HOW TO TRAIN YOUR GUT

YOUR BODY'S AT ITS PHYSICAL PEAK AND READY TO DO BATTLE, BUT IS YOUR GUT IN THE SAME SHAPE? HERE WE SHOW YOU HOW TO AVOID AN UNPLANNED VISIT TO THE RACE-DAY LOOS...

-  DR SAM IMPEY

You’ve spent weeks and months training your heart, lungs and muscles, but not training your gut could be leaving you short on race day. Why? Because getting your fuelling right is absolutely crucial in triathlon.

We often hear nutrition referred to as the fourth discipline, and with very good reason. With the ever-increasing evidence supporting the need to fuel well during racing, how we train our gut to tolerate what we eat and drink during races has now become crucial in optimising our individual performances and making sure that we have a great race.

We’ve all been there, halfway through a race and we start to feel symptoms like heartburn, uncomfortable bloating and really, really, needing the toilet! These are the most common symptoms of gastrointestinal (GI) distress during races, and research has shown that in an average race at least 40% of people get GI issues.

There are a whole host of reasons why this can happen and unfortunately they can be quite individual. Evidence suggests it’s dependent on factors such as genetics, biomechanics, anatomy, age and training status, with each individual response often being circumstantial. Hot conditions, intensity and potentially dehydration or poor nutrition can all lead to GI issues during races.

So yes, training your gut is an essential part of the training process. Here we look at some practical ways to train our gastrointestinal systems to be race-day ready and to make sure you avoid that portable toilet…

8 WAYS TO TRAIN YOUR GUT

01 Know your gut mechanics