Walking / Running

Nutrition is an important factor whether you jog on Sundays to lose weight or stay healthy, or take part in amateur or professional races. Proper nutrition is decisive for better performance, for repairing muscles damaged by effort, and for keeping your whole body in shape.
The running discussed in this article is aerobic sport, meaning low- or medium-intensity, long-duration activity, not anaerobic running like a sprinter’s, which requires maximum power over a very short period, so-called explosive strength, as in someone running the 100 or 200 meters, who obviously has different needs.
Aerobic physical activity, such as running a few kilometers a few times a week at moderate to medium intensity, is good for your health, improves the efficiency of the cardiovascular system, helps eliminate toxins and boosts the production of endorphins, hence the feeling of well-being you get after a good run.
The diet of someone who plays sports does not differ from that of a sedentary person. The first rule is to follow a balanced diet, which means eating all foods of animal and plant origin in the right proportions, with a frequency that is daily for some foods and weekly for others. It is advisable to have 5 meals a day (breakfast, snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner) providing calories in roughly this proportion: from carbohydrates (50-60%), from protein (15-20%), and from fat (25-30%) . This eating pattern, based on the variety of foods consumed, supplies all the nutrients a runner’s body needs.
The second rule is to respect energy balance, that is, to take in as much energy (food = calories) as you burn: take in too much and you gain weight; eat less than you burn and you risk malnutrition and running out of energy during your performance.
Anyone who runs, whether a professional or a simple weekend amateur, has individual nutritional needs that depend on:

• age, sex, physical characteristics such as weight, height (basal metabolism), amount of lean and fat mass, lifestyle and, of course, the intensity level of the running.

For example, an average normal-weight male subject weighing 75 kilos (BMI from 18.6 to 24.9 – Body Mass Index):

• If he jogs in the park on Sundays (8 km an hour) he will burn on average 4-5 calories (kcal) per hour per kilo of body weight, that is, about 350 kcal every hour (the equivalent of 100 g of pasta with tomato sauce and 1 tablespoon of oil).
• If he is a trained amateur running at an average speed of 12 km an hour on a mixed route, he can burn 12-15 kcal per kilo of body weight, that is, between 900 and 1150 kcal an hour.
• If he does competitive running, as an amateur or professional, in long-distance races on a mixed route at a sustained pace (18-22 km/h on average), he can burn as much as 20 kcal per kilo per hour, that is, about 1500 kcal, the equivalent of two plates of lasagna.
• If he runs a marathon, and by now there are thousands of enthusiasts, a trained and fit athlete (12-20 km/h on average; speed obviously varies enormously between amateurs and professionals) can burn roughly 0.9 kcal per kilo per kilometer, or about 2900 kcal at the end of the 42.125 km, which is four plates of lasagna with meat sauce and béchamel.

A runner with a normal BMI and a regular percentage of body fat (15% for men and 20% for women), who therefore doesn’t need to lose weight, will eat only to make up for the energy required. Those who also run to lose weight (that is, to reduce fat mass), on the other hand, will need to follow an appropriate diet and gradually reduce stored fat thanks to the energy they expend.

We can divide runners into at least 3 categories: those who try to lose weight and work off stress by jogging, those who run consistently and methodically for prevention and well-being, even if at an amateur level, and professionals, whether middle-distance runners or marathoners, who compete to win. For the first and second groups, it is above all important to know that running can be practiced for a lifetime but with specific precautions that depend on age, in particular to preserve the musculoskeletal system, which naturally weakens over time.

• Young people can do vigorous activity for a long time, running on the street, in the park or on the track for 2-3 hours or more, with strides and sprints, going at the maximum speed their strength allows.
• Older adults should run at moderate intensity alternating with intense efforts, and keep up vigorous activity at the limit of their abilities for only a few minutes, depending on age and level of fitness. These runners should remember that Sunday walks and races should be fun and should not strain the heart or joints, so start with a good warm-up, take breaks and finish with cool-down and muscle stretching exercises.
• Seniors, by which we mean runners over 60, or younger ones who have had cardiovascular or musculoskeletal problems, should do sport at low to moderate intensity and take plenty of precautions, in particular paying close attention to possible injuries.

For everyone, but especially for seniors, before playing sports it is a good idea to:

• Have a sports medical examination that certifies fitness and the limits for each person, in particular for the cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal and digestive systems.
• For seniors and people with significant previous illnesses, it is a good idea to undergo a stress test to determine the maximum peak they can reach, which should never be exceeded once known.
• It is also important to keep the joints of the lower limbs under control and, for women around age 50, bone density too, to check the state of bone health.