To Breakfast or not Breakfast...

Kelloggs

I am off on a 2-3hr ride tomorrow morning, should I start on an emty stomach and eat en route(bars etc), or have breakfast and only take on water? The route is not going to be too tough. Any suggestions?

Gussio

Breakfast!!!! Bowl of porridge or cereal, and a banana works best for me.

redddraggon

I'd recommend eating first. The only time (apart from commutes) I've been out without breakfast I saw stars and nearly fainted on the first climb - never again.

Most of my commutes I go out without breakfast, but there's no stiff climbs, and my commute is only 30mins anyway, but with bars (etc) I could probably go on a lot further.

It's upto you, really. It depends whether or not you start with anything difficult.

ThatGuyOnABike

never go out without breakfast. the saying "breakfast isd the most important meal" is true!! it is unhealty and why would you want to anyway. if your worried about feeling bloated then just wake up half an hour early and after you eat watch a bit of telly.

Kelloggs

thanks guys, looks like some breakfast for me then. Should a bowl of cereal see me round? As I said it is a gentle course. A couple of bars as well? I am trying to lose some weight, so I don't want to overload myself.

Wooliferkins

Anything more than an hour eat first!

Bronzie

Unless I get up at stupid o'clock to do an early ride, I'll always have something before I go out the door. Porridge / museli are both great in my opinion.

If I'm doing over 60 miles and not stopping, I'll take some food with me and start eating again after a couple of hours plus carb drink throughout the ride.

TheGreatGatsby

Err - about to put the cat amongst the pidgeons - I would - and this is me personally - go without breakfast and wait until I get back to eat anything. Have a good carbo meal tonight pasta etc and then have a glass of water before the ride.

Anything under a 4hour ride can be done happily without food. Plus the thought of a good breakfast when you get back as a reward is always an alluring one!

But like I said - thats just me. Common views is to eat before hand at least an hour before to stop cramps and sickness.

Gats

Kelloggs

Bit confused now.

TheGreatGatsby

Ignore my post it was just a comment as to my view but then I've been riding like that for years so my body is used to it over long distances etc.

If you are fairly new to cycling and a 3hr ride is long for you I would say eat before hand. A slow release breakfast - porridge or meusli with nuts/seeds and fruit a cup off tea or coffee.

http://cyclingnutrition.blogspot.com/20 ... after.html

have a look on this site for info about cycling nutrion. usually updated daily.

Gats

Kelloggs

cheers.

daniel_b

I went out last weekend after having a big bowl of porridge, and felt pretty ill after 5 miles, though it did pass.

Problem was that it was only 30 minutes between eating and getting on the bike, I reckon you need at least an hour, and preferably 90 minutes before eating and getting on the bike.

The bugger is then that if you want to be out of the house at 8, you need to be eating at 6.30, on a weekend :?

That's my personal experience of course, perhaps others don't need such a time lapse between eating and riding.

I've gone out before without eating brekkie, and it hasn't been a huge problem, as long as I take plenty of food/bars with me to eat along the way, and plenty of water.

I think you'll have a more successful ride if you can get some breakfast down before you go though.

Dan

jellybellywmb

I am the same, If I eat before exercise I feel really ill, so a couple of rounds of toast tops for me.

fossyant

Breakfast....MUST EAT IT

pjh

Hmmm ... I do a two hour ride early most Sat & Sun mornings and invariable don't eat breaky first.

I've read in a number of cycling pieces that if you're actually trying to lose weight that it's good NOT to eat before cycling as this encourages the use of stored body fat!

I'm not an expert but it seems to work for me and I don't ever feel dizzy or light-headed.

I usually have a good glass of water before I go and take plenty of fluid on-board during the ride.

Goes without saying that if you're gonna be on the bike for much longer than a couple of hours that you need food before you start or on-board with you :-)

La cucaracha

TheGreatGatsby wrote:

I've been riding like that for years so my body is used to it over long distances etc.

Generally I would say eat before a ride, but doing the occassional ride in a fasted state will make your body adapt to use fat as a fuel more readily when CHO is running low. Enhancing your body's ability to utilise fat stores will help you to burn fat (even if you don't want to lose weight - in that case just make sure your energy intake matches or exceeds output and you'll simply change the proprtions of fat to muscle) and will help you maintain your blood sugar in those situations when your glycogen stores are depleted (if maximal before setting out usually occurs after 1-2 hours of riding) and you're also out of food/energy drinks. Keep the fasted rides at a low intensity to get the best results (well below 80% HRmax), carry food in case of hypoglycaemia, don't try riding for too long and eat a good meal of carbs and a bit of protein when you get in. Don't overdo it either or you'll find yourself losing power - approx 10% of the fuel you're using will be coming from amino acids which your muscle tissue has been broken down to provide.

Hope that's helped.

La cucaracha

I should also add that how readily fat is used up varies greatly between individuals. You can increase your body's ability to utilise fat stores, but at the end of the day it's largely predetermined by your genes so there comes a point beyond which no more improvement will occur. Which is a bit of a sh*tter.

giant_man

Well I have to say i have never eaten breakfast before I went out on a long ride and I have performed better for it. I don't believe having all that food bolbbling about in your stomach is good whlst you're riding.

But everyone's different so best to do what you prefer.

Burton

I use the Isostar cereal before a club run. Seems to make a difference, one bowl half an hour or 40 mins before I leave home. Take a steady 20 min ride to the club house and I'm right as rain for 4 hours +.
Can't imagine I'd last long without it. But I do like the idea of changing your body to more readilly burn fat, could be useful for me!!

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

Didn't Bernard Hinault say 'drier is faster'? And he was pretty damn fast. Enough of a hard case not to worry about dehydration presumably...

I always have a banana and a half pint of tea before I go out...

AntLockyer

Having got the hunger knock I will always eat from now on. 3 hours into a ride I felt sick and could jsut about stand let alone ride a bike.

oldwelshman

ThatGuyOnABike wrote:

never go out without breakfast. the saying "breakfast isd the most important meal" is true!! it is unhealty and why would you want to anyway. if your worried about feeling bloated then just wake up half an hour early and after you eat watch a bit of telly.

Not true.
As others have posted you can do "fat burning" rides which use up body fat and train your body to burn body fat more efficiently for races and longer rides.
I often do 2 to 3 hour rides without breakfats and take just an energy drink and banana and gel as reserve.
Why on earth is it unhealthy?
It is also a matter of personal choice as it is with any type of training and diet, there is no one perfect way to train or one perfect diet.

psyfur

Pasta bash the night before, huge bowl of Frosties in the morning, followed by two rounds of toast with Jam spread REALLY thickly, one cup of strong Coffee 1.5 - 2 hours later hit the road

The first hour is spent thinking you've eaten to much and struggling on easy stuff, hour 2 the sugars are begining to do thier stuff you start to fly along, hour 3 flat out now feeling good and pushing limits, hour 4 legs begining to hurt start topping up with the energy drink, hour 5 get home legs tired, lungs on fire, exhausted and very hungry, eat lots of protein rich foods and some carbs for afters

TheGreatGatsby

as an experiment I went out this morning really early without breakfast for a hard 4 hour ride. This was doneas I was resting yesterday and carbed up fully with pasta and bread I even had half a chicken wrap for lunch which is really not like me! The result - no problems. Felt good and strong throughout the ride which ended up being dry aswell as my water bottle froze solid in the frst 30 minutes! Was fine all the way through but was suffering when I got in - mre due to the cold than anything else.

So I reckon - before a long hard ride eat well the day before and rest if possible. then go out before breakfast to utilise all the loveliness consumed the day before.

Gats

chronyx

Thanks for that Gats useful!

TheGreatGatsby

the things I do for the greater good. :roll:

Gats

Babbsy

I usually don't have breakfast before an early morning ride. I find that if I do have breakfast it is harder to control my heart rate. With breakfast my heart rate will quickly shoot up above 80% and stay there throughout a 2,3 or 4 hour + ride. To stay at below 80% I'd have to go painfully slow. When i push it , up hills etc my hr can easily reach 87-90% before I blow. Without breakfast my heart rate will gradually increase to the 75-80% zone and is maintained there going slightly above up hills etc. This difference in hr is not matched by a difference in performance - there is no appreciable difference in average speed.

With or without breakfast i always sip energy drink throughout a ride and may have some food (malt loaf, go bar, banana) depending on the length of ride.

grimpeur

TheGreatGatsby wrote:

as an experiment I went out this morning really early without breakfast for a hard 4 hour ride. This was doneas I was resting yesterday and carbed up fully with pasta and bread I even had half a chicken wrap for lunch which is really not like me! The result - no problems. Felt good and strong throughout the ride which ended up being dry aswell as my water bottle froze solid in the frst 30 minutes! Was fine all the way through but was suffering when I got in - mre due to the cold than anything else.

So I reckon - before a long hard ride eat well the day before and rest if possible. then go out before breakfast to utilise all the loveliness consumed the day before.

Gats

I agree with this to a certain extent as it mirrors what I regularly do in some ways. I have problems with my stomach in that if I eat any food in the couple of hours leading up to when I go out for a ride I will usually end up throwing it up into my mouth. Nice! To get round this I usually get up really early and have breakfast or eat a lot the night before, say a couple of bowls of porridge before going to bed. As long as the glycogen is available in your muscles you will be fine.

However your performance will tail off though on long rides 4-6 hrs if you do not supplement the glycogen in your muscles. This isn't guessing, this is simple fact. Your muscle glycogen stores are only substantial enough for 2000 - 3000 calories, beyond that and you start using fat and/or muscle for fuel. Even with the best fat metabolism in the world you are simply not going to be able to achieve the same performance utilising your fat stores as you would from supplementing your glycogen levels with energy food and drink throughout the ride.

The most important point is to re-fuel as soon as you get in if your goal is to do a similar ride of the same length the next day. Otherwise you will wake up the next morning with legs that feel f*#ked.

Finally, Gats, riding for 4 hrs with nothing in drink really isn't good for you, particularly your renal system.

TheGreatGatsby

yeah tell me about it - it wasn't planned and I always take a drink with me on a ride of 3+ hours just didnt think it was that cold!

Gats

pjh

flippin was cold too ... thought my feet had frostbite when I got in

I'm so sick of cold feet and I've tried every bloomin thing (3 pairs of socks, overshoes ... you name it ... nothing works :x) Got home yesterday and finally gave in ... went on wiggle with me birfday vouchers and bought some winter boots (even though winter's nearly over)

TheGreatGatsby

I have the same problem with my hands and despite spending 200+ on the Assos glove system that has made no difference whatesoever I have resigned myself to cold/numb hands on the rides in the morning and then preparing mayself for the pain when they thaw.

Gats