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Nutrition
by Karen Brems
During the season, most of you are spending a fair amount of time
riding and training hard. What everyone needs to remember is that you
aren’t getting stronger while you are actually riding. You get stronger
when your body repairs itself and adapts to the training stress you
put on it. In other words, you get stronger when you are resting and
recovering, not while you are training. Recovery is critical to improving
your performance. Also the better and quicker you can recover from
training and racing, the more hard days of training you can do, thus
increasing the training stress on your body and increasing its adaptation.
In order for your body to recover, repair itself and adapt to training
and racing, it needs the proper fuel. Even a Ferrari won’t go
fast without gas!
When training and racing at high intensity, you need to make sure
your muscle glycogen is not getting chronically depleted and that you
are recovering between training sessions. This is done by consuming
adequate carbohydrates. Research has shown that the first half hour
after strenuous exercise, the muscles are most susceptible to replenishing
glycogen. You should eat 1-3 grams of carbohydrates per Kg. of body
weight during this time after a hard ride or race. (1 Kg. = 2.2
pounds). This is where recovery drinks are most helpful. They also
have some protein and amino acids necessary for muscle repair. There
are a number of brands: Pro Optimizer and Endura Optimizer by Endura/UniPro,
Metabolol by Champion Nutrition, Physique by Shaklee, Interphase by
SportQuest etc. They are all expensive. You don’t have to use them,
they are just a convenient way to get what you need. They are
also usually more appealing right after a hard ride than a steak and
a couple of bagels... For reference, a PowerBar has 47 grams of carbos,
a serving of Endura Optimizer has 57g of carbos and 10g of protein
(Pro Optimizer is higher). In addition, it is recommended that you
eat at least 100 gm of carbos during the 2-4 hours after training/racing.
To fully restore muscle glycogen, it takes about 24 hours and you
should consume a total of 9 grams/Kg. body weight during that entire
period. You don't need to get anal about counting grams in everything
you eat, but if you just read a few labels on foods you normally eat,
you will see this is a lot of food! Also, be sure to eat plenty of
carbos on rest days because this is where your body can “catch up”
if you are building up a deficit during training.
As for protein, the recommended amount is .6-.9 grams per pound body
weight for athletes. This is possible, but difficult without eating
meat. Also, if you don’t eat a lot of meat, you may want to take amino
acid supplements. Vegetable protein is “incomplete” i.e. missing certain
amino acids. Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) are used to build and
repair muscle. BCAA supplements usually come in 500mg tablets and you
can take one after training and one before bed. If you don’t consume
adequate protein and amino acids, your body will get them however it
can which means breaking down the muscles you are working so hard to
build!
Fats are not necessarily bad and are an essential part of any diet.
Just try to avoid the saturated variety. Having some fat in your meals
will make you feel full faster and longer. If you only eat carbohydrates,
you can be getting a lot of calories, but you will feel hungry again
in an hour or two and thus might actually be overeating. Having
some fat in your pre-ride meal will make you less likely to bonk during
the ride. Also, for any ride longer than an hour, it is a good idea
to use a beverage with some carbohydrates in it. There are lots of
brands out there: PowerAide, Cytomax, Endura... Experiment and find
whichever one you like. Never try anything for the first time in a
race! You should drink at least one bottle for every hour of riding
and more if it is hot. The basic rule when riding is “eat before
you're hungry and drink before you're thirsty”.
If you are not gaining or losing weight, then your total caloric
intake is probably right, but the quality and timing of those calories
can make a big difference in your performance. If you are trying
to lose weight, there are only 2 ways to do it: either eat fewer calories
or exercise more (or a combination of the 2). For most people with
jobs, families etc., riding more is not usually an option. This means
you have to eat less. BUT, do not try to do it by cutting back before,
during or immediately after your rides. This will only mean you will
get less out of your training and you will probably get so hungry later
anyway that you will more than make up for it. To bonk during a ride
is one of the worst possible things you can do to your body! If you
need to cut back on your eating, do it at night. Eat a small dinner
and cut out that evening bowl of ice cream! Go to bed slightly hungry
if you have to. Like they say, if you have to starve, you might as
well do it while you are unconscious! On the other hand, if you are
losing more weight than you want to by training hard, or if you are
in a stage race where you need every calorie you can get, then you might
want to try a bottle of recovery drink right before going to bed.
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