Let's talk about nutrition!
- Food Flexibility
- Oct 30, 2020
- 4 min read
A guest blog from Food Flexibility and my good friend Tim who is a qualified nutrition coach. For more information about Food Flexibility, have a look at his website: https://www.foodflexibility.co.uk/
We’ve all been there, we start out on a ride loving the freedom of exploring the open roads but as we head for home we start to run out of steam and that last hour is a real slog.
If you are not taking on board the right fuel before, during or after a long ride then you risk making things harder for yourself whilst in the saddle or afterwards (trouble walking down the stairs the next day sound familiar?).
The good news is, getting in the right fuel doesn’t have to be super complicated and you can tailor your ‘fuelling strategy’ to suit your own personal preferences (and yes that does include coffee and cake!).
In this blog, I’m going to walk you through 6 simple steps you can try out the next time you hit the road before walking you through how I would tackle a 2 hour ride.
5 steps to fuelling your endurance exercise performance:
1. Properly hydrate
When you exercise you lose fluid and electrolytes through sweat. This can lead to dehydration which in turn causes fatigue because your heart is forced to work harder, ultimately making exercise more difficult.
Thirst alone is not the best indication of your hydration needs during exercise.
What can you do to prevent dehydration?
Drink 600-800ml of water before you head out. Ideally 2-3 hours before but get in what you can before you head out; and
Drink during your ride/run BEFORE you get thirsty.
2. Eat a carbohydrate rich meal beforehand
After around an hour of cycling, your body will have used up the energy stores it has from your last meal.
To make sure you have enough fuel in the tank you can consider topping up these energy levels with a carbohydrate rich meal 2-4 hours before exercising.
Lower fibre carbohydrates are better here so think rice kipsies, toast with jam and honey, a banana - whatever you find sits best on your stomach and doesn’t cause you issues.
Fatty foods are best avoided also as they slow digestion.
This will require some trial and error so don’t attempt a new breakfast on the morning of a sportive or super long ride without trying it in training beforehand
3. Aim to replenish your energy stores with carbohydrate during your ride
For each hour you exercise aim to eat or drink 30-60g of carbohydrates per hour of exercise (for 3hrs or more, you can increase this number to 90g per hour).
What does that look like?
A bottle of Lucozade sport (NOT sugar free/diet)
A banana
A handful of jelly beans or dried apricots
An energy gel
Have a guess at how long you will be out for and take one of those things with you for each hour. If in doubt take one extra something just to be sure.
Eat one portion on the hour, each hour.
Note: Some people will have different digestive reactions to others so try these out before embarking on a big event so you know how your body will digest them and you’re not caught short looking for a loo!
4. Eat sufficient calories to aid recovery
Once you have finished your ride make sure that you replace, the energy (calories) that you have burnt.
How do you know how much energy you have used?
Check your smart watch/exercise tracker
A word of caution!
Exercise watches are reasonably accurate at predicting calories for continuous exercise when connected to a heart rate monitor.
However, any method will not usually take into account the energy that you would have burnt anyway so are overestimates. If you are taking this approach and gaining weight when you do not want to then you may need to look into more detail (but that is the subject of another blog).
If performance and recovery are your goal then err on the side of eating more rather than less!
5. Consider an appropriate protein intake
You may think that protein is juts for gym bunnies and bodybuilders but it is incredibly important for endurance athletes too.
It helps to repair the muscles as they have worked incredibly heard doing thousands of repetitions either turning pedals or taking running strides.
1.6-2.0g of protein per KG of bodyweight per day is appropriate
What does this look like?
There is 20g of protein in
100g chicken (raw weight)
1 scoop of whey/vegan protein
150g Tofu
A pint of milk (plus it contains carbohydrates and electrolytes to further aid recovery)
6. What about coffee and cake?
We all love a pit stop for a good coffee and a slice of cake and it’s definitely part of the experience and culture (as well as a chance to rest those legs!)
Caffeine is well known for masking fatigue so that latte will definitely give you a boost. Like everything though excessive intake can be an issue. Don’t rely on caffeine, ensure you have applied points 1-3 first!
Most people would benefit from cutting out caffeine after 2pm (ideally earlier) as it takes a long time to diminish and can disrupt sleep. Poor sleep means poor recovery which leads to sore muscles and makes it difficult to improve our fitness.
If you’re planning a sportive then it may be a good idea to abstain from caffeine the night before to ensure you get a great night’s sleep!
As I’m sure you’ll know cake has a fair amount of sugar in it (simple carbohydrate) but it also contains fat which means it has plenty of calories.
This is no bad thing, as a long ride will burn through a ton of calories that need replenishing, BUT it is worth bearing in mind that a coffee shop slice of cake is anywhere between 300-800 calories (depending on the size of the wedge!).
Enjoy your riding!
Tim
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