Even Endurance Athletes Count Calories

Most people conceptualize endurance athletes as being a part of the general population that has no need to restrict their caloric intake. After all, they reason, these elite runners, swimmers, and cyclists burn through calories to the point where they need excesses of the normal RDA to fuel their bodies.

The reality is far different from this common misconception. According to a study of endurance athletes performed in 2009 and published by The Annals of Behavioral Medicine, a whopping 74% of them reported that they were “concerned” about their weight while 54% claimed to be “dissatisfied”.

While these results may be surprising to the average person, endurance athletes know that excess weight and body fat are the enemies when it comes to performance. In fact, aerobic capacity is at its optimum only when the body carries the lowest percentage of fat. This is due to muscles experiencing decreased competition from fat tissue for the precious fuel and oxygen supplied during extreme activity levels. Even an added five percent of overall body weight makes a difference; it can result in a correlating five percent decrease in performance. The more pounds a runner carries, for instance, the harder he or she must work to achieve the same speed as others of lower weight.

This does not mean that an endurance athlete should go on a diet; rather they should think about their caloric intake differently. A diet of lean proteins in low percentage, grains, fruits, and vegetables is vital for providing the body with necessary fuel while decreasing the amount of fat. As ETF Wellness Corp. states in their blog Pre and Post Workout Nutrition, “endurance athletes…whose primary concerns do not include increasing muscle mass” should be more concerned with protein ratio.

This is where the Extreme Endurance dietary supplement comes into play. By providing natural ingredients that help to prevent the buildup of acid during extreme activity, it works with a lean, mean body to increase performance. So just as food is fuel for the body, this drug free supplement is a fuel additive that helps diet work optimally.