Do you switch up what you eat during workouts depending on your ride goals, duration and intensity? If not, it’s time to start!
If you didn’t have a chance to join us last week for our Coach’s Corner discussion with Rapha Cycle Club, you’re in luck! Sports Nutritionist and Cycling Coach Sofi Marin joined RCC members on Zoom and gave essential tips on how to fuel for specific workouts to maximize performance, increase adaptations, and stay lean. She outlined three unique fueling strategies for common workouts and answered rider questions!
Bonus – we got it all on video!
Here’s the Breakdown of Coach Sofi’s Fueling Tips:
1) Neglecting Hydration
2) Under eating
3) Not considering Demands and Goals of the Ride
Feel Thirsty? If so, you’re likely at 2% below optimal body water, which results in up to an 11% drop in peak power output.
Conscious hydration is necessary to efficiently replenish body water & salt losses to keep the body cool and functioning optimally. Plain water alone does not sufficiently replenish body water losses while exercising, unless exercise is very low intensity with minimal sweating.
Coach Sofi says to instead, focus on Functional Hydration: drinks that include sodium, electrolytes, and a little sugar to optimize fluid absorption.
Keep in mind that ride duration and intensity (among other factors) determine caloric demands. The harder the ride, the more glycogen depleting it will be. This means you’ll have to consciously fuel with carbohydrates. Conversely, if you are doing an easy, endurance pace ride, it can be counterproductive to fuel with simple sugars like gels and blocks.
“It’s not as simple as ‘Calories Burned.’ Understanding how ride intensity, duration, and terrain impact fuel utilization can help you dial in your nutrition & hydration strategy to maximize performance.” – Coach Sofi
Depending on the intensity of the workout among other factors, there will be a percentage of calories coming from fat (no need to replenish) versus calories coming from carbohydrates/glycogen (need to replenish, but not all at once).
Goal: Endurance building, Fat-burning, Metabolic efficiency
Fueling Strategy -> Go To Video Clip @ 33:12min
Goal: Hit high power, multiple accelerations, finish strong
Fueling Strategy -> Go To Video Clip @ 35:55min
Goal: Multiple accelerations, multiple threshold & anaerobic efforts, finish strong.
Fueling Strategy -> Go To Video Clip @ 45:05min
Big thanks to Rapha Cycle Club and Coach Sofi for coming together to create this awesome discussion!
My biggest accomplishment since joining Achieve is sticking to goals and increasing my FTP by 15%!
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Currently live in: Mill Valley, CA Achieve athlete since: February 2019 The aspect I like most about cycling and/or racing is: Being outdoors and the speed and control on two wheels. It reminds me of racing motocross which I when I was eight years old and actively raced for 16 years. My favourite bike is: […]
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The aspect I like most about cycling and/or racing is:
The competitiveness and tactics it takes to be great at riding/racing. Pushing myself past my comfort zone and continuing to learn from it.
My goals for the upcoming season include:
Skill/fitness building: improve climbing, endurance, cornering, and riding in a pace-line.
Results: finish in the top 20% in the Sea Otter Classic, place in the Lost Serra Triple Crown Series
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