Bonus Perfirmance choc lovers Performance nutrition for cyclists chasers of Anti-depressant benefits treats. Subscribe Nuttrition EVOQ. After hard training, it is essential to make sure that you eat protein in the hours after cycling so your body has the tools it needs to strengthen and repair damaged muscle fibres.

Performance nutrition for cyclists -

These days, all professionals and top amateurs follow strict diet plans to improve their performance both in training and on the big day. Getting it wrong may lead to under-performance and disappointment. Getting it right can give you the edge you need to succeed. To start, we breakdown each of the macronutrients and then provide you with a basic nutrition plan for your next cycling or endurance event.

So, what does the body need to thrive and perform at its best under stress? You consume calories through food and beverages, which fall into one of two categories:.

Macronutrients are the big players for big performance. On the other hand, there are micronutrients. These typically contain very few calories, but contain essential vitamins and minerals.

These are vital for the maintenance of tissue function, regular metabolism, and other key bodily functions. Mineral deficiencies can affect the immune system, and may reduce recovery ability.

Aim to get plenty of Vitamin D, Omega 3s, calcium, magnesium, B vitamins, and iron and zinc. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables — the more colourful and varied, the better.

Okay, now what about the three macronutrients? How do they work, and why do we need them? When you hear protein, think muscles. Strong muscle tissue is vital for an athlete for obvious reasons. Not only does protein grow and repair muscles, it also protects them.

Eating protein-rich foods before and after a race or competitive event ensures that your muscles have everything they need to remain strong under stress and recover quickly when resting.

Protein is made up of amino acids. There are two types of amino acids: essential and non-essential. However, essential amino acids can only be obtained from your diet. Together, they create protein and, thus, muscle. A protein-poor diet is going to affect your performance and your recovery in an unwanted fashion.

So where do you get high-quality protein from? Protein-rich sources are meat, fish, eggs, milk, and cheese. For vegetarians and vegans, there are plenty of plant-based sources such as beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, grains, and soy. Further, aim to consume protein regularly throughout the diet and with every meal.

The body can only absorb approximately 30g of protein at any given time, so spread it out for the best results. In other words, carbohydrates are petrol. Carbohydrates are digested and broken down into glucose.

Glucose is essentially a simple sugar that provides all your energy needs. But be warned, some sources of carbohydrates are difficult to break down. If consumed at the wrong time, they can actually create problems rather than benefit your performance.

There are simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Taken at the incorrect time may, and probably will, lead to GI Gastrointestinal tract issues, which are not very comfortable and will limit your performance. The last thing you want during an endurance race is to feel bloated and tired as your body tries to digest as well as perform.

Not fun! Examples of simple carbs include bananas and other fruits. Fruits are made up of only 1 or 2 sugar molecules so your body can absorb and convert them into energy quickly. Although watching someone trying to eat a yoghurt while negotiating a tricky downhill on their bike would be entertaining.

Examples of complex carbs include pasta, bread, and potatoes. Complex carbs contain long strands of sugar molecules, as opposed to the 1 or 2 found in fruits.

They also contain dietary fibre — a key player to gut health, regulating blood-sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as regulating toilet breaks. These should be eaten the day before riding or a few hours before your event so that they have plenty of time to be digested.

They are equally important as simple carbs and must be included in your diet if you want to achieve maximum performance. Having a good dietary plan is just as necessary as training when preparing for an event. The body needs both simple and complex carbs.

Surely fat should be avoided, right? Well, not entirely. If carbs are the body's primary petrol, fats are the reserve fuel tank. Fats are also essential for joint structure and strength, muscle growth, hormone production, and the absorption of vital vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K.

Aim to eat healthy fats vs. unhealthy fats — more on this below. Firstly, Trans fats are a big no-no for anyone looking to reach peak performance.

They can be found in commercially baked and frozen goods or manufactured products with a long shelf-life. Think takeaway pizza, ready-made microwave meals, mass-produced cakes, popcorn and just about anything from the frozen section.

There are basically no positives to them nutritionally, and a multitude of negatives. Secondly, Saturated fats, which are found in foods such as bacon, cakes, cured meats, butter, palm and coconut oil are to be limited. This is because saturated fats increase the levels of LDL cholesterol the bad kind in the blood, which leads to the clogging of arteries.

For everyone, but especially athletes, clear and free-flowing blood vessels and arteries are essential to good performance as the blood feeds the various parts of the body with the oxygen it needs to function efficiently.

However, saturated fats can help in building muscle tissue if consumed in moderation. On the other hand, Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are good for you and increase levels of HDL cholesterol the good kind into the body and decrease LDL cholesterol.

This will protect the arteries and blood vessels. Olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds and fish are all good sources of healthy fats. Omega 3 and Omega 6 which are found in the above are also known as essential fats, as the body can only get them from your diet.

They are essential for efficient brain functions and growth generally. How do I do that? Read the label. You can also go to a sports nutritionist and get their expert opinion on what is right for you and what your objectives are.

You can also track your calorie intake using a food-tracking app such as MyFitnessPal. Taken in balance, they will optimise your performance and recovery. However, this is not the best approach. When you cycle, you burn calories. Typically, smaller rides burn less, and larger riders burn more calories.

To stay the same weight, you need to eat at your maintenance calories. To lose weight, you need to eat in a calorie deficit, and to gain weight, including lean muscle mass, you need to eat in a slight calorie surplus.

On non-training days, your diet will most likely stay the same. A lot of head units estimate calories burnt, but just be cautious as these are estimations. You can also use calorie calculators. Consume the macronutrients recommended above for the best results.

However, the sheer abundance of information out there can be complicated, conflicting, and confusing In all, not a happy package. At Veloforte, not only do we love cycling, we love great food and eating well too some have called us greedy. This is accurate. No matter how much money you might invest in a new set of wheels, or how hard you train, a great nutrition plan and cycling diet is the bedrock for staying healthy and, above all else, enjoying cycling even more!

What you put into your body, you get out of it. Our aim is to take you back to the basics for a simple approach on how to get nutrition right so you can focus on enjoying your rides.

Good nutrition affects every aspect of cycling. If you want to cycle at your best, recover well, and stay fit and healthy, understanding the main nutrients that make up your diet is the crucial first step.

Here's a look at the most important nutrients for cyclists to put in their bodies. We can store in the form of glycogen within our liver and muscles enough fuel for approx 90 mins of exercise at any one time. Anything beyond that means we need to ensure that we take on board extra carbohydrates at regular intervals to avoid the dreaded cycling bonk.

When our bodies run out of energy, our cycling essentially grinds to a halt - or at least a very slow and awkward wobble! If you are training for a longer cycling event such as a race, sportive, or Audax, it is really important that you practice different fuelling strategies during your training to ensure you get the most out of what you put into your body.

Not only does this help fix a strategy in your mind, make it familiar, and form a routine, it can help train your body and digestive system to better absorb carbohydrates to give you a much-needed boost during those longer rides.

Including your nutrition and fuelling strategy into your cycling training means you'll also develop and support your needs for managing weight-loss, endurance capability, and cycling power. Depending on the intensity of your ride, you should aim to intake between 30gg of carbohydrate per hour and up to 90g if part of the carbohydrate is being supplemented by a mix of glucose and fructose the sugar from fruit.

This is because fructose actually increases the efficiency of your carb absorption, meaning you can take even more on board and fuel yourself for even longer. You can read more about the best carbs for cycling here. Carbohydrates help you to perform at your best for longer, so we at Veloforte have naturally focused on healthy carb intake with many of our energy bars for you to enjoy on your rides.

Take our Mixed Endurance Pack , for example: it contains our Classico , Ciocco , and Di Bosco bars for dual source carbs on the go. We have you covered there as well with our range of Veloforte Energy Gels.

Protein wears many hats within the human body. It helps to strengthen and repair damaged tissue, allows metabolic reactions to take place, and helps coordinate and regulate your essential bodily functions including maintaining appropriate fluid and pH balance. Protein is absolutely essential for cycling recovery.

You can even take a bar on your ride and wash it down with one of our specially formulated Veloforte recovery shakes for the most efficient protein intake just after your ride. When you exercise, you break down muscle as you push it to its limits.

That muscle needs to be repaired in order for it to adapt to more strain. Depending on the intensity of your ride, you should be looking to take about 1.

If you feel that you need to lose weight to optimise your body and health for your rides, then taking recovery days where you reduce your carbohydrate intake and up your protein intake is highly recommended. Vitamin D is a key component for building stronger muscles, stronger bones, and increasing your metabolism - leading to shorter recovery times.

You need vitamin C to give your immune system a boost and allow it to protect you from nasties that might keep you out of the saddle and place you ill in bed instead. No one wants that. It also helps fight cardiovascular disease, prevent wrinkles, and keep your eyes healthy pretty great benefits for cyclists all-round - especially those of us who care for our complexions.

Vitamin C is abundantly found in fruits and vegetables, but, admit it… are you really eating your 5 a day? Of course, if fresh fruits and vegetables especially citrus fruits, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes etc.

Vitamin E protects the cells within your muscles and lungs - both of these are obviously pretty important for cyclists, so we should do our best to give them a helping hand, right? Indeed, increased vitamin E intakes have been proven to actually boost your lung capacity at altitude, which is great news!

Tour de France, anyone…? Magnesium helps regulate your blood sugar, blood pressure, bone development, and nerve function.

Moreover, it actually helps your body to more efficiently process carbohydrates and fats for fuel as well - obviously excellent for us cyclists, so Magnesium is pretty key. Fortunately, it can be easily found across the food groups in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, poultry, fish, beef, and even chocolate… yep.

Bonus for choc lovers and chasers of sweet treats. But, for everyone else, stick to eating whole foods maybe not too much choc though in healthy amounts and you should be fine! We all remember those lessons from school, right?

This will obviously impact your rides immensely and in a negative way. Not great. Meat-eaters rejoice, because you can get plenty of iron through eating regular healthy portions of meat and fish.

An amazing, pocket-sized way to fuel up on the go. We at Veloforte have spent years playing with natural recipes for the perfect energy bars that not only give you the boost you need, but also taste great! After all, you want to enjoy what you eat, right?

Much like energy bars, protein bars are small, convenient, and easy ways to both fuel yourself and get some extra protein needed to help your muscles recover. Check out our Forza and Mocha bars to get the little protein kick you need. Naturally, we have the perfect solutions to your energy gel needs at Veloforte, allowing you to get the speedy energy you need quickly, conveniently, and in a gel packed full of natural goodness.

Recovery shakes are just what you need to get that injection of protein as soon after your ride as possible for maximum benefits. Naturally, the extra protein helps your muscles recover from the exertion faster and more efficiently and promotes healthy development.

Of course, we at Veloforte have considered recovery shakes as well and have developed our Vita and Nova shakes to be packed with protein to help your recovery.

Excellent ways for your body to get the carbohydrates and sugars that it needs, pasta and rice are cheap, quick, and easy ways to get what you need. Broccoli, spinach, kale, cauliflower, cabbage - all are excellent for providing you with the vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

These are especially good for providing you with an iron boost, so ensure that you eat these alongside some citrus fruits to get the most iron bang for your buck. An amazing source of carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins, you can enjoy either white or sweet potatoes and reap the benefits.

Whites are better at giving you a prod of potassium, whilst sweet potatoes will up your vitamin A intake. Both are great and healthy options in moderation - and maybe not in the form of crisps or fries. Oats are amongst the healthiest grains you can eat, will keep you full for a long time, and are suitable for coeliacs being gluten-free.

Oats are also loaded with important vitamins and minerals like magnesium, iron, zinc, and vitamin B3. Studies suggest that salmon may even benefit weight loss and reduce the risk of heart disease. Not bad at all from our fishy friends.

Vitamin E is hard to get elsewhere and not effective when taken as supplements, so this is some key advice right here.

Red meat is the most effective way of doing this and getting a huge helping of protein at the same time. Just keep an eye on those extra sugars. Staying hydrated when cycling is absolutely critical for the digestion of food and to maintain a high level of performance.

Dehydration, even in its mildest form, can really slow you down and leave you feeling ill and with a head-ache after your ride.

Generally, bad times. As well as drinking the normal recommended amount of glasses of fluids per day you need to drink extra to match any fluid lost through exercise, which can be lost through sweat and urine both during and after your ride.

So, stay hydrated, kids! Another thing to bear in mind is keeping your body well-balanced with electrolytes. These minerals carry a tiny electric charge and are essential for maintaining a healthy pH balance in your body fluids, as well as balance the amount of fluids you retain in general.

Electrolytes can be easily lost through sweat and urine during intense rides, so ensure that you stock up on pre-mixed electrolyte drinks, add a tablet to your water bottle, or mix up a smoothie to keep yourself balanced.

If you have a sweeter tooth, you can even slurp a small bottle of cherry, watermelon, or orange juice - these fruit juices are rich in electrolytes. A key point to remember, though, is that cycling energy drinks can make staying appropriately hydrated easy and, naturally, we have a range of Veloforte Electrolyte Powders available to make staying hydrated as easy as possible.

For every 0. Also, water alone is fine for short rides in cooler weather but if you are producing a lot of sweat then taking on board a little bit of extra sodium can really help your body maintain fluid balance, and prevent cramps.

Your most likely pre-ride or pre-race meal will be breakfast, but the same principles apply at any time of the day. Your meal needs to ensure your glycogen stores are fully topped up and that you are properly hydrated.

It must also be easy to digest - particularly on race or event day when pre-race jitters may make digestion harder. Look for foods with a good combination of protein sources and carbohydrates. Half fruit juice, half water is a great way to hydrate and the fructose from the juice will also contribute to your carb needs.

light sources of protein such as scrambled egg, unsweetened yogurt, nuts and seeds. Different types of cycling training sessions need fuelling in different ways, here are some examples:. To perform these sessions well and reach the desired high intensities to get a training effect, you need to be properly fuelled for these endeavours.

This is a good test for your nutrition strategy and helps you to know what flavours of bar you like and how your body reacts to different foods, nutrition and fluids and timings.

After your ride, whether it is a short and easy one, a tough training session or after a race, your first priority should always be recovery. The first minutes after finishing exercise is known as the replenishment window or glycogen window. During this time your body is primed to be ready to replenish your glycogen stores and start rebuilding your muscles that have been damaged through hard exercise - all you need to do is give it the blocks and let the builders in your body handle the rest.

The carbohydrate is needed to replenish energy stores in the form of muscle glycogen and the protein is needed to help convert the carbs into glucose and build and repair your damaged muscle fibres. Our Veloforte Mocha bar is the perfect way to get the mixture of carbs and protein that you need during or after your ride.

Naturally sourced from pea and rice protein with a dash of hazelnut and a coffee and cocoa kick, these bars are the perfect pocket-sized way to get the extra protein you need for recovery.

And, of course, you can boost your recovery by swigging one of our tasty Nova or Vita recovery shakes to energise and rebuild your aching muscles naturally. After all, training is meaningless without proper recovery. Cycling is a great way to feel that calorie burn, and therefore excellent for weight loss, however, relatively gentle cycling can actually give you an appetite far in excess of the calories burnt, so be careful When you get home from a ride and feel ravenously hungry, recovery is important of course, but try to eat only a little more than on non-exercising days, stick to healthy food choices and do not super-size your portions.

No Maccies for you!

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Performance nutrition for cyclists -

Yes, that is a lot of carbs. During the event we stick to maple syrup and sugar water, but you can also use a sports mix, gels, and bars. You want fuel that is easily digestible. One serving of sugar water the morning of your race is helpful as well, or whatever carb based drink you consume; and then one serving to stay topped off before the race.

If it is a zone 2 endurance ride , eat your normal breakfast and just lean towards carbs. Stay on top of the fuel during the ride, getting g of carbs per hour. Most gels and drink mixes are just carbs, whereas you need to be careful when it comes to the bars that you eat.

Some are very high fat, and this is not what you want to be fueling with on long rides, since fat cannot be used for energy as efficiently as carbohydrates.

The general recommendation for carb loading is g of carbs per 1kg of body weight. YES, that is a lot of carbs, and YES, you will go over your normal amount of calories for the day.

We hadn't been able to get an answer from anyone on how this math works out; if your glycogen stores can only hold g of carbs, why are we eating more?

Is it usable within the blood stream? The answer to that is NO, as only 4g floats throughout the blood stream. Staying topped off on carbs for long, high intensity sessions, will allow you to lay down the watts like you have not done before.

Drink more water or decaf teas, eat a hearty breakfast when you are hungry, and let your normal activities bring you back to race weight. Yes, fueling for a race needs to be carbohydrate focused, and while we focus on eating whole foods and being healthy, sometimes when you are at a race hotel, you need cereal!

I would only recommend eating one bowl; try to find oatmeal instead. I mistakenly used to carb with a lot of cereal; it never left me feeling full and my legs felt trashed on some hard efforts.

Stay away from boxed cereals IMO. Yes, carb loading works! More carbohydrate equals higher glycogen stores. Highly regarded nutritionist Asker Jeukendrup wrote up this history on carb loading. Here are the cliff notes version. Does carb loading work? It was originally thought that you needed to deplete the carbohydrate stores in your body for a few days, and then start carb loading, creating a higher than normal level of glycogen.

While your body does replete glycogen faster if you have fully depleted the stores, it does not bring them up to a higher level.

This created athletes that felt weak and irritable, due to the lack of carbohydrates providing energy. A taper strategy became more popular as you got closer to your event, you trained less, and consumed more carbohydrates.

This works well and was a 7 day carb loading plan. Eventually, a 2 day program took over and this seems to be the most prevalent way of carb loading in , and the one that we promote. Simply put, carb loading is shifting your diet towards carbohydrates for 48 hours before your event, leaving the fats and proteins off of your plate.

Before any big race! When To Carb Load? Before any intense training session that will last over 3 hours. Carb loading is defined as g of carbs per 1kg of body weight.

Most athletes underestimate how many carbs they should consume. What are the best carbs for cycling? All of them. Just kidding. When choosing my carbs for cycling, I like a variety, which mainly include rice, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and some bread and pasta.

I made a video that we will post that shows exactly what I ate for mile gravel race where I burned 5, calories. I flatted and had to TT a bunch to try to reach the lead group again, but either way, I would have burned about 4, calories that day. Good carb loading foods include fruit, oatmeal, rice, breads, sweet potatoes, more rice , a burrito.

I hit over 1,g of carbs the day before the race. Make sure your digestive system can handle all the fiber before you go overboard and only use fruit as your carb loading food, or if you eat too much processed foods, you may find yourself bound up and unable to really excrete it all before the race starts.

Weight gain: for every 1g of carb you retain 3g of water. This will create some weight gain, but it will come off as you race.

The benefit of having carbohydrates to fuel your racing and exercise are well worth the slight gain. Odd feelings: honestly, sometimes all the carbs make me feel weird. Not sluggish, just loaded with a ton of sugar. I take those feelings and pour them onto the pedals.

When do you want to utilize these carb loading foods like pasta, fruits, breads, etc? Leaning your diet towards carbs simply means focusing on eating carbs over protein or fat the day before the hard intervals. Here are some easy pre-race carb loading food for your race morning, where you might not have fresh fruits or smoothies available.

A bagel and an instant rice packet mixed with honey and peanut butter. Do not eat eggs, sausage, bacon, avocado toast, etc. Those have too much fat and will NOT fuel your body for the bike race! Forget doing longer threshold efforts, and your ability to do enough work to allow for adaptations to occur is way too low.

If you want to ride hard, or even medium hard, you need carbs! We do NOT follow this protocol as of ; we are always eating carbohydrates, but sometimes a few less.

Decreased Ability To Oxidize Carbohydrates. This study was brought to my attention from this blog by Sigma Nutrition which is largely based on this study.

Main takeaway: if you train with low carbohydrates to increase your ability to use free fatty acids, your ability to use carbohydrate decreases! Therefore, training low all of the time, and then trying to focus on carbohydrates on race day for hard efforts is a major mistake!!!

Shout out to the Trainer Road guys for pointing me to this Nutrition Review that sources over studies and compiles some amazing information.

There are some great studies sited here, but the point of this article is to BOIL IT ALL DOWN! so wait a minute, is Monday the only day off? If you want to get serious with this, you need to look at this meal by meal. Not at all; this effect in the kitchen will give you benefits when racing!

An annoying problem is just disguised as an opportunity! The body knows to restore the gylcogen instead of creating fat, but at what rate?

The rate of g of carbs per hour is very individualized, and the timing of when these carbs are ingested matters as well. The following text in italics has been taken directly from the study listed above. When we are talking about grams of carbs they were originally listed in wet weight, which I have converted back for ease of reading and comprehension.

Dry-weight values are 4. The current recommendations for carbohydrate intake in athletes vary to reflect the daily training load. Glycogen supercompensation results from a combination of ample rest, reduced training volume, and the consumption of a high-carbohydrate diet.

To fully stock up your stores, you need to NOT use the carbs that are building up. This is another reason why a rest day and openers ride are great before a big competition, as you prepare your body for the race.

Continue to read on, as our recommendation is in line with others…12 is too high, 10 should be the max. However, it appears that many athletes may not be consuming enough carbohydrates on a daily basis to fully restore muscle glycogen.

They looked at different sporting athletes, and many were not refueling with enough carbohydrates at at the 1g per 1kg of body weight recommendation mention below. Consume those carbs! After exercise, the restoration of muscle glycogen occurs in a biphasic manner. The big takeaways above are the 1g per 1kg of body weight immediately post exercise and that athletes can store almost g if you are big and lean.

More muscle, more glycogen storage; another benefit of being a lean athlete in the gym! The high end rate of repletion of carbs, OR for rate of absorption for carbohydrate loading, is about 0.

At 80kg, I can absorb g an hour. So theoretically I could store g of carbs over 10 hours of eating. Non-mega riding, untrained , and smaller athletes can store about g of carbs at once. Therefore, eating a HUGE pasta dinner with bread at a restaurant is likely to bomb your system and NOT all get stored as glycogen.

You need to space out your feeding. Said differently, you can most likely absorb more than 0. See below. Periodic carbohydrate supplementation can result in supercompensation of glycogen stores, an advantage after tasks requiring hours of sustained physical effort.

Takeaway : there i that initial 1 hour window according to this study, but I know there are others out there that show that the repletion is complete no matter how fast you consume the carbs by 24 hours later, which is plenty of time for MOST of us.

Eat a bar at the very end of your ride. Takeaway: g or less, from all the info above, is when we start to struggle to perform at our maximum capability. Therefore, diets less than 5g per 1kg of body weight are not ideal for performance.

Starling et al. Sherman et al. Takeaway: This one is confusing. In practical terms, athletes should be educated and encouraged to consume enough carbohydrates to replenish at least a sizable portion of their muscle glycogen stores so that training intensity can be maintained from day to day.

In the hours soon after exercise, consuming high—glycemic index GI foods can speed muscle glycogen restoration. Low-GI foods are digested and absorbed more slowly than high-GI foods, differences that result in a slower rise in blood glucose and insulin levels, an effect that can last for hours after eating.

Techniques such as training with high muscle glycogen stores but sleeping and then training the next morning with low muscle glycogen stores have been shown in some studies to enhance glycogen storage and performance. However, more research is needed to confirm the consistency and magnitude of these responses.

Takeaway: MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED on fasted training. If you do it, do it in z1 for minutes no more than x per week, and then try to carb up enough for your training session later in the day.

My biggest drawback is that athletes train fasted and then miss out on the quality workouts later in the day or hours later. YES, that is a lot of carbs, and 12 seems to high based on the math. Taper it back to g. Pre-race carb loading works, and you can use Monday to unpuff a bit.

When you wake up, just eat when you are hungry. Is this easy to do? No, it can be annoying, but it will optimize your performance!

Day before event: g of carbs per 1kg of body weight. During the event: g of carbs per hour regardless of body weight. Post event or hard ride : 1g per 1kg of body weight of carbs immediately. After that, space out your eating of carbs if you are preparing for hard training the next day.

The video below will help you understand when you should just use protein and when you need carbs in your cycling recovery nutrition plan.

Do you want to be fast or thin? Change your eating habits over time. Do this slowly and create new habits! Read our Ultimate Guide to Cycling Weight loss to learn more about this subject. We will offer you helpful and practical tips to lose weight in a safe manner for cycling performance.

Weight Loss - If your main weakness is the number on the scale instead of your PMC, should you consider a weight loss block what would that look like? or try to pair caloric deficit-days over a longer period to training? Of the former - what does that look like?

If the latter - how would that be structured with the 5-blocks to Racing to make sure you are adequately adapting for each subsequent workout or block? Historically I haven't fueled my workouts well - gotten into a bad cycle of doing my morning training fasted even races often and then eating like a bird the rest of the day, and then being starving at dinner and eating the entire house.

It's the kind of thing that when I step back and look at it then it's clearly so bad - but in the moment, when I get off the bike, there's a bit of fear about eating too much, gaining weight, and "undoing" the weight loss I just earned on the bike.

You should never be "losing weight" after a ride. The purpose of rides is to stress the body, break you down, and then you recover eating is key to this , your body says "that was kinda hard, i better grow and get stronger" and you rebound a stronger human; this is VERY simplified but should get the point across.

Cut some some calories at the end of a long ride AFTER you've already WELL FUELED AND RECOVERED. NOT RIGHT AFTER RIDE. A little hunger at night is okay, but going to bed starving is a recipe for poor sleep and not recovering.

Focus on fat loss, not body weight; you will retain water with carbs etc; if you chase just that it will drive you nuts. NO BS: goodbye soda even diet ones , candy, cakes, sweets, garbage. BYE FELICIA. Eliminating these will fast track this is a healthy way.

Focus on fat loss; don't get obsessed with small fluctuations on the scale, it could be water weight. Think long term and stick to your plan, NO cheating! FUEL workouts. Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a pauper at dinner low cal but nutrient dense! Don't reduce carbs, reduce overall calories.

People who cut carbs see a quicker decline in "weight", but that's water weight. Athletes who eat carbs are more fueled for intense sessions and recover faster they aren't sure exactly why, but carb loading actually helps recovery too my theory, you just are never totally depleted and dead!

when you're tired, you're more likely to eat a twinkie and have less resolve. Sleep deprivation also inhibits fat loss. No recovery shakes, eat food. If you can, finish a ride and have one of your meals right after! Snacks are veggies only. If you feel a little hunger, that's okay.

That's your body telling you, "Hey, i might need food IN A WHILE, start foraging or go hunt something. Do it, they taste like cheese. MMMMM cheese. Don't go all day being good only to cave at the end. When dinner is over, we are done fueling! Are you ready to become a stronger and faster version of your current self?

Contact me if that sounds like a transformation you want to see happen. I was overweight and feeling like a blob before I found cycling. Water, sparkling water, and tea are all great hydration options. Adequate hydration pre-workout can help prevent dehydration and prepare your body for your upcoming ride.

Aim for urine that is light to pale yellow in color before you get on the bike. Below are some rough guidelines for pre-ride fluid intake, although hydration needs vary from person-to-person we see you, heavy sweaters. A good rule of thumb is to aim for 4oz ½ cup of fluid, as either water or a sports drink, every 20 minutes.

During your ride: 4oz ½ cup every 20 minutes [19]. One easy way to measure fluid losses is to weigh yourself before and after a workout.

You need roughly 16oz 2 cups of fluid for every 1lb 0. You can always use urine color as an approximation of hydration status. Sports drinks and electrolytes can be a confusing topic for cyclists to navigate.

Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals including sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride.

They are critical for muscle and nerve function and help regulate fluid balance. Both water and electrolytes are lost through sweat and adding a sports drink or electrolyte supplement before, during, and after your workout can help you stay stronger for longer, as well as reduce your risk of heat illness and cramping, under certain conditions [20].

Electrolyte and fluid losses vary from person-to-person and are influenced by factors such as heat. That said, not everyone needs an electrolyte supplement after every ride.

Carbohydrate-containing sports drinks are also a convenient way to top up your glucose supply, as well as replete fluid and electrolytes. A good rule of thumb is to incorporate about 14 g of carbohydrates, 28mgs of potassium, and mg of sodium per 8oz fluid 1 cup.

Brace yourself. While there are many supplements out there for cyclists, not all of them are safe and effective. Tart cherry juice is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenolic compounds, and increasingly popular among endurance athletes.

Some evidence suggests that taking tart cherry juice prior to endurance activities like cycling may improve performance and reduce muscle soreness, although research is mixed [22].

Tart cherry juice can be found in various forms including juice, capsule, and concentrate, and dosage recommendations vary depending on the preparation. If you want to experiment with tart cherry juice for cycling performance, look for a product without additives and take at least 1.

Turmeric has been used for centuries as a traditional remedy for everything from digestive issues to skin health, and now a growing body of evidence suggests that it may have performance benefits too.

Although turmeric contains many compounds, curcumin -- the substance that gives turmeric its bright yellow hue -- seems to be responsible for its anti-inflammatory benefits. Turmeric may also be helpful for reducing knee pain in people with osteoarthritis, a common complaint among older athletes [24].

and increase its effectiveness [23]. Caffeine is one of the most widely used ergogenic aids in sport. Found in everything from coffee to sports gels, caffeine stimulates the central nervous system and is believed to boost energy and alertness by blocking adenosine receptors.

Studies show that consuming caffeine prior to exercise may result in improved performance, speed, power, and endurance capacity [26]. Creatine is a dietary amino acid found in many foods. One of the most widely studied supplements for athletic performance, our body relies on creatine for power activities and recovery.

Although typically thought of as a supplement for power athletes, creatine may benefit endurance athletes like cyclists too. Research shows that creatine supplementation may improve muscular strength and body composition, enhance recovery, and boost speed, although the precise impact on cycling performance is still being explored [28].

Curious to try creatine? Look for creatine monohydrate and begin with a loading dose of 20g per day for 5 days, followed by 3 - 5g per day thereafter [ 27 , 28 ]. Splitting the dose over multiple meals can be helpful for preventing adverse side effects such as nausea and diarrhea.

Sodium bicarbonate is commonly known as baking soda and has been studied as a performance-enhancing aid because of its ability to buffer lactic acid build-up during exercise [29]. High-intensity exercise causes lactic acid production, and lactic acid build-up is a major contributing factor to muscle fatigue.

Hello, post-workout lead legs. Small studies suggest that sodium bicarbonate dosed at 0. Beta-alanine is an amino acid and precursor to carnosine -- a compound found in muscles that buffers lactic acid production. Evidence to-date shows that beta-alanine may help improve performance and reduce neuromuscular fatigue, although the impact on endurance activities like cycling is not well-understood [31].

The optimal dosage of beta-alanine appears to be g per day, split over 2 doses, for weeks [ 32 , 33 ]. Magnesium plays a critical role in protein synthesis, bone health, and muscle function, and is largely under-consumed.

Stress and sweat deplete magnesium stores and cyclists may benefit from additional magnesium intake. Moreover, some studies suggest that magnesium can be helpful for sleep and relaxation - two critical components of exercise recovery [21]. Magnesium-rich foods include spinach, peanuts, almonds, cashews, legumes, bananas, and whole grains.

A precisely-calibrated nutrition routine can help you stay ahead of the competition, recover faster and minimize wear and tear. It can be the difference between a terrible ride and a great one and can help you realize your peak potential.

No two cyclists are the same and while recommendations are helpful, it's important to experiment in training to find what works for you and your unique biochemistry. Disclaimer: The text, images, videos, and other media on this page are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended to treat, diagnose or replace personalized medical care.

Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel of the brain and working muscles and an important consideration before, during, and after your ride. Omega-3s, protein powder, electrolytes, tart cherry juice, caffeine, and creatine are a few ergogenic aids examples that can help take your cycling performance to new heights.

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Nutrition plays a dyclists role in Performance nutrition for cyclists cyclishs areas of cyclidts Natural beetroot juice, including Protein tips and advice mileage, sportives, recovery and training adaptations. Matching the correct nutritional intake to the individual requirements of these situations can result in optimal performance. The main goals of performance nutrition are:. When riding in a sportive there is no doubt that carbohydrate will be the preferred fuel for performing on the day. To prepare for this you should practice your sportive nutrition strategies in training.