Austin On Two Wheels has now launched a Training section that will include posts from Sara Krause. You can learn more about Sara and follow her articles on our new Training page!
One of the most frequent questions I get asked is: what should I eat during a hard workout or race?
During strenuous exercise, your body relies heavily on stored carbohydrates as they are the quickest source of energy for working muscles. Your working muscles also use sugars from your blood stream, and supplementing with carbohydrate during exercise can improve performance. Fats are also heavily utilized, but we have plenty of fat stores to carry us through hard rides. The role of protein in exercise is negligible (the reason protein is utilized in a lot of modern sports drinks is an entirely different topic, but suffice it to say that it plays a supporting role for carbohydrates).
It is recommended during hard workouts and races that an athlete takes in 30-60 grams of carbohydrate per hour, regardless of race length. Carbohydrates should be highly digestible. For carbohydrate drinks, look for a solution of 6% or less to avoid gastric upset. (For reference, Gatorade is exactly 6%).
When you are drinking a sports drink, remember that most of them do have carbohydrate, so if you are also taking in carbohydrate gels, do some quick mental math to make sure you’re not overdoing it!
Additionally, practice with the products you intend to use before a race. Even if you like a specific brand of sports drink or gels, a different flavor may cause you some gastric upset.
If you are doing an exercise bout that lasts less than one hour, and is not intense (such as a recovery ride, or easy base ride), then you should not need to supplement with carbohydrate.
Sara Krause, M.Ed., is an exercise physiologist and owner of Krause Sports Performance.
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