Nutrition for Cyclists by Jane Griffin

Author:Jane Griffin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crowood Press

Many cyclists consider water as the fluid of choice, perhaps flavoured with their favourite squash. However, sports drinks provide not just water, but carbohydrate and sodium as well. These drinks help to maintain blood sugar levels and replace sodium, as well as maintain a good hydration status. Using a sports drink rather than water could help in improving overall performance – perhaps the difference between coming first or second!

Recovery

A well-planned recovery strategy is important at any time but is absolutely essential when a cyclist is competing over one or more days. There has to be complete recovery (or as near complete as possible) on a daily basis. No matter how hard a cyclist tries to maintain fluid and fuel levels during the race, there will be a need to restock the muscles with carbohydrate and restore the body to a fully hydrated state. What is required is no different from the recovery strategy after training or the recovery strategy after a single-day event. The difficulty is repeating it day after day despite accumulating tiredness, both physical and mental. As the event continues, it is also quite likely that some minor injuries may need attention too.

A final word – alcohol

Though usually associated with team sports, drinking alcohol post-competition does occur in other sports, under the guise of celebrating or perhaps just commiserating. It is standard medical practice to treat soft tissue damage (muscles, tendons, fascia, ligaments and skin) with vasoconstriction or RICE techniques (rest, ice, compression and elevation). Alcohol is a particularly good vasodilator, particularly of the blood vessels to the skin, and it is possible that drinking large quantities of alcohol may lead to further swelling at the site of the injury. As a result, recovery might not be so speedy. Abstaining from alcohol for twenty-four hours (at least!) would appear to be sound advice for an injured cyclist to follow, particularly one keen to get back on the bike as soon as possible.

Case Study 4: Mark

My nutrition for everyday cycling would generally consist of balancing and increasing my daily intake of carbohydrates, proteins and fats to prevent catabolism due to the increased activity levels that I would be undertaking. I have found through trial and error that a balance of 65 per cent carbohydrate, 15 per cent protein and 20 per cent fat works best for me. I would work out my daily kilocalorie requirement based on the reduced body-weight that I want to be during the event; to do this I use the Schofield Equation. This is a method of estimating my total energy intake requirement based on my basal metabolic rate (BMR) as I find this most accurate.

My daily intake of food would usually consist of an early breakfast of porridge with mixed berries or a banana (I sometimes change this for muesli), and to drink a Berocca vitamin and mineral effervescent tablet diluted in water. I would then snack on seeds and nuts throughout the morning. Approximately two hours before my bike ride I will then eat a balanced meal, usually chicken or fish with dark green vegetables and sweet potato.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.