"In the long term, acids in the body act like sand in the gears," says Roland Jentschura. The nutritionist is a passionate fan of the TOUR Transalp and equally passionate about the fight against acidosis. He doesn't beat about the bush and says: "Intensive training and competition first cause complete damage to our bodies." High lactate levels, complete hyperacidity, a low immune system - sport is initially harmful. But, relativises Jentschura, this is also the start button for regeneration and the associated improvement in performance. "But the important point in sport," Jentschura continues, "is that I can't keep pressing this one button and saying: training, training, training..."
Regeneration is important
Training also requires active regeneration. Intensive sport cannot be combined with a lack of exercise, not with a normal diet, not with normal acidic body care. This is a complete brake on regeneration. If you don't get rid of the acids after training, you end up overtraining.
If the body is "permanently acidic", regeneration no longer works. To counteract this, Jentschura recommends consciously adapting the diet: "very plant-orientated, rich in vital substances and alkaline surplus to absorb the acids from sport."
Foot bath to deacidify the body
Another building block is to deacidify immediately after sport, i.e. to eliminate acids as far as possible. For example, through the skin with an alkaline foot bath. Jentschura offers this service at the finish of every Transalp stage, which is very popular with the finishers. It is difficult to get hold of a free footbath. It's chilled, soothing and removes the first wave of acidity from the body.
In the presentation of his book "Power instead of Acid", Jentschura goes into great detail about the necessity of deacidification and the importance of a balanced diet and alkaline body care. It's well worth taking a look:
Jentschura has summarised what is important when preparing for the Transalp in three points here:
1. "Throw off ballast" and "flush the sand out of the gears"
Those who specifically de-acidify and detoxify their body have a better training build-up and can later perform better under stress. Acids are like "sand in the gears" and impair performance until the over-acidified muscle completely "shuts down". Alkaline body care in the form of foot and full baths, sauna, massages, wraps or stockings activates the skin as an excretory organ. Acids that inhibit performance can be excreted in a targeted manner and you can regenerate faster and get back into training. With the "three-step purification", the deposited, stuck acids and harmful substances are firstly reactivated, secondly neutralised and removed and thirdly excreted. This also gets rid of unnecessary ballast in the often stubborn problem areas.
2. fill energy stores
A thorough basic endurance training programme should be used to train fat burning, as this is where you will need to draw most of your energy from during the TOUR Transalp. To optimise fat burning, the body needs a constant supply of carbohydrates and a blood sugar level that is as constant as possible. The Transalp will therefore again be largely determined by breakfast with easily digestible, wholesome, complex carbohydrates. During the day, carbohydrates are mainly consumed in the form of bananas, sugar drinks, bars and gels. It is essential to practise digesting these. How does my digestion react to the concentrates? How much of it can I tolerate, over what period of time and how much water do I need? Fat is difficult to digest during physical exertion and should therefore only be consumed in small quantities both before and during exercise. It is therefore advisable to build up a small, healthy fat pad before the Transalp.
3. fresh "oil for the engine"
Vital plant substances, i.e. minerals and vitamins as well as secondary plant substances such as antioxidants, are like "oil for the engine", because almost all metabolic enzymes need these vital substances to function properly - whether for energy production, deacidification, regeneration or the development of muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and bones. If the energy supply is optimised with minimal acid production and optimal acid buffering, the muscles will last much longer at a high level. You should therefore eat a diet as rich in alkaline and vital substances as possible according to the 80:20 rule, 80 per cent plant-based and, if at all, 20 per cent animal-based.
Anyone who has "smelled a rat" and wants to find out more about the topic of hyperacidity, especially what it means for them personally, has the opportunity to do so, the questionnaire "Acidosis? - the three metabolic types".
