Fuelling the champions

The NN Running Team boasts four prominent nutritional partners, which provide the fuel and energy to enable our world-class stable of athletes to perform of their best. We focus on their role and how they are making a critical difference.

Maurten – The sports fuel drink

Maurten drink mix is a high concentrated sports drink providing both energy and fluid. The content of Drink Mix 320 basically contains (99 per cent by weight) carbohydrates – the predominant fuel during a marathon.

What are the benefits?

During a marathon, or any long-distance event, the body uses carbohydrates and fat to fuel its movement. However, the proportion between those fuel sources are not equally distributed, and for an elite marathon runner, carbohydrates are the predominant fuel during a race. The intensity (the relative intensity) performed is the main determining factor in deciding what fuel the body is going to use. Furthermore, the body’s carbohydrate stores are limited, and carbohydrate depletion is one factor that causes the runner to go slower. What we have done with the Drink Mix 320 is remove all the ingredients that do not have a functional contribution to an athlete during performance. This has been have achieved by adding two dietary fibres with gel-forming abilities. The resulting hydrogel seems to enable smoother transportation of the carbohydrates to the intestine where the carbohydrates are absorbed.

In what quantities should it be consumed?

There are no general guideline that fits everyone, so the first advice would be evaluate the tolerability of ingested carbohydrates in training before implementing it as part of a race strategy.

During a race, athletes are limited to taking on board fluid to every 5km, or 15 to 17 minutes of running for an elite performer. So, drinking a smaller volume of fluid every 15 minutes probably represents the best practical way to tolerate as much fluid as possible.

The amount needed is dependent on intensity and duration – the faster and longer, the more carbohydrates are needed to maintain the pace. Based on our own lab trials with Drink Mix 320, consuming up to around 95 grams per hour distributed every 15-20 minutes represents a highly efficient amount to support performance. This amount is close to what other research authorities recommend during prolonged efforts in excess of two hours. More carbohydrates (more than 100 grams per hour) doesn’t seem to offer any major benefits, compared to this approach, and only increases the risk of gastrointestinal distress.

Beet It – The super juice

The Beet It Sport shots contain 98 per cent concentrated beetroot juice and two per cent lemon juice with every 70ml shot comprising a consistent dose of dietary nitrate (400mg) from concentrated beetroot juice, equivalent to 500ml beetroot juice.

What are the benefits?

One of the main benefits to the athletes is that dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the oxygen cost of exercise and delays the onset of fatigue. In 2018 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) published a 2018 Consensus Statement summarising that “dietary nitrate supplementation has been associated with improvements of four to 25 per cent in exercise time to exhaustion.

In what quantities should it be consumed?

We advise athletes to consume one to two shots (400-800mg dietary nitrate) one to three hours before training and for up to six days prior to a competition. We ensure the athletes receive the most up to date, evidence-based dosing guidelines. The IOC statement also found athletes must consume greater than 300mg of dietary nitrate per day for improvements to exercise performance.

Virtuoos – The supplement provider

Virtuoos is a market leading Dutch company, which aims at developing and marketing high quality, and safe dietary supplements for (professional) athletes. Market research has a pivotal role in the development of our products. We are continuously creating new supplements and improving existing products to satisfy the ever-changing needs and lifestyles of our athletes.

What are the benefits?

We use different kind of products; in total 30 high-end dietary supplements. These products prevent shortcomings and surpluses (strengthen the immune system), avoid the breakdown of muscle tissue or stimulate muscle growth and accelerate the recovery process. 

In what quantities should it be consumed?

The nutritionist of the team is responsible for this advice. The advice regarding dietary supplements can differ, because there are different kinds of athletes and during the season they have separate needs. Virtuoos’ sports supplements are used to support an optimal policy on nutrition and supplementation in relation to training and delivering a great performance. 

Daily Fresh Food – The nutrient-rich food supplier

Daily Fresh Food provide the healthy food for the runners and stand for the phrase ‘Better Food, Better Life’. They provide high quality products, meals and concepts related to food.

What are the benefits?

They work on preparing food and providing the perfect balance between taste and preserving the vitamins and minerals. A balanced selection of tasty food is put together with co-operation with a nutritionist and is prepared using the sous-vide method – in which the ingredients and prepared with the right balance of vacuum, pressure and temperature. The advantage using this method is all the vitamins and minerals stay with the product and this allows for optimal food safety.

In what quantities should it be consumed?

We deliver our food to athletes during both training camps and closer to and on race day. Our ideal scenario is that athletes eat fresh and good food on a daily basis that can be self-prepared with fresh ingredients.