One of many perks of being a critical endurance athlete is that you could pork out with impunity. All of that coaching burns main energy, which is why you are able to do actual harm to all-you-can-eat buffets.
In truth, typically it’d appear to be you’re hungry on a regular basis — besides throughout a tough exercise or race. In such conditions, the “fight-or-flight” response kicks in, sending your nervous system into overdrive and damping your urge for food so you’ll be able to concentrate on the job at hand.
The one downside with this little little bit of hormonal autofocus is that it may possibly trigger you to burn by a ton of energy, so if issues go on for too lengthy — say, greater than 90 minutes — you’re going to run low on gasoline.
To keep away from operating on an empty tank, right here’s how one can gasoline your physique throughout a race.
How Your Physique Burns Gasoline When You Train
While you train, your physique can pull gasoline from a number of locations:
- Adipose tissue (by lipolysis — the breakdown of fats)
- Muscle mass (by proteolysis — the breakdown of protein)
- Carbohydrates (by glycolysis — the breakdown of glucose, a.ok.a. blood sugar, which can also be saved in muscle and liver cells as glycogen).
When your exertion stage is low, or whenever you’re coaching in a decrease coronary heart charge zone, your physique burns a larger proportion of fats than carbs as gasoline. Even actually lean athletes have sufficient fats to final them for some time, so if you happen to’re noodling in restoration mode or constructing a base, during-workout diet isn’t fairly as vital (however hydration nonetheless is!).
In truth, many athletes intentionally practice in a fasted (i.e., glucose-deficient) state throughout these sorts of exercises to show their our bodies to higher make the most of fats for gasoline. However because the depth of your exercise will increase, so too does your physique’s reliance on carbs for power.
In case you plan on exerting any actual effort, or if you happen to’re planning on coaching for greater than a few hours, you’re in all probability higher off refueling with carbs as your physique burns by its glycogen shops.
What’s glycogen?
Glycogen is mainly a back-up blood sugar provide. It’s readily transformed again to glucose to be used as power. Liver glycogen may be subtle all through your physique, together with your muscle tissue, however muscle glycogen works just for the particular muscle during which it’s saved.
When your glycogen shops are fully topped off, you need to have about 90 to 120 minutes price of gasoline with which to work. After that, you “bonk” or “hit the wall.”
In case you’ve ever been in the course of a coaching session and out of the blue felt like even the best process was an epic problem, that’s bonking. Technically, you’ll be able to nonetheless perform at that time, as you continue to have fats shops and muscle to faucet into, however you gained’t carry out as nicely.
Gasoline Up Throughout a Lengthy Occasion (60+ Minutes)
1. Get a head begin on carbs
Enhance your carbohydrate consumption a pair days earlier than your race, and since there’s no simple manner of understanding when your glycogen is at one hundred pc, hedge your bets by consuming a carb-rich meal a number of hours earlier than it begins.
2. Gasoline proactively
Begin feeding about half-hour after you start as an alternative of ready for the primary hints of fatigue to set in. Why? As a result of if you happen to wait till you’re drained to refuel, you’ve waited too lengthy. (Our our bodies didn’t evolve to optimize gasoline manufacturing throughout 140.1-mile Ironman races and double centuries.)
Throughout excessive effort, the human physique can burn 800 to 1,000 energy per hour. Sadly, we will solely take up about 360 energy of carbs an hour, that means that we’re coping with a state of affairs of diminishing returns proper off the beginning line, so it’s vital to get a bounce on glycogen replenishment.
Since there are 4 energy in a gram of carbohydrates, 360 energy of carbs is equal to 90 grams. However getting these 90 grams isn’t as simple as gorging down a jelly donut, since totally different sugars take up in several methods and at totally different charges. In case you eat nothing however glucose, you’ll solely take up about 60 grams an hour, for instance.
3. Mix kinds of sugars
There’s a trick to maximise carb absorption: Fructose absorbs in a different way than glucose; it must cross by the liver. This course of can occur concurrently to glucose absorption, so if you happen to eat a mixture of the 2, you need to have the ability to take up extra carbs general — 90 grams an hour.
However whereas this quantity is backed by some respectable science, don’t take it as onerous and quick. Simply because you’ll be able to in all probability take up 90 grams of carbs per hour doesn’t imply you ought to. Throughout “shorter” occasions lasting between one and two hours, you’re in all probability not going to want 90 grams per hour, so that you would possibly as nicely save your digestive system the stress and stick with 30 to 60 grams per hour.
If, nevertheless, you’re going longer, your finest guess is to maintain 60 grams per hour as your baseline, and add as much as 30 grams per hour on prime of that relying on what your system can comfortably tolerate.
90 grams might appear to be plenty of carbs to soak up, however as with most points of coaching, you’ll be able to improve your physique’s skill to deal with it. Begin with an quantity that works for you, after which slowly improve your consumption. Simply keep in mind to experiment throughout coaching, not throughout races.
4. Set reminders
Additionally, make use of all that fancy information know-how you’ve in all probability invested in. Set a timer in your laptop/cellphone/bionic implant reminding you to drink and eat at common intervals.
Hydrate Throughout an Occasion
The science behind occasion feeding is surprisingly obscure, however the science behind occasion hydration is comparatively stable, so by pinning that down, you’ll be able to simplify the feeding half.
The quantity of your fluid consumption ought to differ relying in your sweat charge, which, in keeping with the American School of Sports activities Drugs, can vary from 8 to 67 ounces per hour throughout an occasion. Discovering your excellent hydration stage can take a while, however cyclists usually begin with about 24 ounces an hour. That’s roughly the quantity you’ll discover in a normal water bottle, making it simple to maintain observe.
Do you have to use a sports activities drink?
You could be tempted to fill that bottle with a sugar-laden sport drink so as to get your feeding and hydrating out of the way in which on the identical time. There’s an off probability this would possibly work to your distinctive physiology, however odds are that the hypertonic (extra concentrated than blood) nature of that tasty beverage gained’t take up successfully.
It could possibly result in gastric misery or, as skilled at many a cyclocross race, vomiting. You’re higher off with a hypotonic (much less concentrated than blood) drink with much less sugar. Such options have a tendency to soak up extra effectively and successfully.
A superb sports activities drink will supply carbs as a mixture of fructose and glucose. One serving of Beachbody Efficiency Hydrate accommodates 10 grams of carbs, so if you happen to drink 4 servings per hour, that’s 40 grams, that means you’ll solely must eat 20 to 50 grams (or about 80 to 200 energy) of carbs from meals in that hour.
You may all the time attempt to get all of your carbs in liquid kind, which isn’t unusual throughout triathlons, however this presents a few issues. First, if you happen to stick with a hypotonic combine, that’s plenty of water.
Second, consuming just one merchandise for hours on finish whereas struggling mentally and bodily is a recipe for taste fatigue — the place you obtain such a distaste for nourishment that your exhausted, exercise-addled mind actively prevents you from consuming or ingesting. By mixing liquids and solids, you stand a greater probability of avoiding taste fatigue and sustaining your urge for food.
What Varieties of Meals Ought to You Eat?
Something that tastes good and consists primarily of carbs will in all probability work. You wish to take up these sugars quick, so high-glycemic meals (i.e., those who elevate blood glucose ranges shortly) are nice on this state of affairs.
Some in style go-tos embrace bananas, melon, different low-fiber fruit, and mini-pretzels. (Three to 4 hours into an particularly onerous occasion, I additionally take nice pleasure in an eight-ounce can of Coke. Hooray for carbs and caffeine!)
But when your occasion goes to be constantly grueling or jarring in your system — triathlons and marathons come to thoughts — gels and chews are each easy-digesting feeding choices. Once more, make certain to learn the substances to confirm the sugar sources.
The Triathlon Swim Dilemma
You Ironman of us on the market are in all probability scratching your heads, given it’s slightly troublesome to gasoline whereas swimming. And by “troublesome,” we imply unimaginable.
So make a degree of being absolutely fed and hydrated earlier than you begin your race and concentrate on fueling the second you hit terra firma. Have a full bottle both by your bike or in your transition bag to sip as finest you’ll be able to as you alter.
As for consuming, it’s as much as you to find out how a lot you’ll be able to tolerate and/or accommodate. In case you can chomp a chew or two throughout transition with out slowing down, nice. In any other case, make a degree of feeding throughout the first few miles in your bike. Take into account that it’s simpler to feed when biking than it’s when operating, so don’t fall behind right here.
That stated, out of the blue stuffing your intestine would possibly result in GI points, so it’s vital that you simply be taught what your consumption limits are right here. Deal with this transitional fueling like every other a part of your coaching.
A Phrase About Protein
Whereas protein is instrumental post-event, it ought to play little or no half in during-event feeding. Your purpose is to revive glycogen as quick as humanly doable, and protein slows absorption.
The exception is a multi-stage race. On this case, you wish to keep the stability of protein turnover (the synthesis and degradation of muscle) as a lot as doable, so some protein throughout such an occasion is a good suggestion. Simply hold carbs on the forefront of your feeding, and experiment with protein throughout coaching to determine how a lot you’ll be able to tolerate.
The Ultimate Phrase: Do Whatcha Like
Whereas all of this recommendation offers you a superb start line for occasion diet — or hopefully a strategy to troubleshoot your present methodology — understand that private style and biology go a great distance in direction of figuring out the proper meals for you. By no means, ever experiment throughout a race. However whenever you’re coaching, don’t be afraid to strive totally different meals, in several quantities, in several solid-to-liquid ratios.
Additionally, don’t be afraid to take samples provided at race registration cubicles (for later use), or to mooch off your folks after they have one thing you’ve by no means tried.
Discover the intersection of what works scientifically and what works personally. When you’ve found that, you’ll be unstoppable.
