Paul Milano

Advanced Training Nutrition:
Why Are You Still Drinking Gatorade?
by Dr John Berardi, CSCS


Too Many Pucks to the Head

Standing in front of 30 NHL draft picks, I asked a no-brainer question:

"So — during practices, training sessions, and games — how many of you drink sports drinks? You know, like Gatorade, Surge, Endurox, etc. How many of you drink something like that?"

Only two hands go up.

Shocked, I repeat the question:

"You mean to tell me that only 2 of you drink anything other than water during training?"

Uh huh.

"Well, uh, then how many of you drink water during training, practice, or games?"

Only twelve of the thirty hands go up. Anticipating a long day ahead, I agonized:

"Oh boy... we've got our work cut out for us... "

Although I've been around the block, working with clients at all levels — from recreational exercisers to the most elite athletes in the world — I'm sad to say that I continue to remain frightfully unprepared for the level of inattention to detail and the sheer ignorance of many athletes when it comes to nutrition and supplements.

Only 7% (2 athletes) of these 30 NHL draft picks were using some form of energy drink! And only 40% (12 athletes) of these 30 were even drinking water!

So, what do we have left? Well, we've got over half of the athletes in the room (53% of these NHL draft pics) drinking NOTHING during training and competition. Unbelievable, especially considering the huge body of literature demonstrating the benefit of drinking something during training. Now, add some carbohydrate to that something and athletes can expect to see:

• Improved aerobic and anaerobic endurance during training, practices, and games

• Decreased stress response to training, practices and games

• Improved immune function post training and competition

• Decreased acute phase inflammatory damage after training, practices, and games

• Improved whole body rehydration

• Improved muscle and liver glycogen resythesis

That's a pretty impressive laundry list of benefits, isn't it? We're now talking athletes who have better staying power, better hydration, less likelihood of overtraining, fewer colds, and more overall energy.

However, while carb drinks during and after training are good — athletes shouldn't be stopping with carbs — they should be adding protein. Oh, I know, I know. Gatorade and Powerade have convinced you that carbs alone are the way to go. They've also told ya that the extra protein is either useless or will build bulky muscles.

Well, frankly, that's nonsense.

What you're witnessing are the attempts of companies selling carb-only drinks to justify their existence. The longer they keep the wool over your eyes, the more profits they can make from inferior carb-only drinks before their product becomes obsolete.

Better than nothing...

After all, the writing is on the wall. Enlightened athletes are starting to realize that if they want to really supercharge their nutrition and recovery, they need to go to the next step. And the next step is using targeted workout and post workout recovery drinks that include both carbohydrate and protein.

Why protein? Well check out this list of benefits:

• Increased muscle protein synthesis

• Better and faster recovery from endurance, strength, and interval training

• Reduced muscle soreness and perception of fatigue

• Decreased muscle protein breakdown

• Further enhanced glycogen resynthesis vs carbohydrate alone

• Further enhanced immune function vs carbohydrate alone

• Increased use of fat for energy at rest, as well as during training and competition

Now, at this point, we're talking about athletes with more muscle strength, less body fat, an even stronger immune system, and the ability to train at higher intensities, more frequently. If you can't see the benefits associated with this approach, you'd better get your head examined.

Getting back to our hockey players, the hockey-specific benefits of carb-protein drinks taken during training and practice have already been documented. Research presented at the 2004 ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) annual conference demonstrated that liquid protein/carb supplements taken during practice can acutely produce the following results:

• Faster reaction time for goal tenders

• Increased skating speed during timed shift-simulation exercises

• Increased shot and scoring accuracy

As these data are more than 2 years old, it leads me to ask the question — where the heck have these NHL athletes been? Maybe all those hours in sub-zero arenas have frozen parts of their brains? Maybe they've taken too many slap shots to the noggin? Or maybe their coaches, trainers, and therapists aren't sharing the right information with them.

Either way, it's high time that athletes graduated from the primitive nutritional practices of the past and started moving into modern-day nutrition.


Not Just For Hockey Players

Of course, although I started this article off discussing hockey players, the huge list of benefits associated with carb-protein nutrition doesn't extend only to these stick wielding athletes. In fact, real, measurable benefits associated with carbohydrate-protein nutrition have also been demonstrated in the following:

• Endurance Cyclists

• Endurance Runners

• Triathletes

• Weight Lifters

• Alpine Skiers

• Marine Recruits during basic training

The amazing thing is that most of these sports are suffering from the same ignorance (or brain injury) that plagues my NHL draft picks.

To illustrate this point, just a few weeks after my NHL presentation, I had the opportunity to visit with two other elite teams — one group of elite triathletes and one group of elite track cyclists. Guess what happened when I asked the same questions as above?

Although these athletes averaged a little better on the "you'd better be drinking something" scale, there were still athletes skipping the workout nutrition. About 95% of the triathletes were taking in at least water during all training sessions. And 50% were taking in at least a glucose/electrolyte drink like Gatorade. Yet less than 20% of them were taking in carbohydrate and protein nutrition, as discussed above. That's absolute madness considering the research discussed above.

So if you're an athlete, let me pose this question to you — what are you drinking during and after training?

And coaches, the same question applies — what are your athletes drinking during and after training?

If it's either water-only or water plus carbs, let me ask the next question — how long is it going to take before you realize that the addition of protein to your traditional carb drink can absolutely supercharge performance while improving recovery and training adaptation curves?


3rd Grade vs PhD Level Sports Nutrition

Although I've got a PhD in the area of Exercise and Nutritional Biochemistry and am a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin, I also happen to direct the sports nutrition programs for the following elite sports teams:

• The Canadian National Cross Country Ski Team (Cross Country Canada)

• The Canadian National Alpine Ski Team (Alpine Canada)

• The Canadian National Canoe/Kayak Team (Canoe/Kayak Canada)

• The Canadian National Bobsleigh/Skeleton Team (Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton)

• The Spike Professional Racing Team (USA Track Cycling)

The Spike Professional Racing Team (USA Track Cycling)

In addition to these teams, I also consult with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the University of Texas athletic department, the Canadian National Speed Skating Team (Speed Skating Canada), a host of individual high performance athletes in the NHL, NFL, CFL, and more.