Fueling For Marathon Mountain Cycling

At Saturday, our dedication lies in uplifting athletic performance through inclusive sports nutrition. The core focus of this article is intra-workout nutrition, a crucial determinant in optimizing the performance of marathon mountain cyclists. Key elements to contemplate include carbohydrates, caffeine, and whey protein.

The Indispensable Role of Carbohydrates in Marathon Mountain Cycling

Exogenous carbohydrates, especially sugar, have an essential role during training periods. Their primary task is to conserve the glycogen in muscles and liver, allowing us to keep up higher power outputs. This ultimately leads to more efficient training stimuli and engenders substantial training adaptations.

The nature and amount of carbohydrates ingested play a significant part. A blend of glucose and fructose is typically recommended as they are absorbed via separate transporters – the SGLT-1 transporter for glucose and the GLUT-5 transporter for fructose. A glucose to fructose ratio between 2:1 and 1:1 enables dual absorption, enhancing the carbohydrate digestion rates per hour and significantly reducing the risk of gastrointestinal (GI) complications.

For endurance sports like marathon mountain cycling, guidelines suggest an intake of anywhere between 30g and 150g of carbohydrates per hour. This depends on the duration and intensity of the training and individual digestive tolerance. For shorter durations, a lower hourly intake would suffice, especially if a carbohydrate-dense meal is planned post-training.

If your training begins first thing in the morning, not at dawn, supplementing your shake with extra carbohydrates around 20 minutes before starting can be advantageous. This helps increase blood glucose levels, ensuring a productive training session and avoiding a decrease in blood sugar levels. Convenient solutions like Gatorade can be employed, but even conventional table sugar can fit the bill.

Caffeine

Caffeine can considerably enhance performance during training lasting from 30 to 120 minutes. The advised dosage is between 3-9mg per kg of body weight. To sustain ideal caffeine levels in the blood, smaller, regular doses of around 0.5-1mg/kg each hour during the training or cycling event are recommended.

Diet Restrictions and Gastric Emptying

It's crucial to regulate your intake of dietary fiber and fat during training as these can slow digestion and potentially trigger GI issues. Moreover, the concentration of carbohydrates significantly impacts gastric emptying rates. Optimal rates are usually attained with carbohydrate concentrations of 10-14%. For activities lasting over 5 hours, solutions with 6-10% carbohydrates are recommended. Whey intake should also be moderated. While protein is acceptable, it's better to choose BCAAs or whey protein isolate or hydrolysate to minimize the risk of GI distress due to diminished blood flow during strenuous exercise.

Conclusion

In conclusion, establishing an appropriate intra-workout fueling strategy is vital for achieving peak performance and driving meaningful training enhancements. A crucial component of this strategy is ensuring sufficient carbohydrate intake, particularly a mix of glucose and fructose. Including caffeine can also significantly boost performance levels. Lastly, due to individual physiological variances, nutritional strategies should be customized for optimal performance and recovery outcomes.