Strategic Eating

From: Bicycling Magazine's Nutrition for Peak Performance: Eat and Drink for Maximum Energy on the Road and Off

Pay attention to diet details the week before an important long-distance event, such as a 100-mile ride. Contrary to popular belief, successful carbo-loading for a century isn't a preride pasta party. Instead, store more glycogen in your muscles during the 3 or 4 days before the big event by tapering exercise and eating primarily carbohydrates. Several studies of trained cyclists who loaded properly showed that they could ride farther, and often faster, than those who did not top off their glycogen stores. Studies also showed that up to 50 percent of trained "unloaded" cyclists couldn't complete a 3-hour ride at 70 percent of their max VO2, where virtually all cyclists who carbo-loaded could.

Before the ride. Because everyone tolerates food before events differently, eat something familiar 2 to 4 hours before the start. Eat before training rides to get used to having something in your stomach. Don't skip breakfast. Pre-exercise, high-carbo meals liquids, solids, or sweets, have consistently proven to enhance performance.

During the ride. Consume 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour while riding, says Dr. Horswill. That's about 16 ounces of most sports drinks. Eat energy bars, carbo gels, or your favorite pocket fuels for additional energy. Tour de France and Race Across America riders often consume 100 grams of carbohydrate per hour.

After the ride. For a few hours after a ride of 90 minutes or longer, your body can convert carbohydrate into muscle glycogen faster than normal. After this so-called glycogen window closes, the storage rate slows, and you need an entire day or more to completely restock.

This means that if you miss the window and ride again within 24 hours, you're probably going to do so with only partially energized muscles. You're weaker, and you'll tire sooner. But if you use the window, you can be sure you're cycling with the optimum amount of energy in your body. Taking advantage of this window is simple. It opens anytime you participate in an aerobic sport for longer than 90 minutes. Be sure to do these things after a ride.

Refuel as soon as possible. Immediately after a ride, the window is completely open and the conversion from carbo to glycogen is quickest. In 2 hours, it closes about halfway, and the rate is cut roughly in half. During the next 2 to 4 hours, it closes to normal.

Take in enough. The optimum amount of carbo to put in your body seems to be at least 50 grams during the first 2-hour period, according to Michael Sehrman, Ph.D., a professor in exercise physiology at Ohio State University in Columbus and researcher of carbo synthesis. Some scientists contend that taking up to 100 grams every 2 hours may increase the rate, but no one has proven this.

Do it with carbohydrate. The window works best with high-carbo food. A 3-day study that followed two groups of endurance runners in training showed this. Both ate at the same time during the window, but one group at 70 percent carbo, the other 40 to 60 percent. By day three, the amount of muscle glycogen in the high-carbo group was about the same. They were recovering just about everything they lost. But the low-carbo athletes stored 75 percent less.

In terms of conversion speed, it makes no difference whether the carbo comes from liquids or solids. Liquids leave the stomach sooner, but they aren't synthesized into glycogen and stored in the muscles faster than solid carbo.

But, says Dr. Sherman, "because by consuming liquid you're also hydrating the body, many cyclists prefer sports drinks over food for the first refueling. Many also find it easier on their stomachs right after a hard ride. Try both."

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Reprinted from: Bicycling Magazine's Nutrition for Peak Performance: Eat and Drink for Maximum Energy on the Road and Off © 2000 by Rodale, Inc. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098.

© 2006 Rodale Inc.
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