This winter and spring have found me putting in some long hours on my road bike and adding some new found running to my schedule. In the past, running has really knocked the socks off of me. I found it was taking me a couple of days to recover from hard runs when I was continuing with my on-bike training. In the past I used a number of glycogen replacement drinks (E-load, Born, Extran or Cytomax) while exercising and occasionally a recovery drink after exercise. Recovery took time and I often felt flat for a couple of days after a hard day (interval session on bike and run on same day).
This spring, starting with my training trip in Mallorca I have been more focused on proper nutrition after exercise and during exercise sessions of 3 hours or more. In Mallorca I spent over 30 hours on my bike in a little over a week and managed to feel pretty fresh most of the time. Lately I have had weeks of up to 14 hours of cycling and running and seem to be bouncing back from the workouts well. Some of this may be due to the fact this is year 3 of working hard but I think a lot of it is due to diligent rest days and good fuel during and after exercise.
In the past, protein was a no-no during exercise. It was thought that if you consumed protein during exercise it would be broken down and produces ammonia. More recent material has been published that contradicts this point for longer bouts of exercise. If you are going 3 hours or more at reasonable intensity you will have a hard time tapping into your fat stores due to the intensity, you will exhaust your muscle glycogen and carb supply because we can only absorb 300-400 calories/hour no matter how much we eat or drink. This results in your body turning to protein. It can either strip this from your muscles or hopefully scavenge it from some protein you have ingested.
In light of this, for my longer races and training sessions I have been using some 4:1 or 5:1 carb:protein drinks. They are easy to ingest and seem to be helping. My partner Kathy used to complain of my "Bologna Breath" after hard workouts or races. This nasty breath is caused by Ketosis. Lately this has not been an issue. It is not scientific evidence but if it makes my training better and my love life better could there be better news? The products I have switched to are the Hammer Perpetuem and even mixing the hammer whey with a carb drink.
After riding there is nothing better for you than a well balanced meal of carbs and protein. I certainly don't always take or make the time to do this properly. In lieu, I have been using the Hammer Whey in fruit smoothies in the blender after workouts or if in a real rush I have been using the Hammer Recoverite. Both of these have some glutamine in them. This amino acid has been proven to speed recovery and according to research has little in the way of side affects.
After using these products for the last couple of months I am pretty convinced they are helping. You could get all the same nutrients in well chosen and prepared foods but I know I would not take the time.
How to fuel the machine for 90 minutes or less.
At Wild Rock we are often approached by people asking, "What should I eat or drink before, after or during exercise?" This is a loaded question these days. The scientific world has no hard and fast rules but I have poured over a lot of research and here is my two cents worth.
If you are going to engage in aerobic (you can still speak in sentences while cycling or running) exercise of less than 1 hour and have eaten a good meal within 3 hours of you starting; you may not need any supplementary carb drinks or food. Stay hydrated with water and eat a healthy meal shortly after exercising. I know the commercial world says you should be pounding back gels, washing them down with Go- juice and supplementing with Bonzo-Tabs but it is really not necessary. This is especially true if weight loss is a goal. With carb drinks and gels it would be quite easy to eat more in calories on a 45-minute run than you burn! Your body will have almost 1-hour worth of muscle glycogen to tap into and then after that it can go for fats and carbs from your last meal that is swishing around your bloodstream.
If you did not eat properly I would suggest you drink a good sports drink (skip the sucrose/fructose bombs like Accelerade or Gatorade and get some with mutidextrose or dextrose blends) or eat a gel during your exercise or 5 minutes prior. If you take on your calories more than 5 minutes before your workout, the insulin rush will leave you with heavy legs and not much go. If you eat during exercise your body shunts this reaction and you won't have the nasty insulin induced blahs.
If you are engaged in anaerobic exercise (hard intervals, race pace tempo etc) for less than an hour your needs change. You are exercising so hard your body cannot tap into its fat reserves and the hard efforts are causing serious muscles damage that will need to be repaired. The key here is post exercise recovery with a protein/carb drink or food. Ones with anti-oxidants and amino acids are perfect. Eat/ drink right after your workout and continue nibbling for the same length of time your workout lasted.
If your workouts are breaking through the 1-hour barrier than I would suggest a good sports drink and/or gels. Solid foods won't be broken down fast enough to be of value and may cause more stomach upset than they are worth. Liquids are absorbed most efficiently and easily. Make sure the calories start flowing after 30 minutes. Waiting until you bonk at 65 minutes of a 90-minute workout won't help. You need to get the calories in before you need them. You will rarely feel the need or hunger until it is too late.
If you have questions about fitness nutrition and this didn't answer it, feel free to stop by the store and ask around. There are lots of people who have tried out all of our products and can give you an idea of how they worked for them. We have found that success at eating before, during and after exercise is individual but asking around saves some of the trial and error.
