Nutrition

I am off to see the nutritionist in a couple of weeks, and wonder what she will have to say about my diet. I am sure I will get grief for not eating breakfast.

It was interesting to see that Jules sent round details of FuelCycling. We used them last time, as they are based in Guildford and were prepared to give us a discount as a team. What is interesting though, is that it brought to mind just what a lot there is to learn for cyclists who have not done this sort of thing before. Managing nutrition on a long ride is really important. You don't want to "bonk" or "hit the wall" from not having taken on enough, and you don't want to get sick from taking on too much.

There are masses of websites and books and magazines that deal with the issues. I will now paraphrase one - in competition and heavy training you burn a lot of calories so you need to refuel. You also need to ensure that you take on a variety of nutrients.

Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are the 3 types of food that provide energy for working muscle. Carbs and protein provide about 4 Calories per gram and fat about 9 Calories per gram. These substances have to be metabolised to form ATP - adenosine triphosphate - which is the compound solely responsible for providing energy to the body. How your body converts food into ATP greatly affects performance.

The body can only store quite small amounts of ATP, so you have to top up the reservoir during exercise. There are various ways of creating ATP but for us the most important is by providing the right fuel.

I will deal with Carbohydrates in the next post ...