Podcast, The Low Carb Athlete Podcast

Episode #466 with the Low Carb Ultra Runner Zach Bitter

By: Debbie Potts
Date: September 20, 2022

The Low Carb Ultra Runner, Zach Bitter

Zach Bitter is a professional endurance athlete with multiple World & American Record performances, a coach for endurance athletes from Olympic distance to ultramarathon and the podcast host of Human Performance Outliers Podcast. He offers a wide variety of coaching packages that range from personalized planning to premade plans. The personalized plans take into account your unique lifestyle characteristics, including current and previous fitness, schedule, timeline and stressors. The premade plans follow his coaching philosophy and include distances from 5 kilometres up to 100 miles, base training plans and a newly added strength athletes endurance guide.

During our discussion, you will discover how Zach got into low-carb fueling, the positive mindset needed to push forward in the long-distance races, the transition from a high cab athlete to a low-carb athlete and the benefits of burning fats to an athlete. You will also learn what carbs mean to an endurance athlete, the right carbohydrates to consume, and the best nutritional therapy for pre-workouts and post-workouts.

Tune in to learn more!

Episode resources

Timestamps:

[05:00] Why Zach got into the low-carb fueling

[10:07] The positive mindset of pushing forward in the long-distance races

[15:41] The transition from a high carb athlete to a low carb athlete

[27:00] Testing nutritional ketosis

[32:24] The benefits of burning fats to the endurance athlete

[39:27] What carbohydrates mean to the endurance athlete

[43:00] Mixing nutrition and exercises

[48:22] The best carbohydrates to consume

[53:06] Nutritional therapy for pre-workouts and post-workouts

[54:55] The role of protein in recovery

[01:07:17] Strategic carb timing for female athletes

Notable quotes

“Giving yourself a break along the road can help you push forward in the long distance races.”
“There is so much that goes into figuring out what works best for you because you are unique and that is why we need coaching.”
“Strategic carb timing is different for men and women athletes.”