0264-0414 print/ISSN 1466-447X online 2007 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/02640410701607205
Nutrition for sprint training
Sprint training is focused on developing lean body
mass capable of generating the power necessary to
carry the athlete as rapidly as possible. Adaptations
to training are specic to the mode, intensity, and
duration of the exercise. These adaptations stem
primarily from the exercise stimulus on the muscle
bres, but may be inuenced by nutritional factors.
Nutrition most certainly will inuence muscle
hypertrophy and this aspect of nutrition is usually
the focus for sprinters. Besides specic sprint
training, weight training with the goal of developing
muscle mass is the primary form of training
throughout the year. However, it is important to
recognize that optimum mass may not equal max-
imum mass for a sprinter. At some point, the power-
to-mass ratio may begin to decline with extra mass
regardless of composition. Some aspects of the
nutritional inuence on training adaptations are also
covered in other reviews in this issue (Hawley,
Gibala, & Bermon, 2007; Houtkooper, Abbot, &
Nimmo, 2007).
Recent evidence on the molecular and metabolic
levels indicates that training adaptations occur as
protein levels change due to the response to each
bout of exercise (Hawley, Tipton, & Millard-
Stafford, 2006). Muscle mass is determined by
changes in protein levels, particularly myobrillar
proteins. Increased myobrillar proteins result from
net positive balance of myobrillar synthesis and
breakdown over a given period. The primary changes
occur in response to exercise plus nutrition.
The bulk of the response of net muscle protein
balance occurs following, rather than during, ex-
ercise (Durham et al., 2004); increased muscle
protein synthesis, rather than decreased breakdown,
is responsible for the increased balance (Tipton &
Wolfe, 2004). Elevation of muscle protein synthesis
is delayed after exercise (Pitkanen et al., 2003),
presumably due to inhibition of translational path-
ways due to elevations in AMPK (Bolster et al.,
2003; Koopman, Zorenc, Gransier, Cameron-
Smith, & van Loon, 2006). Once activated, muscle
protein synthesis and net muscle protein balance
remain elevated for up to 48 h after the exercise bout
(Phillips, Tipton, Aarsland, Wolf, & Wolfe, 1997);
however, protein balance does not become positive
without provision of exogenous amino acid sources
(Biolo, Tipton, Klein, & Wolfe, 1997).
Consumption of a source of amino acids following
exercise increases the response of muscle protein
synthesis in an additive manner resulting in positive
muscle protein balance (Biolo et al., 1997; Borsheim,
Tipton, Wolf, & Wolfe, 2002). The response of net
muscle protein balance is due primarily to the
essential amino acids (Borsheim et al., 2002; Tipton,
Ferrando, Phillips, Doyle, & Wolfe, 1999). Thus,
consumption of a source of essential amino acids, be
it an intact protein or a free amino acid mixture, will
stimulate uptake of amino acids for synthesis of
muscle proteins necessary for muscle growth. The
optimum amount of amino acids has yet to be
determined, but it is clear that a relatively small
amount of exogenous amino acids (about 12 g)
results in positive protein balance (Borsheim et al.,
2002). However, it remains to be seen if chronic
consumption of a small amount of amino acids
capable of stimulating a transient metabolic response
is enough to stimulate muscle hypertrophy in the
long term.
It is clear that the metabolic and thus phenotypic
responses to exercise and thus training adaptations
are mediated by intracellular signalling. Recent
reviews have examined the response of these path-
ways to exercise and nutrition in detail (Rennie,
2005; Tipton & Sharp, 2005). Signalling aspects of
muscle adaptation to training are also discussed
elsewhere in this issue (Hawley et al., 2007).
Both translational (Bolster, Jefferson, & Kimball,
2004) and transcriptional (Creer et al., 2005;
Psilander, Damsgaard, & Pilegaard, 2003) mechan-
isms are stimulated by resistance exercise, but the
bulk of the increase in muscle protein synthesis is
translational (Chesley, MacDougall, Tarnopolsky,
Atkinson, & Smith, 1992). Rates of muscle protein
synthesis are increased with no increase in total RNA,
suggesting that it is the efciency of translation
that is, an increase in synthesis per molecule of
RNA that is increased by resistance exercise
(Chesley et al., 1992). Resistance exercise increases
phosphorylation of many translation initiation path-
way components (Coffey et al., 2006; Karlsson et al.,
2004; Koopman et al., 2006). Adaptations that
inuence muscle growth also stem from transcrip-
tional regulation (Coffey et al., 2006; Williamson,
Gallagher, Harber, Hollon, & Trappe, 2003); tran-
scriptional activity of genes for muscle growth factors
and myosin heavy chain is stimulated by resistance
exercise (Psilander et al., 2003; Raue, Slivka, Jemiolo,
Holon, & Trappe, 2006). At this juncture, it is
somewhat difcult to discern detailed inuences of
these pathways due to differences in study design and
methods among the studies. Much work needs to be
done to address the gaps in our knowledge.
Nutrition has a clear effect on the signalling
pathways related to muscle protein synthesis. Pre-
vious reviews have detailed the response of intracel-
lular signalling to exercise and nutrition (Kimball,
Farrell, & Jefferson, 2002; Tipton & Sharp, 2005).
The inuence of amino acids on muscle protein
synthesis is primarily through the mTOR signalling
pathways (Kimball et al., 2002; Tipton & Sharp,
2005). Leucine is particularly effective in stimulating
S6 K. D. Tipton et al.
initiation of translation following exercise (Anthony
et al., 2000; Gautsch et al., 1998). In humans, the
administration of branched-chain amino acids after
resistance exercise increased phosphorylation of
p70s6k 3.5-fold above the increase due to exercise
when measured at 1 and 2 h after exercise (Karlsson
et al., 2004). However, the time course of signalling
events relative to muscle protein synthesis has yet to
be examined in humans and much has yet to be
determined.
Increased insulin levels resulting from carbohy-
drate intake are clearly a major controller of
translation initiation pathways (Kimball et al.,
2002). Thus, carbohydrates seem to play a role in
the response of muscle protein synthesis to feeding
after exercise. Insulin stimulates these translation sig-
nalling pathways primarily through phosphoinositol-
3-kinase (PI3k), Akt, and mTOR (Kimball et al.,
2002). Interestingly, post-exercise hyperinsulinaemia
only minimally stimulates muscle protein synthesis
above normal post-exercise levels (Biolo, Williams,
Fleming, & Wolfe, 1999). Moreover, Anthony et al.
(2000) demonstrated that the response of translation
initiation to amino acids is mediated by insulin. Taken
together, these results suggest that combining carbo-
hydrates and proteins may be the best strategy for
stimulation of anabolic pathways. Indeed, utilization
of ingested amino acids for synthesis of muscle
proteins is greatest when carbohydrates are ingested
concurrently with an amino acid source (Tipton &
Witard, 2007). Furthermore, leucine has been de-
monstrated to be an effective insulin secretagogue
(Koopman et al., 2005).
Carbohydrate intake may be important for muscle
anabolism in other ways as well. Depletion of muscle
glycogen is possible, given the multiple sprints
common to a sprint training session (Gaitanos,
Williams, Boobis, & Brooks, 1993). Thus, carbohy-
drate intake should be sufcient to maintain glyco-
gen levels, not only to prevent fatigue development
and maximize training potential, but also perhaps to
optimize muscle anabolism. Low glycogen availabil-
ity may inuence the adaptive response to training
(Churchley et al., 2007; Creer et al., 2005), suggest-
ing that the maximal anabolic response to resistance
exercise may not be possible when exercise is
initiated with low glycogen levels. Thus, sprinters
should consume sufcient carbohydrate to maintain
glycogen during training.
Clearly, protein intake is important for muscle
hypertrophy, but the amount of dietary protein
necessary for a sprint athlete to optimize muscle
gains and performance is difcult to determine. A
high protein intake is often thought to be critical for
muscle growth, repair, and enhancement of training
adaptations, and a huge supplement industry has
been built upon this assumption. The scientic
evidence for the efcacy of high protein intakes for
increasing muscle mass is, at best, equivocal, and has
been extensively debated in the scientic commu-
nity. The reader is referred to previous reviews for
discussions of the merits of increased protein
requirements in athletes (Phillips, 2006; Rennie,
Wackerhage, Spangenburg, &Booth, 2004; Tipton &
Witard, 2007; Tipton & Wolfe, 2004).
It is likely that the disparity of opinions regarding
overall protein needs arises primarily from two
sources: methodological limitations (nitrogen bal-
ance and leucine oxidation) and, perhaps more
fundamentally, a lack of consideration for the
principal reason athletes ingest protein (Tipton &
Witard, 2007). Rather than the attainment of
nitrogen balance, the amount of protein that
optimizes muscle hypertrophy and maximizes per-
formance is the most salient factor. Attainment of
nitrogen balance is unlikely to concern sprinters;
rather, they endeavour to consume the amount of
protein necessary to optimize muscle mass and
power.
For many, if not most athletes, including sprinters,
the point may be inconsequential. Most athletes
ingest enough protein to cover even the higher
estimates of *1.2 1.5 g kg
71
day
71
(Phillips,
2006; Tarnopolsky, 2004). Thus, recommending
increased protein intake would not be necessary for
the majority of athletes consuming a well-chosen
diet that meets energy needs. Moore et al. (2007)
recently demonstrated that increased nitrogen
balance and lean body mass result from 12 weeks
of intense resistance training while consuming
1.4 g kg
71
day
71
. Thus, habitually high intakes,
often greater than 2 g kg
71
day
71
, appear to be
unnecessary for muscle hypertrophy and increased
strength and power. It is likely that protein intake in
excess of 1.7 g kg
71
day
71
is simply oxidized
(Tarnopolsky, 2004). Of course, it should be noted
that these results come from previously untrained
individuals and it is arguable that years of training
may change these responses.
On the other hand, a relatively high protein intake
is unlikely to be detrimental, even if not entirely
necessary. Given the high energy intakes necessary to
support increased muscle mass, habitual protein
consumption is likely to ensure maximum muscle
accretion. Although protein and amino acid supple-
ments may be convenient sources of essential amino
acids, no evidence exists to suggest the anabolic
response to protein from food sources is inferior to
commercially available supplements (Elliot, Cree,
Sanford, Wolfe, & Tipton, 2006; Phillips, 2006).
It is not possible to make a broad recommendation
for a specic amount of protein for all sprinters based
on current scientic evidence. Any such recommen-
dations are based on the presumption that muscle
Nutrition for the sprinter S7
protein accretion is linear in relation to the amount
of protein ingested (Tipton & Witard, 2007). In fact,
much of the evidence casts doubt upon such broad
recommendations. Metabolic studies clearly demon-
strate that the anabolic response to feeding is
dependent on many factors, including, but not
limited to, the amount of protein ingested. The type
of protein ingested will affect the utilization of the
amino acids for synthesis of muscle proteins (Wilk-
inson et al., 2007), the anabolic response to protein
ingestion will vary with ingestion of other concur-
rently ingested nutrients (Borsheim, Aarsland, &
Wolfe, 2004a; Elliot et al., 2006), and, nally, the
timing of ingestion of an amino acid source will
inuence the anabolic response of muscle (Tipton
et al., 2001, 2006). Taken together, it is clear that
ingestion of a given amount of protein may result in a
variable metabolic response depending on several
factors other than solely the amount of protein.
Training adaptations may depend less on the amount
of protein ingested, and more on the type of proteins
ingested, timing of ingestion, and other nutrients
ingested in the same meal.
A risk benet approach might offer some in-
sights for recommendations of protein intake for
athletes. If risk is minimal and there is a rationale
for potential benet, then there is no reason to
recommend against increasing protein intake.
Health problems, such as kidney damage and bone
loss, have often been given as reasons for avoiding
high protein intakes. Whereas these issues are
theoretically associated with high protein intake, to
date there is no evidence for kidney damage from
high protein in those with no predisposing kidney
maladies (Zello, 2006). A major component of bone
is protein and, in fact, synthesis of bone collagen
responds similarly to muscle proteins following
ingestion of an amino acid source (Babraj et al.,
2005). Thus, it appears that reasonably high protein
intakes offer little in the way of health dangers to
sprinters and other athletes. The relationship
between high protein intake and chronic diseases
has not been rmly established, but it should be
noted that individuals with pre-existing kidney
disease should not consume high-protein diets
(Zello, 2006). For many athletes, the primary risk
of high protein intakes is a necessary reduction in
carbohydrate intake, which may then affect perfor-
mance (Macdermid & Stannard, 2006). Glycogen
depletion is likely during training sessions involving
repeated sprints (Balsom, Gaitanos, Soderlund, &
Ekblom, 1999; Gaitanos et al., 1993) and so
sufcient carbohydrate intake to support these
training sessions is clearly necessary. However,
sprint athletes habitually consume ample carbohy-
drate and protein (Burke, Millet, & Tarnopolsky,
2007) to support training.
Protein nutrition is most often the focus of athletes
whose goals include increased muscle mass. How-
ever, it is clear that energy balance is just as
important, if not much more so, for muscle
hypertrophy than is protein intake. It is not possible
to maintain positive nitrogen balance during an
energy decit (Todd, Buttereld, & Calloway,
1984). Up to about one-third of the variability in
nitrogen balance is likely due to energy intake (Pellett
& Young, 1992). As early as 1907, Chittenden
demonstrated that as long as energy intake is
sufcient, athletes will gain muscle mass and
increase strength even during periods of low protein
intake. More recently, positive energy balance has
been demonstrated to be more important than the
amount of protein ingested for gains in lean body
mass during resistance training (Rozenek, Ward,
Long, & Garhammer, 2002).
The arguments rendered above are contingent
upon one primary assumption, namely that the
acute metabolic response of muscle to exercise and
nutrition represents the potential for long-term
muscle gain. Clearly, the ideal study to determine
the effect of various feeding strategies on sprinters
would be to measure changes in muscle mass,
strength, power, and speed ultimately sprint
performance during periods with different feed-
ing strategies. Unfortunately, these studies are
virtually impossible to perform, primarily due to
difculties in controlling all variables (Tipton &
Witard, 2007; Tipton & Wolfe, 2004). A series of
recent investigations suggests that results from
acute metabolic studies adequately represent the
potential for changes in muscle mass in response to
training and nutrition (Paddon-Jones et al., 2004;
Tipton, Borsheim, Wolf, Sanford, & Wolfe, 2003;
Tipton & Witard, 2007). Results from studies at
the molecular level support this contention (Coffey
et al., 2006; Hawley et al., 2006; Psilander et al.,
2003).
Since the balance between synthesis and break-
down ultimately determines the amount of each
protein in muscle, a decrease in muscle protein
breakdown rates should contribute to increased
muscle mass. Thus, nutritional strategies aimed at
decreasing rates of muscle protein breakdown
following exercise are often recommended. Amino
acid ingestion following resistance exercise can
reduce muscle protein breakdown (Biolo et al.,
1997; Tipton et al., 1999). Utilization of amino acids
from ingested amino acid sources by muscle has
been shown to increase when carbohydrates are
ingested simultaneously (Borsheim et al., 2004a,
2004b). The effect of carbohydrates is presumably
due to the associated insulin release. Insulin in-
creases net muscle protein balance following resis-
tance exercise primarily by blocking the rise in
S8 K. D. Tipton et al.
muscle protein breakdown (Biolo et al., 1999). Thus,
it is often recommended to consume protein plus
carbohydrates after exercise to maximize net muscle
protein balance and increase muscle mass.
Recent data suggest that the role of protein
breakdown for muscle hypertrophy may not be as
clear. After a resistance exercise bout, rates of
muscle protein breakdown increase and are asso-
ciated with the increased rates of synthesis (Biolo,
Maggi, Williams, Tipton, & Wolfe, 1995; Phillips
et al., 1997). Furthermore, transient changes in
gene expression and mRNA levels of both myo-
genic (Psilander et al., 2003) and atrogenic
(Churchley et al., 2007; Jones et al., 2004) genes
following resistance exercise suggest that increases
in both the synthesis and breakdown of proteins
are important for changes in protein levels. These
data suggest that muscle protein breakdown may
play an important role for accretion of muscle.
Clearly, more research on the effect of nutrient
intake on specic muscle degradative pathways is
warranted.
Nutrition for racing
The acute inuence of nutritional intake for sprinting
is not likely to be as great as for endurance events.
The length of the race alone prevents a large
inuence from acute intakes. Although sprint events
only last seconds, competition can be rather drawn
out. A typical competition day involves a number of
heats and nals with variable amounts of waiting
around in between. For example, at the World
Championships in Osaka in 2007, the schedule for
the 100 m is:
. Day 1, 12:10 h, mens 100 m heats
. Day 1, 20:15 h, mens 100 m quarter-nals
. Day 3, 20:10 h, mens 100 m semi-nals
. Day 3, 22:20 h, mens 100 m nal
On day 1, there are 8 h between rounds 1 and 2, but
on the third day only 2 h between the semi-nals and
nal!
During the time in between heats, athletes
should stay hydrated but avoid over-drinking,
maintain blood glucose levels, and avoid beha-
viours, including feeding, that may contribute to
discomfort, particularly gastrointestinal discomfort.
Careful consideration of what not to eat is probably
more important than what to eat. It is likely that
there is no common way to achieve these goals in
every athlete. There is almost certainly large
individual variation and preference in ways to
achieve these goals. Experimenting in training is
therefore essential to develop a good routine on
race day.
Supplements for the sprinter
There are a few supplements that should be
addressed in relation to sprint performance. We will
concentrate primarily on supplements for which
there is sufcient evidence of their efcacy. Others
that are often considered to be important for aspects
related to sprint performance (e.g. hydroxymethyl-
butyrate, ribose) will not be included in this
discussion. The results from studies on most
supplements are equivocal and it is difcult to
recommend usage by sprinters at this time. More
detail on these and other supplements can be found
in another review in this issue by Maughan and
colleagues (Maughan, Depiesse, & Geyer, 2007) and
in previous reviews (Hespel, Maughan, & Greenhaff,
2006; Maughan, King, & Lea, 2004).
When maximal exercise is performed for more
than 30 s, most of the energy is derived from
anaerobic glycolysis. These high rates of glycolysis
have been associated with increased muscle acidity
and this may eventually impair muscle contraction.
Increasing the buffering capacity is theoretically a
way of improving performance in such events (430 s
up to about 7 min; 400-m running may just be long
enough to benet from an increased buffering
capacity).
Beta-alanine (b-alanyl-L-histidine)
Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid that is
common in many foods, especially meats. Beta-
alanine is believed to be the rate-limiting substrate
for synthesis of carnosine, which is an important
intracellular buffer (Dunnett & Harris, 1999).
Carnosine is found primarily in type IIa and type
IIx bres in skeletal muscle and contributes to
intracellular buffering of H