supplementation for ultramarathon

Supplementation for ultramarathon- which to take?

Did you know that running has become so popular that it has grown by at least 50% over the last decade

Its popularity is skyrocketing, inspiring more people to take on marathons and ultramarathons. And if you fall into this category, be it a road or trail ultramarathon, we’re rooting for you!

Ultramarathons allow you to unlock your best version of yourself and see how to test yourself to your limits. Training for them is a great mood booster, giving you a sense of achievement and increasing your aerobic capacity. 

While there are many benefits to joining (too many to write about in one post), it’s important you get the right supplements for an ultramarathon. Dive in with us as we break down everything you need to know, from refuelling before, during, and after a marathon to taking supplements. 

Why do you need supplementation for an ultramarathon? 

Well, with an ultramarathon distance being anything above 26.2 miles/42.1km, you need to FUEL UP

But as ultramarathon training is quite intense, it’s not always guaranteed you’ll be able to gather enough energy just from food alone, which is why you need supplements. Not convinced? Here are additional reasons why you should be taking ultra marathon supplements: 

Nutritional Intake

You're probably aware of the saying, "What comes in must go out, and vice versa." But when training for an ultramarathon, you don't want to lose too many calories. In fact, it's better to add more to your body and increase your intake. 

Whether in training for the ultramarathon itself, you need to sustain your calories for your ultramarathon.

It's recommended that you get a split of macronutrients between 60% carbohydrates, 15% protein, and 25% fat to help optimize your performance and recovery

Pro Tip: Don’t neglect your micronutrients! Having sufficient vitamins and minerals plays an important role in your metabolism, such as helping with muscle function and repair. 

Often, micronutrients can be hard to get through diet alone, which is why supplements, including magnesium, zinc, vitamin B, and C, are essential. They can help your body cope with stress and intense training periods. 

To maintain electrolyte balance

For long endurance sessions, having enough electrolyte balance is crucial to ensure your body maintains fluids during intense exercise. When you’re running for long periods, you may lose electrolytes through your sweat. Having sufficient electrolyte levels in your body is essential to regulating your body temperature, helping your muscles function, enhancing cognitive function, preventing dehydration, and performing your best on your run. 

Enhanced performance 

Another point is you need enough fuel to help you perform at your best and feel energised. They can help address glycogen stores, allow you to stay hydrated and reduce fatigue in training and during the ultramarathon itself- more on this later. 

7 best supplements for an ultramarathon run 

When training and fuelling up for an ultramarathon, there’s no right or wrong. It’s a case of trial and error, whatever suits you and your training. If you want to know what supplements to take, we can’t entirely tell you to take specific ones, but we can recommend some to support your training. Here are 7 recommendations for the best supplements for long distance runners:

1. Protein 

Not particularly on the run itself, but during training, protein is essential! You need way more protein than you realise! Although it’s recommended that you have 0.36 grams per body weight, that’s too low, especially for ultramarathon runners! And if you’re running for quite a few hours each week, you will likely need to consume enough closer to your body weight. 

Protein helps support your muscle mass, preventing it from breaking down from a lot of endurance training. If you want to know the right amount of protein, it’s best to speak to a nutritionist who could help you.

2. Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA’s)

If you plan to be on the road or trail for a long time, then you NEED BCAAs! They don't have a direct effect but are more complementary, leading to gradual improvements in muscle recovery. 

BCAAs contain the amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine, which help reduce soreness during long runs, training sessions, and races. They may also help improve mental performance, allowing you to stay focused in your training. BCAAs also help suppress lactic acid (a substance that causes fatigue), supporting your stamina through strenuous long runs. 

Pro Tip: Try Go Nutrition's Recovery Blend. It comes in two flavours, tropical and raspberry, and can help support your workouts. It is packed with BCAAs and ECAAs, which optimize muscle repair and performance.

3. Multivitamins

One good all-arounder type of supplementation for ultramarathons is multivitamins. We’re not here to remind you just how important vitamins are for your daily life, but to tell you that you need essential ones like B, C, D, and E to support running. 

Vitamins C and E, in particular, are antioxidants that can help damage free radicals, delaying muscle fatigue. Vitamin B12 also helps fight weakness and fatigue, helping you become more efficient and focus on performance. Meanwhile, vitamin D3 helps support muscle contraction and stimulation. Overall, multivitamins can help improve your performance and stamina.

4. Omega 3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids, i.e. fish oil, play an important role in running. How? Well, omega 3 helps control inflammation. When you exercise, this is highly important as it helps reduce free radical damage, lactic acid build up and stops your joints, muscles and ligaments becoming sore and inflamed. 

5. Calcium 

Due to the impact ultramarathons have, there’s an increased risk of bone stress injuries. The repetitive mechanical loading involved from training can lead to stress or fatigue on your bones. Research also shows that some effects of an ultramarathon could impact cartilage structure. 

Remember, the key word here is COULD

It may not happen, but there’s a chance! To prevent this from happening, we suggest upping your calcium intake. You need calcium to support bone health, muscle contractions, and overall running. 

The following daily calcium intake is recommended

  • Males 19-70 years-1000mg. 
  • Females 19-50 years (including those breastfeeding) 1000mg
  • Women 50-70 years - 1300 mg.

If you fail to get this from your diet, this is an essential supplementation for an ultramarathon you should consider taking. 

6. Caffeine

Who doesn't love caffeine? But are you getting enough to fuel your ultramarathon prep? 

Caffeine is no stranger to sports and nutrition and has a TON of scientific studies to support its benefits, especially with endurance sports, by up to 2-7% one hour before exercise! This performance enhancer can be crucial for your training sessions. 

The amount of caffeine you consume depends entirely on your training and tolerance levels. We always suggest starting small and seeing how you go.

Pro Tip: One way to feel the benefits of caffeine before your training is to take a pre-workout. Pre-workout helps increase blood flow to the muscles and supports mental stamina and endurance. It can play a major role in increasing your performance output.

Go Nutrition- Pre-Workout can help level up your resistance sessions. It contains 300mg of caffeine per serving, which can help you get well on your way to getting them new PBs in the gym!

7. Electrolytes 

While we briefly highlighted the importance earlier, electrolytes play a vital role in supporting your training. Especially those that contain sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, they can help retain fluids during intense sweat loss from long runs. 

They can be a game changer to avoid dehydration and performance and stop your performance from being impaired. They’re no doubt one of the best running supplements for long distance runners. 

Pro Tip: Save searching online for electrolytes and try our tasty electrolyte blend. Our Go Nutrition- Electrolytes are refreshing and tasty watermelon flavour. This electrolyte blend is packed with essential minerals to help replenish electrolytes and muscle function and support overall hydration levels, powering you through intense training sessions and runs. 

Bottom line on supplementation for ultramarathon 

Overall, when it comes to ultramarathon supplements, you cannot overlook them. You need to find ways to support your physical and mental health prior to training, during training, and after to support your recovery.

Remember, training for an ultramarathon is gruelling. 

You need FUEL to maximise your performance on the road or the trail. Regarding supplementation for an ultramarathon, think pre-workout, BCAAs/recovery, electrolytes, and additional ones afterwards. 

If you’re new to ultramarathons, it may be wise to consult a nutritionist who can advise you on the right diet to complement your training plan. 

Still curious about what areas to tap into to maximise your performance for ultramarathons?

Discover ways with us to get better sleep and have high energy levels in training.

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