Fitness Nutrition
There’s no secret to an enjoyable and successful trail excursion. Check that your gear is in top condition, be prepared for the trail conditions and weather, and have adequate fuel for the outing. You don’t have to think about the correct fuel for your vehicle, and proper lubrication and preparation of your equipment. But do you think carefully about the preparation and fuel of your own body?
If you put junk into the gears or fuel tank of your trail machine you will soon breakdown and stop. So why put junk food and bad fluids into your own body? In the same way, you will soon ‘breakdown’ with fatigue and low energy and spirits not only to the point of not enjoying the trip but eventually to the point of endangering your life and others in your group.
Though many trail users take on ‘sports’ drinks, they can contain too much sugar for your system to use properly. Some athletes who are expending huge amounts of energy choose sports and energy drinks, but you’re better off drinking pure and unflavored water. Instead of filling your blood with short term sucrose try replacing all those sodas and beverage bottles with water and use complex carbohydrates as your source of sugars. These will be more gradually absorbed and processed to provide constant energy levels without the rush and crash of simple sugar.

Filling up your own “tank” with garbage is can result in fatigue, gastrointestinal upset or distracting hunger pangs early on during a long excursion and will compromise your endurance and performance, concentration and skills execution.
Adequate hydration is a must as dehydration surreptitiously saps away your strength and balance as muscles stop working properly. Most of a muscle’s ability to work is based on the glycogen already stored in the tissues and must be replenished at a steady rate in order to continue to keep the fires burning. Glycogen is the lighter fluid to burn fats for long term energy use. The by product of burning fat is lactic acid that makes muscles stiff and tired. The lactic acid built up from exertion will quickly incapacitate anyone’s grip and running out of glycogen leads to the dreaded ‘bonk’ or ‘hitting the wall’.
Trail mix is a good source of carbohydrate to keep fuel levels up. Before you choose any of the various trail mixes available on the market, beware of many of those so-called “healthy” snack foods, which may be loaded with insoluble fats, high sodium, and too much sugar. There are some proven performance food bars that have been shown to work well for most people’s level of activity. Ingredients and flavor vary considerably so you may need to experiment to see which ones are compatible with your digestion and taste. Be sure to drink plenty of water with these foods.
Many good quality and professional nutrition products can be quite expensive. Instead of trying to sort through all the supermarket fare or experiment with high cost boutique bars, you can make your own combination. Consider mixing cereal or oats, nuts, and unsweetened dried fruits such as dates, cranberries, apricots, or raisins. Try this in a bag as trail mix or combine with honey, juice and protein powder to form moist bars. If you add egg whites you should cook the bars on a cookie sheet. Homemade energy bars can be at least half the cost of commercial bars and be preservative free and tasty.
Though many of the energy bars on the market are woefully lacking in basic nutrition, there are some which are hearty enough to eat as a meal substitute. If you’re going to be out all day, you can replace a perishable lunch with one of these power-packed energy bars. The calorie intake you need will depend on how strenuous your trail is but aim for calories from high quality complex carbohydrates and protein. Watch out for energy bars that have carbohydrates from sucrose and avoid any that are made by popular candy makers because they usually contain way too high a proportion of unhelpful chemicals.
Fruit comes prepackaged and ready to eat and contain easily digested, ideal combination of nutrition and natural fructose. Some traditional favorite fruits are bananas, apples and oranges. Though a medium banana is only about 100 calories, it is loaded with potassium and has great electrolyte balance for therapeutic muscle benefits.
The more planning you put into your trail exploration, the more you’ll get out of the experience. Having your equipment prepped and ready includes the right supplies for your body. The more you go out and experience trail adventures the more you’ll learn about how your body reacts and meets the demands and challenges you can enjoy.



