Indispensable SPONSER products for travelling to distant training locations and competition venues
Those who travel to foreign countries often look forward to making new culinary discoveries and getting to know unknown ingredients or surprising flavours. Athletes who travel for training or competition purposes have a completely different expectation in this respect. For them, it is primarily a matter of being in top condition at the place of arrival: fit as a fiddle, wide awake and fully capable from the first day. No one wants to catch colds, serious infections or gastrointestinal problems. In the following, we reveal which SPONSER® products should not be missing when travelling to training locations or competition venues.
Plane, train, long-distance bus: hygiene and air quality
Air-conditioned air, especially in aircraft cabins, dries out the mucous membranes, making it easier for germs to grow. The often crowded conditions also favour the circulation of bacteria and viruses.
Practical tips
•Strengthen your immune system daily with IMMUNOGUARD for about 1 week before departure to protect the body from oxidative stress.
• Drink enough to keep the mucous membranes moist. Take an empty water bottle in your hand pastry through security and fill it with water in the duty-free area.
• ELECTROLYTES effervescent tablets dissolved in water make an aromatic drink without excess calories and provide the body with useful electrolytes.
• If you can't stomach the food on offer or don't want to take any risks, you can help yourself with satiating bars such as OAT PACK or HIGH ENERGY BAR (the latter are also available in a salty version). Or pack your own food for the meal(s) on board (Be aware that import into foreign countries mostly is not allowed!).
• PROTEIN CHOCO ALMONDS, PROTEIN LOW CARB BARs or even CRUNCHY PROTEIN BARs are suitable as high-quality protein snacks for in-between meals.
• Ensure accurate hand hygiene and, if necessary, wear an FFP2 mask during the flight as part of an individual risk assessment.
• It is advisable to adjust the meal rhythm during the journey to the time at the destination.
• To avoid wasting time looking for a restaurant at your destination and to get to bed early, take your first meal with you from home if possible or use POWER PORRIDGE or SWISS MÜESLI, for example.
Nutrition at your destination: value, tolerance, purity and hygiene
If you can't or don't want to cook for yourself in your new surroundings, you will have to make use of what is already available. The danger lurks in unfamiliar preparation methods, contaminated, exposed food (salads, fruit and uncooked food) as well as in meat and fish in which drug residues (danger of doping) may appear.
Practical tips
•Beware of buffets! Preferably load freshly cooked, hot food onto the plate. Avoid meat and fish, depending on the country (doping and antibiotic residues have been documented in countries such as China and Mexico). Meet your protein needs instead with high-quality protein powders such as MULTI PROTEIN, WHEY ISOLATE 94 or the easy-to-carry bag of WHEY TRIPLE SOURCE PROTEIN.
• If necessary, cover nutrient and vitamin requirements with BASIC MINERALS or RECOVERY DRINK in sachets. For fruits in exotic countries, the rule of thumb is: «Peel it or leave it»! Take vegetables only cooked.
• Keep protein intake high during intensive training or prolonged competition phases to optimise recovery and avoid a drop in performance. The PRO RECOVERY SHAKE after exercise, CASEIN as a night protein before going to bed or the LOW CARB PROTEIN SHAKE as well as PROTEIN BARs and PROTEIN DRINKs have proven their worth. If you have to limit yourself to a few products for logistical reasons, PRO RECOVERY is the first choice, or in an even more reduced form, WHEY TRIPLE SOURCE PROTEIN in a transport-friendly bag, which you can then combine with carbohydrates from food on site as required.
• Be careful when importing food and supplements! Some countries (e.g. Australia) have strict rules in this regard. The least risky way is to import durable and unopened products in their original packaging.
• Stay as close as possible to familiar eating habits and send indispensable supplements (caffeine boosters such as ACTIVATOR, LIQUID ENERGY GELs and drink powders for the competition, or protein products for regeneration) to the place of stay early.
Related articles
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Literature
Halson, S. L. et al. (2019): Nutrition for travel: from jet lag to catering, in: Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2019 Mar 1;29(2):228-235.
