"Peak Performance"

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What’s the most important thing to remember when you are training for any sort of major athletic event, for eg the Mumbai Marathon or even a high intensity workout? Its all about the preparation girls and boys. And that means the right training, the right eating, the right sleeping, and the PERFECT 24 hours prior to your event. And the key to ensuring your best athletic performance is to make sure that you are getting the right foods to support and strengthen your body when it needs proper nutrition the most.

Here are some quick pre-event tips to keep in mind:


Carb-loading: Make sure that all your meals 72 hours before your event are high in the carb department. Am taking bran cereal for breakfast, rice for lunch, and pasta for dinner.

11th hour fix: Eat a little something 3 to 4 hours prior to the event. Maybe a toast, or a Granola bar, even a banana. This works to give you that extra fire power to last you through the event without too much exhaustion.

Stick to what you know: this is not the time to experiment .In the last24 hours, its smartest to stick to foods that are easy for your body to digest. (ie. Fried foods are a big no –no)

Sugar free: Avoid foods that are high in sugar levels until at least one hour before your event. These tend to spike energy levels, but only for a short time, and so are not the most favorable options.

Drink up: its of supreme importance to stay well hydrated before any athletic event, and if there weather is hot, even more so. Drink a couple of glasses a few hours before the event, maybe another glass about half an hour before you begin, and a few sips every half and hour during the event.

"Workout Woes"

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What to do when your workout just isn't working out...

Eating right (pre and post): Its always a good idea to make sure you are fuelling your body properly before hitting the gym or doing any form of exercise. My advice? Eat something small but high on energy about an hour before you are planning to work out so that you can use the energy to really give it your 100%. If you work out in the mornings try and eat an apple/banana or a bowl of high-fibre cereal. A friendly word of caution to all the ladies looking to lose some love handles, if you try and starve your body before you work out thinking it will help you lose more weight you couldn’t be more wrong! In fact, trying to work out with little or no energy is pretty much a waste of time since you are not going to be able to pack any power into your session and end up just feeling cranky and exhausted! Also, make sure to eat a little something within an hour of your workout. It refuels your system and actually helps to increase the metabolic rate of your body.




Hydration Counts: Keep a small bottle of water handy when you are working out and make sure to keep taking small sips from it through out the session. Remember, water is made up of two parts oxygen (which is why they call it H2O) and that oxygen is what replenishes the organs and muscles to work better when under strain. So drink up folks.



Breaking the routine: One of the biggest problems people have with their work outs is this one. Of course its going to be frickin boring when you are repeating the exact same exercises, in the exact same order, for the exact same number of counts, every single time you go to the gym people. Its time to get creative.Not only does variation in your work out make it that much more fun (eg mix up mon and fri weights training with kickboxing on wed), its also more effective when working towards weight loss.


Perfect timing: each of us is built differently and so your work out regime too, should be customized to work perfectly for your personality, body type, and lifestyle. If you find yourself to be a night owl, always ready to rock and full of energy post the sunset, then evening work outs are probably great for you. On the other hand if you like to sleep early, and love to wake up at dawn, plan your work out to meet the morning sun and you will find yourself feeling great all day long. Despite what you may have heard or read, I truly believe there is no “right time” for exercise. The right time is what works for you, its as simple as that.