#67 – Book Club: The Endurance Diet

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man mountaineering with rope and ice axe

How do the world's greatest endurance athletes eat?

Sports journalist Matt Fitzgerald wanted to know. So he asked distance runners, triathletes, cyclists, and rowers from every continent to share their food diaries.

The results were shockingly consistent.

Endurance athletes at the Olympic and world championship levels share several simple, easy-to-follow nutrition practices.

But do you know what's a bummer? Almost none of these are common in recreational athletes.

Matt Fitzgerald wanted to change that, and I highly recommend his book The Endurance Diet for mountaineers, trekkers, trail runners, and athletes like you.

And in this week's podcast episode, I'll share some of his key insights that you can start practicing today.

Ready? Let's do this.

Linked Resources

In this episode, you’ll learn …

  • How Matt Fitzgerald formulated his five principles of the ideal endurance athlete diet. Why recreational athletes so rarely follow these practices.

  • How restrictive diets can hurt your performance. Benefits of commonly vilified food groups. Why it's important to include some lower quality foods in your diet.

  • What it means to eat a "high quality" diet. Why not all processed foods are bad. Some "unhealthy" foods that are actually nutrient dense.

  • The benefits of a carb-centered diet. What endurance athletes can learn from Kenyan runners. Common myths and facts about carbs. What science says about high-carb diets versus low-carb diets.

  • The importance of eating enough. Dangers of underfueling during endurance training. Why endurance athletes sometimes gain weight. The simplest way to know when you're eating the right amount of food for your energy expenditure.

  • Individuality in diet. The importance of making your endurance training diet work for you.