6. Nutrition - FAQs
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We have had many questions about nutrition before, during and after your rides. Here's some of them
If I only eat junk food, can I still do the 210km or 250km ride?
In order to train adequately to complete either the 210km or 250km ride it’s important to train consistently over the next couple of months leading into the ride. During this time it’s important to select a wide variety of foods to ensure you meet all your daily fuel requirements to support training. It’s also important to include nutritious foods to meet essential requirements for vitamins and minerals, and maintenance of health and well-being. You don’t want to get sick in the lead-up to the race.
So the obvious answer to your question, is that junk food (for want of a better term) could be included in small amounts occasionally, however to optimize your training and support daily well-being you should select a range of more nutritious food options.
I prefer to skip breakfast - will that effect my training?
Without sounding like a cliché, breakfast provides a perfect start to the day. You may chose to vary when you have breakfast in relation to your morning training, but breakfast should be included daily to support training and recovery, not to mention your ability to perform at your best at work or school. Cereal and fruit, a slice of toast and small glass of juice provides a range of nutrients including carbohydrate and protein to support refueling and muscular repair following a hard training.
I eat irregularly as I do shift work. When I am training, is that a problem?
We are starting to learn more and more about the science of nutrition, but your question relates to the practical obstacles that you face in implementing the science that supports nutrition. My suggestion would be to ensure you eat around training to support daily training performance and recovery between training sessions. Practically, this means you should attach a snack either before or after training sessions. How much you eat and what you eat will depend on your personal preferences and the timing of your last meal and/or next meal. Obviously, additional food should be consumed during long sessions, once again to support performance. If you are training heavily, you will benefit from seeing a qualified Sports Dietitian. Visit Sports Dietitians Australia to find a Sports Dietitian located near you.
I get the stitch if I eat when I ride. Can you suggest another way of getting my energy?
When you ride hard or for long periods of time, it’s important to consume carbohydrate to maintain blood sugar levels and support muscle glycogen (carbohydrate) stores. If you are unable to eat foods, which isn’t all that uncommon during hard riding, sports drink and carbohydrate gels are perfect in assisting you to meet hourly carbohydrate needs. Generally speaking you should aim to consume between 30-60g of carbohydrate an hour, although you may need more when riding hard for long periods of time (greater than two hours).
How will I know if I need to eat more food when I am training or on the day ?
Basically the amount eaten on any single day should reflect the amount of training undertaken on that day. Rather than eat big on the day following exercise, you're better to eat that additional food on the day of exercise to support daily training performance and recovery between training. In extreme situations, Tour de France riders have been shown to match daily energy requirements – eating more on high activity days and less on days when they undertake less exercise.
Does being a vegetarian affect my energy levels?
No. As is the case with individuals that eat a mixed diet (including meat, chicken, fish), vegetarians should select a wide variety of foods to meet daily nutrient requirements. It’s important to include meat alternatives such as legumes, tofu, tempeh, TVP (textured vegetable protein) and the wide variety of ready prepared vegetarian meat alternatives. Vegetarian diets are typically higher in carbohydrate than a mixed diet, which may actually assist athletes in meeting current sports nutrition recommendations for carbohydrate.
I'm a diabetic - can I still have energy bars/gels?
The principles of eating to support training and competition for an athlete with diabetes is no different to the principles for an athlete without diabetes. Maintaining a consistent daily training load and eating routine on a day-to-day basis will assist in maintaining stable blood sugar levels. As is the case for athletes without diabetes, it’s important to modify the overall volume of food and fluid consumed to reflect daily training loads in athletes with diabetes. Fine tuning daily insulin doses to assist blood sugar control should be done in conjunction with a diabetes specialist. To meet carbohydrate goals either before, during or after exercise, sports bar or energy gels provide a suitable option for athletes with diabetes just as they do for athletes without diabetes. Note: Sports gels provide a compact and convenient source of carbohydrate easily consumed during exercise – no chewing required!!
I am a coeliac, and have entered the 210km ride option, what products are good sources of nutrition to ward off any "flat" during the ride?
As with others riding the full round the bay in a day ride, keeping pace with your fuel requirements throughout the ride are paramount. Depending on your overall training level, your body weight and the pace at which you are riding, you need to aim for 40-80g of carbohydrate an hour throughout the ride.
I've been following weight watchers and have successfully lost 30kg (over 9 months). I am training for the 100km ride and ride 30km twice a week and walk or step class on the other days. I find that even though I am still carefully tracking my food intake and exercising at least 5 times per week, I am putting on a little weight (2kg).When I was walking daily the weight came off pretty easily. Do you have any tips for what to eat on the days that I ride so that I am burning fat and not muscle?
Before I talk food, it’s worth reflecting on the types of activities you are currently undertaking. Cycling is a different exercise to walking in that one is weight bearing (walking) and one is non weight bearing (cycling). Weight bearing exercise such as walking and running seem to be better for assisting weight loss as they require more energy to undertake. In addition to this, in starting a new activity (cycling and step classes) both of which require you to work against some resistance, your body maybe gaining some muscle in order to cope with the new activity!!
Although you may not be seeing a decrease in weight, you maybe undergoing some change in your physique with the new stimulus of cycling and step classes. In some ways, I would be reluctant to change anything with your food at this point and see how your new exercise regimen fits your current food intake over the next 4-6 weeks. If you continue to gain weight, I would encourage you to seek the expert advice of a Sports Dietitian. See Sports Dietitians Australia website: www.sportsdietitians.com.au to find a qualified Sports Dietitian located near you.
I am currently on an insulin resistance diet in order to control my hypoglycemia, which high glycemic carbs cause. I eat only low glycemic carbs currently, as well as plenty of vegetables, fats, and proteins. This diet works if I do not exercise, or if I take simple walks. I am in good shape, and used to love to swim, bike, and lift weights. However, now I crash in the late afternoon if I attempt any of these exercises. I have a feeling I'm not replenishing my glycogen stores properly. After training can I consume higher glycemic carbs, or will this just result in more of my previous crashes, that led me to be on an insulin resistant diet. What kind of carbs and how much do I need to eat. I'm so confused! Please help. Thank you! I'm 6'2", 190 pounds if that helps at all.
It's most important that when you are going to exercise that you include additional carbohydrate on that day to support the demands of exercise. Your overall carbohydrate intake should fluctuate from one day to the next in order to support the added demands of exercise. On an exercise day, I would suggest you include additional carbohydrate either before, during or after the exercise. Your probably best to include a pre-exercise snack 20-30 minutes prior to undertaking the exercise in order to support the added demands of the exercise. It's important to include sufficient carbohydrate in this snack, somewhere around 50grams of carbohydrate. If the exercise is prolonged - i.e. >90 minutes, you would be best to also add some carbohydrate during the session (i.e. sports drink) or after the session to assist recovery. The options for a pre-exercise snack are endless, and are only limited by your imagination. Some options that provide around 50grams of carbohydrate include: low-fat fruit yoghurt and a banana, a sports bar, a slice of toast with jam and 250ml of low-fat milk, 4 crackers and cheese with 200ml of juice.
Do you consider any nutritional supplements worthy of consideration for cyclists performing regular long rides in preparation for Around the Bay and cycling generally? Supplements of which I am aware that others use for cycling and minimising wear and tear on the body include Fish Oil – Omega 3s, glucosamine, and CoQ10, but I am sure there are others... including the obvious Vit C in reducing the stress of training on the body.
Although a short question, there is no short answer. There are really two distinct types of supplements that relate to sport. Firstly there are Dietary Sports Supplements which include sports bars, sports gels, sports drinks and iron supplements and calcium supplements. These types of supplements, if used appropriately and under proper supervision assist athletes (that’s you) in meeting a known nutritional requirement that relates to your sporting endeavours. For instance, sports bars offer a compact, convenient option to assist you in meeting hourly carbohydrate requirements during extended endurance activities.
The other type of sports supplements are probably best categorised as Nutritional Ergogenic Aids. There are many more of these types of products available compared with dietary sports supplements. Most will claim to directly assist sports performance or facilitate recovery following heavy training. Some of these products have been shown to be effective in enhancing sports performance and or recovery following exercise in specific situations, although most supplements that fall into this category either have little or no scientific support. Nutritional ergogenic aids that have a proven record include creatine monohydrate, caffeine, sodium bicarbonate and glycerol. Keep in mind these are all under specific exercise conditions.
In terms of the supplements you have listed – no direct evidence for omega 3’s in sport, although strong evidence to support supplementation relating to cardiovascular health and cognitive function. Omega 3’s are an antioxidant, so in theory may assist recovery from strenuous exercise. Current general population recommendations are to include approximately 500mg daily from either omega 3 containing foods or supplements.
Glucosamine is a nutritional supplement that may be useful in the treatment of osteoarthritis. In athletes, it has been used in attempts to 'support' or 'repair' articular cartilage. There are no published studies of glucosamine supplementation in athletes or in sports injuries in general. If you were to use, best used under the direction of a sports physician.
Enzyme Q-10, there is no scientific support to suggest it would either enhance recovery or improve exercise performance.
Please advise how one should eat in the few days leading up to to a 160km ride and the 210km (with ferry) ride regarding a mixed diet. I weigh 76kg (182 cm). For these stats, how may grams of carbohadrates and protein should I consumer per hours and what energy drink / water should I consume?
You ask an important question given the length of the rides which are to be undertaken in Around the Bay.
In brief:
Carbohydrate loading is an important strategy to undertake in the couple of days leading into the ride. As you start your taper into a race, your total food intake should reflect this taper in training. There is no value in increasing your carbohydrate or energy (kilojoule) intake for the entire week leading into a race as this may lead to unwanted weight gain. Depending on your individual circumstances twenty-four to seventy-two hours is sufficient time for your muscles to increase glycogen stores, given you consume adequate carbohydrate and reduce your physical activity during this period.
Suggested guidelines for carbohydrate loading are to consume approximately 9-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram body weight for each of the 1-3 days prior to the event. If you were undertaking heavy training on these days, you may need more carbohydrate to load your muscle glycogen stores effectively.
Get to know the carbohydrate content of foods you normally eat so you can gauge as to whether you are likely to consume sufficient carbohydrate in order to truly carbohydrate load your muscles. Alternatively, seek the expert advice of a Sports Dietitian to assist you in personalising a carbohydrate plan. Find a Sports Dietitian located nearest to you.
To maintain normal bowel habits and minimise the risk of gastrointestinal complaint during the ride, you should avoid excess amounts of fibre above what you would normally consume in the days leading into a ride when carbohydrate loading. Refined carbohydrate choices such as honey, jam, added sugar, sports drinks, cordial, soft drink and lollies are compact, low-fibre carbohydrate sources. These foods when added to your normal intake will increase your carbohydrate intake without increasing your fibre intake.
It’s important you appreciate these suggestions are specific to carbohydrate loading strategies prior to undertaking an endurance event such as Around the Bay. They should not be misinterpreted to reflect everyday eating habits or strategies to optimise daily training or recovery.
During the ride, your primary focus should be on consuming appropriate amounts of carbohydrate, fluid and sodium in order to meet carbohydrate, fluid and electrolyte requirements. The amount of carbohydrate you require will depend on your overall training level, your body weight and the pace at which you are riding. Assuming you are riding hard throughout the course of the ride and given your weight, I would suggest you consume 60-80g of carbohydrate per hour. This should be consumed from a combination of sports drinks, sports bars, Sports Gels or convenient, easily digested snack items such as cereal or muesli bars, fruit buns, sweet or savoury crackers, bananas, simple sandwiches (such as vegemite or jam sandwiches) etc. The list of snack choices is endless and should include as wide a variety of tastes and textures in order to avoid flavour fatigue.
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