3. Nutrition
About this page
PowerBar is the Official Sports Nutrition Provider for the Aviva Investors Around the Bay in a DayŽ 2008 - Get Sponsored for The Smith Family. We profile (Dave) a typical rider's nutrition needs as he prepares for, and rides in, the Aviva Investors Around the Bay in a DayŽ 2008 - Get Sponsored for The Smith Family.
For up-to-the-minute coverage of current concepts in sports nutrition,we recommend that you visit the PowerBar website. Here you'll find the Australian Institute of Sport written Current Concepts in Sports Nutrition.
Whether you exercise to keep fit, participate regularly in an organised sporting activity, or are training to reach the peak level of your sport, good nutrition is an essential tool to help you perform at your best. Making smart choices about the type, timing and quantity of food to eat can all play a role in realising your best. Eating well is specific to you and your individual nutritional needs!
To help you get started, PowerBar have developed an article for you below that examines sports nutrition for cyclists from a broad perspective.
The Story of Dave
We have used a profile of a typical cyclist, Dave. He is 36 and is a Melbourne based property surveyor. Dave is a keen cyclist and belongs to a local club, where he races each Saturday afternoon on a track during summer and on the road during winter. He trains five time a week and averages around 400 kilometres week. He cycles most mornings before work and then does a long ride on the weekend of up to 150 kilometres. We have assessed Dave’s nutrition requirements for the three all-important phases of exercises – preparation, during and recovery.
Preparation
Dave’s training and competing, particularly for the distance road events in winter, is time and energy consuming. He should be focused on a carbohydrate-rich diet with adequate protein, vitamins and minerals. Dave also needs to cleverly time his meals and snacks to enhance muscle glycogen restoration and recovery between training sessions.
A pattern of frequent meals and snacks may be handy to ensure Dave’s total energy and carbohydrate needs are met. Interestingly, a dietary study of elite cyclists estimated their average daily energy intake at over 26,000 kilojoules. The only way this was made possible was by a pattern of constant grazing over the day. To consume 8,500 kilojoules each meal for three meals a day would require the equivalent of a Christmas dinner to be consumed at each sitting! Although Dave does not burn quite as many kilojoules as an elite cyclist, it can be difficult for a cyclist to consume sufficient food on just three meals a day.
Sports nutrition products such as POWERBAR Performance are a compact and practical fuel source that contain a range of carbohydrates and can be used by Dave between meals. In addition, POWERBAR Performance has only 2.4g of fat per bar, 14% protein to help protect muscles and 15 vitamins and minerals.
During
Whether in training or competition, cyclists ride over distances that challenge their fluid and fuel levels.
Dave should have full glycogen store to fuel his sessions. While good recovery nutrition will help to replenish carbohydrate stores through the training week, there may not be adequate time to fully store muscle glycogen before a race. This will place more emphasis on carbohydrate intake practices during the race.
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Dave should focus on both fluid and carbohydrate intake during races. Cyclists can be more self-reliant than other athletes. Drinks can be carried in cages mounted on the bike frame. Food can be carried on the bike, in cycling jacket pockets or in a ‘bum bag.’ POWERBAR Gel is ideal for cyclists as it is easy to take and is presented in practical waterproof packaging. Dave should take POWERBAR Gel during long training rides or races for its carbohydrate content which provides a rapid boost or ‘fast fuel.’ The longer the ride, the more important it becomes for Dave to consume carbohydrates.
Long training sessions make cyclists susceptible to carbohydrate depletion. The heavy ‘dead’ legs experienced by cyclists are often due to too low muscle glycogen levels in the quads. This can be avoided by consuming adequate carbohydrate during training sessions.
Post
This is often the most neglected of the three phases. Nutrition at this stage needs to be combined with rest, massage and rehydration to achieve ultimate performance. As Dave trains five days a week and undertakes training sessions on successive days, he will have enormous strain on his fuel and fluid reserves. As well as looking after needs during each training day, Dave should also look at nutrition on his two recovery days.
Replenishment of fluid and carbohydrate and examination of total nutrient intake is needed.
Dave needs to take a nutrient-rich carbohydrate snack immediately following a long training session or event. He should take POWERBAR ProteinPlus and/or POWERBAR ProteinPlus Powder Drink, as they contain protein and carbohydrate to help boost recovery for his next ride and repair and rebuild muscle tissue. These choices will also help Dave replenish liver and muscle glycogen levels and replaces electrolytes lost during sweat after a race or intensive training session. Full replacement of fluid losses is necessary for complete recovery.