The F1 Car analogy

In order to understand nutrition, we first need to define it. Nutrition is the assimilation of food materials that enables living organisms to grow and maintain themselves. For any athlete, it's a fundamental part of performance that fuels every effort of every workout, accelerates recovery, and drives maximum adaptation. The old cliché ‘You wouldn't put cheap fuel in a Formula 1 car’ best sums up the attitude in approach regarding nutrition. Poor nutrition = Poor performance. Formula 1 cars take millions to develop. They are complex, powerful and aerodynamic. Thousands of hours and dozens of the best minds come together to develop this technology. What we see race around tracks every season is nothing short of engineering masterclass. And the quality does not stop at the car. The fuel teams use every year is refined and mixed in order to produce a product with maximal fuel efficiency. Now take our bodies. Billions of chemical reactions going on without us knowing. Finally balanced beyond human imagination. If an F1 car is a marvel to watch, then you, the athlete ready for this, are a biological miracle and you should be treated as such. What fuel we use matters!

Carbohydrates: The Primary Fuel for Anaerobic Power

Carbohydrates are the primary fuel source for all high-intensity, anaerobic efforts—the very definition of track sprinting. At their core, carbohydrates are biomolecules that the body metabolizes into glucose to produce Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the direct molecule responsible for powering muscle contractions.

We categorize them by complexity:

Monosaccharides & Disaccharides (Simple Carbs): These are 1 (mono), and 2 (Di) unit long carbohydrates. Their simple nature means they are broken down and metabolized easier which gives us a quick boost in energy. Examples include glucose and fructose and are present in fruits, honey and energy gels.

Polysaccharides (Complex Carbs): These are long chains of monosaccharides. The most relevant in sports is glycogen, the form in which we store carbohydrates in the muscle and liver. Complex carbs (like oats, pasta, rice) must be broken down first, offering a slower, sustained release of energy to maintain overall training volume.

In a sprint context, we must strategically plan the consumption of low Glycemic Index (GI) carbs (those that slowly release glucose ) before training sessions or competition days to ensure stable energy. This is why we eat oats, rice, pasta or potatoes at the beginning of our pre-race or training fueling. Conversely, we use high GI foods closer to or between efforts to rapidly replenish depleted muscle glycogen without upsetting our digestive system. This strategic usage is what separates a fuelled sprinter from a fatigued one and has an increasing effect on performance the further into a competition day, or days, you are.

Protein: The Architects of Muscle

Proteins are the essential building blocks of the human body. They are constructed from long chains of precisely folded amino acids. This folding creates a specific three-dimensional structure that determines the protein's unique role—a good rule to bear in mind is different structure = different function. Proteins serve countless roles: from forming haemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein inside red blood cells) to creating antibodies to fight sickness, to serving as enzymes that enable complex reactions, to functioning as hormones like insulin. In a sporting context, proteins are most relevant for muscle protein synthesis and facilitating the repair process of skeletal muscles

In a sporting sense, proteins are crucial because they facilitate the repair process of skeletal muscles. Sprint training is highly destructive to muscle tissue, causing micro-tears. Protein provides the essential amino acids necessary for muscle protein synthesis, enabling you to reap the rewards of your training and drive adaptation. While not a primary energy source, protein intake requirements for strength and power athletes like track sprinters are typically higher than for endurance athletes to maximize muscle gain and facilitate repair. Modern guidelines emphasize breaking protein consumption into regular meals (every 3-4 hours) and focusing on high-quality sources that include essential amino acids like leucine to maximize absorption.

Fats: Long-Term Energy and Hormonal Health

Fats are a calorie-dense energy source, providing 9 kcals per gram compared to 4 kcals per gram for carbs and protein. Given fats' slower metabolic process, carbs are the source of energy used for high intensity intervals or sprints. However, fats are drawn upon for long and sustained lower intensity efforts. Fats are crucial for two main reasons:

Firstly, they serve as a vast fuel source for lower-intensity, longer-duration workouts (e.g., warm-ups, recovery rides). The body's fat stores can supply well over 70,000 kcals, far exceeding the limited capacity of glycogen stores. Secondly, fats are essential for cellular structure, and critically, hormone production (like testosterone and estrogen) which regulate muscle repair and growth. They also enable the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K).

Relying on fat as the primary fuel source (via a very low-carbohydrate diet) is detrimental for a sprinter, as it compromises the limited, critical glycogen stores needed for explosive efforts.

Micronutrients: Catalysts for Function

Required in smaller quantities, vitamins and minerals are still fundamental for overall health and optimal performance. They act as catalysts for the wide range of metabolic processes that keep the body functioning efficiently, especially under intense training stress. For example, Calcium is critical for bone health and essential for triggering muscle contraction after the action potential and Iron is essential for energy production and optimal oxygen transport. Deficiency can significantly impair energy levels and sprint capacity. Macronutrients are an after-though in the nutrition discussion relative to their macronutrient counterpart and as a result, they are easily discarded in one’s diet but if we want to stay true to that well refined fuel analogy at the beginning, we need to execute all the basics. Micronutrients are best consumed through nutrient-rich whole foods, with supplements reserved for addressing specific deficiencies identified through testing.

This blog is just one piece of the nutrition puzzle. There are many more topics—covering sleep, recovery, and training—that we plan to address in future pieces. But nutrition doesn't have to be a puzzle. The Factors app eliminates the guesswork by showing you exactly how your diet fits into the larger performance picture. Our goal is to help each athlete optimize their nutrition to maximize the stimulus in training and the adaptation in recovery. Our AI Coach will offer unique, data-driven advice, answering any questions in a simple, direct format that doesn’t compromise on quality. Stay tuned for future blogs and join our growing community of athletes taking their performance to the next level.

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