Sports Nutrition Bible

**ono** · 08-07-2008 02:41 PM

During Exercise

For most activities lasting less than an hour, drinking anything other than water is unnecessary, provided your pre-exercise muscle glycogen levels are high. So basically if you've eaten a carbohydrate containing meal 2-4 hours before, then you'll be fine with just water.

If you are exercising for longer than 60 minutes ata moderate-high intensity, comsuming carbohydrate during exercise can be beneficial. During the first 60 minutes of exercise, most of your carbohydrate energy comes from muscle glycogen. After that, muscle glycogen stores deplete significantly, so the exercising muscles must use carbohydrates from other source. That's where blood sugar (glucose) comes into it. As you continue on, more and more glucose is taken from the bloodstream. Eventually, after around 2-3 hours, your muscles will be fuelled purely by glucose and fat. Unfortunately amino acids are now likely to be used for fuel aswell as liver glycogen. Once liver glycogen runs low, you may be in danger of experiencing hypoglycaemia...which is very unpleasant.

Clearly then, consuming additional carbohydrate whilst training, would stabilise blood glucose sugar levels thus allowing you to exercise longer.

So how much carbohydrate should i have?

Around 30-60g per hour is best. It's important to consume these carbohydrates before fatigue sets in. Don't wait for it! This is because it takes around 30 minutes for the carbohydrate to enter the bloodstream.

The best strategy would be to consume the carbohydrates soon after the start of your workout (30 minutes into it at the latest).

Note: continually consuming carbohydrates whilst training will not allow to train indefinately...pretty sure you'll have grasped that anyway

Which foods or drinks are best?

High or Moderate GI carbs are best as they raise blood sugar levels and reach muscles more rapidly. Whether you choose liquids or solids makes very little difference to your performance, provided you drink water with your solid carbohydrate. Liquid forms of carbohydrates are probably more convenient. If you prefer to consume food aswell as drinks during exercise, energy pr sports nutrition bars, sports gels, ripe bananas, raisins or fruit bars are all perfectly fine. Just be sure to drink water at the same time. Whether you choose liquid or solid carbohydrate, aim to consume at least 1 litre fluid per hour.

to be continued....(sorry if it's moving slow, my comp at home is fooked)

**ono** · 08-10-2008 03:13 PM

Suitable foods and drinks to consume during exercise

I said before that 30-60g of carbohydrate per hour, whilst training would be very beneficial. Below is a table explaining the required quantities of different foods, required to consume 30g of carbohydrates.

Isotonic Sports Drink (6g carbs/100ml) - 500ml

Glucose Polymer Drink (12g carbs/100ml) - 250ml

Raisins or Sultanas - 1 Handful

Cereal or Breakfast Bar - 1 Bar

Energy Gel - 1 Sachet

Bananas - 1-2 Bananas, depending on size

Obviously to consume 60g of carbohydrate you would have to double the portion sizes shown above.

Just a quick note on energy gels

Be sure to drink plenty of water with energy gels. If you don't consume enough water with them, you will end up with a gelatinous goo in your belly, which will drag water into your stomach which increases the risk of dehydration. Aim to consume around 350-400ml of water along with it. Maybe split this up into two servings of 175ml-200ml per half sachet. This amount of water will give it a 7% solution (in your stomach) which is the equivalent to an isotonic sports drink. Stick to the above guidelines and try not to be too liberal with the water. Whilst dehydration is a risk when consuming insufficient amounts of water, comsume too much water and not enough carbs will get inside the muscles so you won't get that vital energy boost. So follow the above guidelines for maximum effectiveness.