Rec & Fitness: Does Your Diet Match Your Training?

To get the most out of your cycling, balancing your diet correctly is just as important as choosing the right training programme. Before, when not focusing on my diet, I found that my recovery from exercise was not as rapid as I would have liked and my immune system suffered. I was frustrated as my training progress came to a halt and I learnt that if I failed to address my nutritional intake I certainly would not get the best from my body. So, what makes the difference?

If you’re out on the bike regularly, your body needs the right nutritional support for performance and maintenance of health. The first step is to get your basic diet right. The second is to work out what you should be eating and drinking before, during and after your ride. It is then important to understand how to fine-tune your diet when you take on different types of training. So what constitutes a good basic diet?

Basic dietary requirements for endurance athletes

Calculate your carbohydrate

Those involved in endurance sports require a high intake of carbohydrates. Stored in your muscles, blood and (a small amount) in the liver, carbohydrate is the body’s primary fuel source during exercise. This carbohydrate is not only important to provide fuel for the working muscles, but is also essential for the central nervous system. As the brain uses glucose as its energy source, a lack of this can result in weakness, dizziness and low blood sugar. Reduced blood sugar during exercise decreases performance and can lead to mental and physical fatigue. Indeed, extensive research in this area shows that high carbohydrate diets decrease the risk of fatigue during continuous and highly intensive stop-start type exercise, so whether you are performing short fast repetitions or going out for a long Sunday ride, carbohydrate is your greatest ally.

Although many sports people recognise the importance of carbohydrate, they are often surprised when their intake is assessed. The practicalities of getting your intake right can lead to under-consumption and in-turn under-performance. So, how much do you need?

As a regular cyclist you should be aim for between 5 and g of carbs in your daily diet for each kilogram you weigh (e.g. a 70kg cyclist would aim for between 350 and 490 grams of carbohydrate per day). Elite riders consuming more calories will take on up to 9 grams per kilogram. Not only will this optimise stored carbohydrate (glycogen) in the muscle tissue and supply energy throughout training, but this has also been linked with a decreased risk of infection.

Before you start to tuck into copious amounts of sweets and cakes, it is important to acknowledge that the right type of carbohydrate is just as important for long-term performance and health as the right amount. Choosing carbohydrate in your meals such as wholegrain pasta, rice or bread, sweet potatoes, fruit and vegetables, should form the basis of your carbohydrate intake. This type of carbohydrate supplies plenty of fibre, vitamins and minerals. Although many vegetables and salads make less of a contribution to the diet in terms of gram quantity per serving, it is important to include a variety of vegetables for good health. Sugary foods such as cakes and biscuits should be kept for treats or post-exercise snacks when a simple sugar will refuel energy stored in the muscle more rapidly.

For the full unabridged version, see ‘sheSpoke’ Sept issue