90g carbohydrate per hour, seriously?

Herbsman

DOES anyone actually take in 90g of multiple transportable carbohydrates per hour during road races? Assuming just water in your drinks bottle that's like four gels per hour... How does your stomach cope with it?

"The advice for prolonged endurance events (2.5 h or longer) is an intake of 90 g of multiple transportable carbohydrates per hour."
http://www.gssiweb.org/Article/sse-108- ... r-benefits

I don't think this can apply to road racing - surely paying attention to what's going on up the road is more helpful than trying to stick to an energy intake schedule?!

TakeTurns

Some time ago, I watched a video on YT with Cav and Bernie being interviewed. One particular question was about fueling for races. Cav mentioned taking one gel every 30mins. Followed by saying 20gels would be consumed on avg for the Milan-San Remo

okgo

1 every half hour after the first 90 mins is about right I've heard. Depends on how hard the race is but I'd say after 1 hour 15 if you went with the 2 per hour rule you'd be fine.

big_p

If i took a gel every 30 minutes on a long ride, i think i would sh1t myself inside out. I much prefer a banana or two.

alihisgreat

The pros are putting out more power, and thus burning more calories? Is that how it works?

Us mere mortals can get by on 30g an hour or whatever because we're not putting out the power?

I do think a lot of people under-eat on the bike though... and hence why 90g/h seems too high.

Pokerface

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

The pros are putting out more power, and thus burning more calories? Is that how it works?

Us mere mortals can get by on 30g an hour or whatever because we're not putting out the power?

I do think a lot of people under-eat on the bike though... and hence why 90g/h seems too high.

For the most part, they probably aren't putting out significantly more power than 'we' would. This changes depending on the terrain, if they have to ride on the front, etc. But for a Pro 'sitting in' their power output would be relatively low.

But, especially in stage races, they need to keep well fuelled as the daily stresses will add up over time and affect recovery if they don't feed properly.

90g/h seems very high though, especially as it's past the typical limit of 1g/min (60g per hour) that the body can absorb.

mamba80

i thought the whole point of this paper was to debunk the 60g/hr limit by using glucose and fructose ?

fwiw an energy bar (say 40g) + a banana (20 to 30g) and 500ml of energy drink is going to be pretty much up there.

they are talking about events over 2.5hr and refer to 5 hr events, so not your typical amateur regional r.race

Pokerface

mamba80 wrote:

i thought the whole point of this paper was to debunk the 60g/hr limit by using glucose and fructose ?

I didn't read the paper, but I have read elsewhere about upping the 60g/h limit by mixing fructose and glucose.

mamba80

Isnt this what High5 and others claim? maybe this paper was sponsored/written by them

wcrombie

you can get tested to see what your max potential carb absorption is, but 60-90 g/hr is the basic starting position, I heard of an elite Kona triathlete who got tested and could absorb 110g/hr.

In terms of useage etc you are never going to consume enough to replace what you are burning if you are working remotely hard, so if you are doing a long event (ie over 4 hours) you need to start fuelling from the point you start burning calories, not from an hour in when you have already burnt half of your reserves. You can even start before the race as it takes time for your body to start digesting the fuel.

I also agree that the strategy needs to be to mix the different food options rather than aim to get everything from Gels, which even the pros only use exclusively at the end of a race rather than using only gels from the start.

Setarkos

I know world class long-distance riders who get by on only energy drinks in a 24h race.

sungod

Setarkos wrote:

I know world class long-distance riders who get by on only energy drinks in a 24h race.

leaving aside the fact that you don't quantify the energy consumed, maybe they're chugging 100g carbs/hour of drink, long distance riding is not the same as road racing...

as % of v02 max increases, % total energy from fat metabolism falls while % from carbohydrate metabolism rises

at lower intensity, you get more of the total energy used from stored fat, so you can go longer with lower carbohydrate intake

jonomc4

being diabetic and not wanting to crash and black out I take this subject quite seriously - I find (and I do check my blood sugars on a ride) I go through about 100g of carb an hour when going at a reasonable pace 85% max HR. Though this is obvioously dependant on me taking sensible amounts of insulin so I have the energy to burn.

I tend to get this through a few snickers bars, pure energy drinks and a couple of gels and sports bars (I like to mix it up) and obviously water to wash this all down

napoleond

I vary my intake a lot, after 20 minutes ride I'll have some carrot cake. Before the hour is up some tea loaf. Then on about 90 mins I'll stop for an affogato at my favoured coffee shop.
On the ride home I'll have an energy drink made with full sugar red bull with some gel squeezed into it.
Once home recovery consists of crumpets with butter and jam.

okgo

Hello Sonni!

bigmat

jonomc4 wrote:

being diabetic and not wanting to crash and black out I take this subject quite seriously - I find (and I do check my blood sugars on a ride) I go through about 100g of carb an hour when going at a reasonable pace 85% max HR. Though this is obvioously dependant on me taking sensible amounts of insulin so I have the energy to burn.

I tend to get this through a few snickers bars, pure energy drinks and a couple of gels and sports bars (I like to mix it up) and obviously water to wash this all down

Are you talking racing, or just long rides? I reckon I don't eat nearly enough when racing. I can't really inject on the go, especially at race pace, so I'm conscious that 100g of carb an hour or whatever would push my blood sugar levels through the roof (and the carbs wouldn't be getting to my muscles anyway). I find on long, steadier rides I can eat whatever and glucose levels remain constant or even decline, its the extreme efforts in racing that seem to push levels up. Tricky one to balance. Maybe I need to increase background insulin and then make sure I eat regularly?

jonomc4

I was just talking about long rides at a reasonable effort. I am concious of the fact that I need to keep background insulin up as I at least want to be able to convert the energy. The real crash though tends to happen 2 hours after I get off the bike.

TBH it is a nightmare and I always smirk a little when I hear people talking about keeping energy levels up - they dont know how tricky it is for diabetics :-) - on a long ride I will often have to do one blood check and a boost of insulin

bigmat

jonomc4 wrote:

I was just talking about long rides at a reasonable effort. I am concious of the fact that I need to keep background insulin up as I at least want to be able to convert the energy. The real crash though tends to happen 2 hours after I get off the bike.

TBH it is a nightmare and I always smirk a little when I hear people talking about keeping energy levels up - they dont know how tricky it is for diabetics :-) - on a long ride I will often have to do one blood check and a boost of insulin

Cheers Jono. Long rides / sportives are not too bad - kind of like running, I just seem to steadily burn enough energy for it not to be an issue. Really intense stuff like racing seems to push levels up though, combined with the fact that its impossible to stop and test / inject means its a nightmare trying to keep everything in check! Energy consumption for non diabetic athletes must be an absolute piece of p*ss!

bexslack

Here's an interesting blog on the subject by the respected TTer, Mark Holton.

http://teamdrag2zero.co.uk/2013/04/28/p ... -the-tank/

Herbsman

bexslack wrote:

Here's an interesting blog on the subject by the respected TTer, Mark Holton.

http://teamdrag2zero.co.uk/2013/04/28/p ... -the-tank/

Interesting blog?

5th paragraph:

This year we’ve changed our nutrition sponsor to High 5...

So, actually, an advert.

joe.90

I really do think everyone is different...I eat a lot anyway so I don't deal well when I don't eat often. I can not eat on rides no problem, but i don't perform to my best.

When I go out on a steady long ride I don't need anything apart from water. But when I go out for a long hard ride then il eat every 45.

drlodge

NapoleonD wrote:

I vary my intake a lot, after 20 minutes ride I'll have some carrot cake. Before the hour is up some tea loaf. Then on about 90 mins I'll stop for an affogato at my favoured coffee shop.
On the ride home I'll have an energy drink made with full sugar red bull with some gel squeezed into it.
Once home recovery consists of crumpets with butter and jam.

I like your taste Sure beats my mix of Isotonic, flapjack and jelly babies for variety!