Nutrition and Hydration Tips

It’s getting hotter, and as much as the warmer weather gets us more active, what we sometimes forget is that it should get us drinking more also. We should aim for 1.5–2 litres per day, yes this includes fluid found in food, but that gets hard to calculate.

One of the best things to do is to load up a bit before exercise or activity outside. Around 250mls will get you a head start 2hrs before, and 100mls 30mins before. Weigh yourself.

Continue to drink during the activity, and then weigh yourself after your activity or event. If you’ve lost 500g drink another 500mls.

My preference for cycling is to drink 500mls leading up to riding, and then drink 500-750mls per hour. If I have to stop for a comfort break from time to time, great!

A 2% drop in body weight will reduce your performance by as much as 10%!

Let's look at an example!

Cyclists

Consume your kms distance x 30 in calories. So 50km ride x 30 = 1500 calories.

With each meal look at a fist size low glycaemic index serve of carbs, wholegrain / fruit / vegetables.

Protein is often thought of as muscle food and not relevant to cyclists, but getting adequate protein into your diet will support your health, immune function and recovery. Responsible for tissue maintenance in the body and playing a vital role in immune function, it follows that your recovery will be sub-optimal if you are accelerating muscle damage through training while not meeting your needs.

Look at fish, beans and pulses.

20g of good fats per day is advised. These are in fish, avocadoes, nuts, seeds (esp. flaxseed) among others.

When riding, if less than 90mins easy pace, you can make do with water and the obligatory coffee after. More than this, look at 30-60g carbs per hour. 30g will be in isotonic drinks 750mls, 25g a large banana, 25g in a gel, 5g is a jelly snake.

You need to experiment with tolerance so go easy (30g) and gradually build your consumption (to 60g if you cope). 

Thanks to our physio Mark for this great insight!