CYCLING nutrition AND hydration

"Our bodies are like a car. When you drive a lot and drive very fast,
you need more fuel than a normal car."
— Jean-Paul van Poppel

Nutrition Basics

Although many fads and theories have come and gone, the basics have remained the same for many years:

· Eat a variety of whole, unprocessed foods.

· Control your weight.

· Eat a diet relatively high in fiber.

· Eat a diet relatively low in high-cholesterol foods and fat.

· Eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

· Eat regular meals.

· Eat fewer simple sugars - candy, table sugar, "sweets."

· Avoid junk food.

· Avoid salty foods.

· Make dietary changes gradually.

· Learn about your body and whether high blood pressure, diabetes, blood cholesterol, or other factors should influence your diet.

· Rely on food, not pills, for your nutrients; however, consider an inexpensive multivitamin-multimineral supplement.

· Don't worry about occasional dietary indiscretions, as long as they are only occasional.

General Principles of Nutrition

The best current thinking is not novel or new: Rely on a variety of whole, unprocessed foods. Have food items in balance, and in moderation.

Too much or too little of many foods is harmful. It's like tire pressure. Too little air and you have too much rolling resistance. Too much and the bike handles skittishly. And both too much and too little risk flat tires—whether pinch flats or blowouts.

There are no truly "good" or "bad" foods. It's all a question of moderation. Make carbohydrates (pasta, potatoes, rice, breads, and cereals) the center of your meals. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Add relatively small quantities of protein and fat for their nutritional balance, taste, and variety. It's not magical or difficult.

The recommended "healthful diet" for the general population is very close to the same diet that is recommended for specialized high-endurance athletes such as century riders - high in carbs, low in fats, and low in cholesterol. The minor variations are discussed below.

Although active athletes may require more nutrients than the general population, the increased calories they consume usually compensate for their increased requirements.

Athlete Nutrition - Adequate Calories

Exercise is work—it demands caloric energy. Average-weight riders will use about 2,500calories riding a century. You must consume sufficient calories before and during events in order to keep working.

Guidelines for before, during, and after exercise caloric consumption are given below under Examples of Meals and Foods.

Carbohydrates—Fuel for Endurance Aerobic Athletes

Aerobic athletic performance demands glycogen, a storage form of carbohydrate. Your body makes glycogen from the carbs you ingest, not from fat or protein.

The body can store about 2/000 calories in glycogen. For those who exercise for more than the average of one hour daily, there's a good chance that a diet high in carbs and low in fat will help their body make glycogen and continue to perform at a high level.

Carb Loading and Reloading

Carbohydrate loading is a technique you've probably heard about—increasing intake of complex carbs for a few days before a long aerobic endurance event can boost performance. It's probably helpful, so scoop up the pasta, potatoes, and whole-grain breads before long-distance training or events.

Carb reloading—promptly replacing carbs after activity—is critical to help recovery.

Extra Sodium

Endurance training, day after day, especially in the heat, can deplete the body's sodium. Sweat contains about one gram of sodium per quart.

On hot days or when working hard, many of us sweat about two quarts per hour.

The average American ingests two to five grams of sodium per day. Since most of us exercise only a few hours at a time, sodium is not usually a problem. A relatively small percentage of the population is "salt sensitive." In this group, a low sodium diet may help reduce high blood pressure, if present.

But for those training several days in a row or for many hours at a time, adding salt to the diet before, during, and after exercise may help maintain exercise intensity, assist in hydration and rehydration, and prevent hyponatremia (sodium-depletion in the blood) which is a potentially disabling or lethal consequence of exercise. Sodium-rich foods and salting foods are suggested under these circumstances. Salt tablets do not appropriately stimulate thirst and are not recommended.

Hydration

It is water that you chiefly need when exercising. Drink before you are thirsty. Clear, non-concentrated urine is an indication of appropriate rehydration. Dark urine can be a warning that you are dehydrated and need to drink a lot.

A dilute carbohydrate solution (about 5% sugar) is almost always a better choice than plain water. It tastes better, encourages you to drink, and helps replace lost calories. (See Sports Drinks below.)

Drink one quart of fluids per hour when exercising hard or in hot conditions. Although it's possible to lose several quarts of sweat per hour, it's hard for the stomach and intestines to absorb more than one quart per hour.

Trying Out New Foods

Experiment with new foods and sports drinks on training rides to find out what suits you best. Don't try out new foods or drinks at your event.

Pre-Ride Nutrition

A good breakfast is central to a good start on the day. If performing an all-out short race at 7:00 a.m., a big breakfast isn't a good idea. But if you are expecting to go out and ride for a few hours, fuel your body.

A half-hour before training, you'll want to top off your energy supplies and make sure that you are well hydrated. Here again, a high-carb, low-fat diet works best for most.

Nutrition During Training

Training for more than an hour? Continue to fuel your body with high-carb, low-fat foods. You'll be able to go farther and faster if you do.

Sports Drinks: From the original Gatorade to the modern metabolic optimizers, these beverages mostly help you to hydrate and get some calories. Some have a little sodium, too. For many athletes, such solutions are easier to tolerate than the fructose found in fruit juices. Since fruit juices are too concentrated, if you use them, dilute to one-half to one-third strength.

When it's hot, when you are working hard, or when you have been riding for a long time, it's often hard to get down solid food. Even sugar solutions with a 6% concentration or greater are difficult to digest. The solution to getting calories while exercising is maltodextrins—carbs that keep the concentration down/ but add calories by increasing particle size. Look at Nutrition Facts labels. Look for "Total Carb" then look at "Sugars." The difference is usually the carb calories from maltodextrins. Some ideas are listed below under Examples of Meals and Foods. You can also ask you teammates what kind of sports drinks work for them, or check with your local bike shop for recommendations on brands to try.

Energy Bars: They're convenient sources of calories while exercising for cyclists, and they fit in your jersey pocket or pouch. They may also have additives like guarana (caffeine) and ma huang (ephedra, an adrenaline-like chemical), additives that you may or may not want to be eating. Most of them add vitamins and minerals to help justify their cost, because per calorie, they are expensive. Fat-free fig bars, bananas, or homemade, low-fat cookies are good alternatives.

Carbohydrate Gel: Not a solid; not a drink. You squirt gels into your mouth and then chase with 8 ounces of fluid. It's another convenient source of calories for the active athlete. Most are mainly maltodextrins.

Post-Training Nutrition

Even if you've had a good breakfast, even if you've fueled while exercising, after your long workout you're still probably calorically depleted. Replenishing your body's carbs with a few hundred calories of carbohydrates within the first 30 minutes after a training session, and then again within the next 2 hours, will do a lot to help you recover, replace your glycogen, and exercise again the next day.

Examples of Meals and Foods

Your choices should emphasize lots of carbs. For exercise in the heat, eat more salt than usual.

Night Before Long Training Sessions

800 to 2,000 calories - 150 to 250+ grams of carbs (2 to 4 grams/kilo body weight)

· Salad

· Pasta (easy on the Alfredo sauce!)

· Whole-grain bread

· Fat-free milk

· Fruit

Breakfast Before Long Training Sessions

600 to 1,500 calories - 120 to 210+ grams of carbs (2 to 3 grams/kilo body weight)

· Fruit: orange/ apple, banana, fruit salad, etc.

· Fat-free or reduced-fat milk, juice, tea, coffee

· Choose 2 to 4 items:

Big bowl of cereal and fat-free or reduced-fat milk

Big bowl of oatmeal (if instant, 2 packages)

2 slices of toast (add jam, peanut butter, etc. to taste)

Bagel

Muffin

Pancakes and syrup (little, if any, butter)

Waffles and syrup (little, if any, butter)

Leftovers (e.g., pasta or pizza)

During Long Training Sessions

300 to 750 calories per hour - 60 to 120 grams of carbs per hour - eat solid foods early—before exercise intensity or duration makes such foods more difficult to tolerate.

· Standard carb drinks (examples: Gatorade, Powerade, AllSport, Cytomax, Accelerade, Coca-Cola -100 to 150 calories per 16 ounces)

· High carb drinks (examples: GatorLoad, Endurox R4/ Ultra Fuel - 200 to 600 calories per 16 ounces)

· Energy bars and gels

· Low-fat Pop Tarts

· Bananas

· Fig bars, cookies, muffins

· Candy bars (Milky Way has the least fat - 30%)

· Bagels

· Sandwiches (hold the mayo or PB&J)

· Pretzels, saltines

After Long Training Sessions

300 to 750 calories per hour for 2 hours - 60 to 120 grams of carbs per hour after that

· Carb or recovery drinks

· Sandwiches (hold the mayo)

· Pretzels/ low-fat chips

· French toast and jam

· Energy bars and gels

· Bananas

· Fig bars

· Bagels

Convenience Store Ideas

· Prepared whole-wheat turkey or chicken sandwiches (don't add mayo)

· Low-fat muffins

· Yogurt

· Ice milk or frozen yogurt

· Fresh fruit

· Pretzels

· Fat-free or reduced fat corn chips or potato chips

· Bagels, raisin bread

· Apple pies (higher in fat than perhaps ideal, but taste great!)

Fast-Food Ideas

· Pancakes

· English muffin

· Chicken sandwiches (hold most of the sauce)

· Salads (easy on the dressings)

· Baked potatoes

· Tostados

· Burritos

· Pizza, choose lower fat toppings

· Burger, hold the mayo. About 400 calories, 30% fat