Smelling something extra funky during your kickass workout?
We’re talking way worse than your average B.O.
It may be you, but if it’s smelling like ammonia or bleach near the end of your workout, that’s definitely not a good sign.
Smelling ammonia after a brutal workout can be an indicator of burning off stored protein as fuel. AKA, your muscle. Which we do NOT want happening!
Unfortunately, this means you didn’t have enough carbs available to quickly provide the large amounts of energy needed for that specific training session.
Since your body is only capable of converting fats to fuel in much lower amounts at much slower rates, your body has no choice but to start breaking down your stored protein for energy. Yup, your body can do this, but we don’t want it to! Hold onto that hard-earned muscle, my friend!
So why does it smell so dang bad? The protein breakdown product urea is being produced faster than it can be excreted by your kidneys, and is subsequently leached into your sweat. You smell it coming through your pores — literally!
Prevent that funky smell – and save your hard-earned muscles – by fuelling your body with higher carbohydrate intake before and during exercise.
Have a serving of slow release carbs (complex carbs like oats or yams) in your last meal before your training session, and then a serving of quick absorbing carbs (ex. 1 piece of fruit & 1 tbsp honey) in the 30-60 minutes pre-workout. And… maybe even more quick absorb carbs half way through your workout if it’s a super high intensity lasting more than 75-90 minutes.
Get in touch to chat more about individual pre and post workout fuelling needs!
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