On November 6th we received Mathieu Blanchard (@mathieu_kohlanta) on our Instagram live, Ultra French runner and Näak ambassador. He talked to us about the aspects that allows him to progress and to push his limits even further. For Näak, he gives us 10 tips to succeed in his nutrition and training.

1. BE SURE OF THE SPORT YOU WANT TO PRACTICE

First of all, Mathieu insists on the importance of knowing why you want to do Ultra Trail "Before launching into the world of Ultra Trail, you have to ask yourself why you want to do it. Because there are races of 10, 20, 30km in which you can have fun. Ultras have a more adventurous dimension than just sports because as soon as you set foot in it, many elements are to be taken into account: weather, nutrition, strategy."

2. PROGRESS

It is very difficult to measure the progress you make in Ultra Trail because the runs are always different. To track his progress Mathieu uses segments of roads that he knows by heart and evaluate his pace at different moments of the year. In order to improve, Mathieu also advises to take parts in competitions and to increase their difficulty little by little.

3. CONSISTENCY

Lighter but consistent training is much more beneficial for the body than a rare but intense training. "It's better to run 4 times 20 minutes in a week than 1 hour. It is therefore preferable to train with lower intensities in order to be able to repeat the efforts over time.”

4. RECOVERY

Ultra requires enormous efforts for the body and it is necessary to give it time to recover in order to avoid any injuries. Mathieu also believes in recovery via protein powders and more particularly with vegetable proteins. "With the vegetable protein I had no digestive problems and I felt much less aches and pains on my muscles.”

5. BREAK THE ROUTINE

Mathieu's typical week? There isn't one... Indeed, he adapts his weeks according to his upcoming challenges by adapting the surface, the altitude and the number of hours per week.

6. USE THE DURATION AND ELEVATION GAIN OF THE RUN RATHER THAN THE MILEAGE

For an Ultra Athlete, it's all about intensity. Mileage is not the unit of measurement used by Mathieu because he trains on different terrains and with different levels of elevation depending on his upcoming competitions. He therefore prefers to use the number of hours covered during the week.

7. FIND A BALANCE IN MUSCLE CONDITIONING

There is a balance to be found so that muscle conditioning does not become a burden to my running goal. You have to know where to stop and do reps with weights that are sufficient to "not get injured and resist the run" without having as an objective to build muscle mass.

8. BE AWARE THAT PREPARATION IS DIFFERENT FOR EACH ATHLETE

A favorite book? The Runner's Bible from The Running Clinic. According to Mathieu, the real strength of this book is that it cross-references all the information about running but also has "the humility to say that on some we still don't have an answer". "The human body is complex, and we can't say that some things work on everyone.

WHAT DOES HE THINKS OF THE NEW NÄAK ULTRA ENERGY BARS?

"I'm amazed at the quality of the bars. During my first challenge with these new bars I ate 2 per hour for 11 hours. I love the texture. It melts in your mouth. It's like a magic bar! »