Supplements For Marathon Training

So, you’ve signed up to a marathon, good on you! You’ve probably already thought about ways in which you can boost performance, endurance and prevent injury – but have you ever thought about supplements?

Supplementing is a great way to get the most out of your marathon performance, but with the market being saturated with products geared towards running it can be hard to know what works best. So we’ve come up with our guide to the best supplements for running to make things a little easier for you…

Things people say when you tell them you’re running a marathon:

Wow you must be fit! (then continue to visually assess your physique)
Are you sure? (Yes Gran, I’m sure thank you)
Go to the toilet before you start! You don’t want to do a Paula Radcliffe…
Hope you’ve got the nipple tape ready! (Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s the least of my worries).
Your Dad did the marathon when he was your age, with no training (helpful…).

Enough of the highly motivational comments from loved ones, here’s how you can really get the most out of your training to the time you really want…

Carb loading

The term carbohydrate loading is probably following you around like a bad smell at the moment, but do you fully understand what it means? In short, carbohydrates are ESSENTIAL for running, as they’re the body’s instant source of energy. Loading up on them before the race is so important to saturate glycogen stores. Without fully stocked glycogen stores, you’ll lag early and that’s the last thing you want on race day.

Here’s how you should be weighing up your carbohydrates:

The week before: 10 x kg BW*

36-48hr before: 12 x kg BW

4 hours before: 4 x kg BW

During the marathon: 90g/hour MTC

*Body weight

*Multiple Transportable Carbohydrates – this include gels, sports drinks and bars (such as below)

Supplements

Complementing your training with vitamins, minerals and supplements is a great way to prevent injury, speed up and boost performance. Here’s a low down of our essential supplements for marathon running:

Vitamin B complex

The vitamin B complex makes up 8 different B vitamins which not only help contribute to energy release but also help the efficiency of and use of other nutrients in the body. The main reason why B vitamins are essential to runners is due to their role in energy metabolism. In simple terms, they help our bodies convert the food we eat into readily available energy.

Glucosamine HCL

Useful to protect bones and joints from the impact of running, glucosamine HCL is one of the most essential supplements for runners. Glucosamine is a major component of cartilage which protects the joints by absorbing impact. Supplementing with Glucosamine ultimately helps prevent injury and joint soreness when training. The strength of glucosamine in each tablet varies depending on where you buy it, myvitamins glucosamine HCL contains 40% more glucosamine than standard glucosamine sulphate, click here to get yours.

CLA

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a fatty acid which is currently one of the most popular supplements in the sports nutrition industry. Taking 2 soft gels, 2 times a day can help to increase metabolic rate, causing a higher calorie burn which helps you lose weight – beneficial if you’re looking to shed a few pounds before race day. CLA supplementation also helps to enhance muscle growth and improve explosive strength needed to cross that finish line.

Omega 3, 6 & 9

Fish oils are hugely beneficial for runners, namely for their ability to support cardiovascular health, and reduce inflammation. Running can often result in muscle soreness (as I’m sure you’re aware), it’s this pain which is followed by inflammation. The antioxidant status of omega fatty acids help combat this and reduce post-run pain. Omega 3, 6 and 9 can also have long term positive effects on the cardiovascular system such as preventing the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.

Joint Effort

If you’re looking for a one supplement that has it all, joint effort is your man. Containing a potent mixture of vitamin C, MSM, apple cider vinegar, turmeric, flaxseed oil and ginger extract, Joint effort is our fabulous multivitamin designed to improve joint health to prevent the risk of injury during the impact of sport.

Recovery

Protein

Drinking protein will probably be the last type of beverage you’ll be wanting following a marathon, but actually, if you can manage to stomach a protein shake, your body will thank you later. For optimal recovery we would suggest: 1.2-1.7g of protein per kg body weight, so a scoop of diet whey (or any other vegan/GF friendly alternative such as pea or soy) plus a high protein meal will do you nicely. This will prevent muscle soreness and speed up recovery time.

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