As an age grouper wanting to improve each year, I am (by biological fact) being asked to do more with less. The question of how I can train and race smarter needs to be front and center.

One area I have improved is certainly fueling, not just races, but very importantly training and recovery.

The better I fuel my training the better the performance of that training session, my training adaptation, my recovery, and my ability to have quality in the next session. So let’s look at some of the ideas that underpin this.

Firstly it is the duration of the exercise and its intensity (not your body weight) that guides the amount of carbs you should be taking in.

As a rule of thumb, this is a pretty good guideline from one of the leading companies in this area – Precision Fuel and Hydration:

Understanding that ingestion is one thing but training your gut to absorb high levels of intake may well be a necessary step if you’re looking to optimize your performance in long, sustained events. Note that the body can not utilize more than 60g of glucose per hour, this is why most sport-specific gels/drinks have a glucose-to-fructose mix. 

You can estimate your energy and hydration needs using Precision Fuel and Hydration’s calculator HERE and another from Umara Sports  HERE.

In recent years there has been a trend to push the limits of carbohydrate ingestion, especially in Triathlon and Professional Cycling (it is easier to consume large amounts on the bike) with certain athletes taking in 120g or even more per hour.

In practical terms, if you are doing 30 to 60g per hour you can use solely glucose or glucose polymers like maltodextrin. As you move to 90g per hour you then need to add fructose to the mix. This is why early high-carb mixes had 2:1 glucose to fructose. Moving beyond that the recommendation is 5:4 glucose to fructose.

Commercial products are expensive, so I reserve the good stuff for race day but I have been making my own mixes. Maltodextrin (glucose) is fairly inexpensive when bought in large bags (<5€ per kilo). So for 60g/hr, I use it on its own with water. For 90g/hr mixes, I add fructose 2:1 and for 120g/hr mixes, I use a 5:4 ratio. 

The 5:4 ratio got me thinking. If high carb intake mixes are 5:4 glucose to fructose then as we are approaching the 1:1 ratio what would be the downside of just drinking table sugar mix (or eating Haribo)? After all inexpensive table sugar (sucrose) is a disaccharide made up of glucose and fructose subunits in equal measure. I emailed one of the leading sports nutrition companies this question but they didn’t reply!

My brother works in the sports physiology research department at Birmingham University. It just so happens that they have one of the leading experts in the field of sports nutrition and carbohydrate metabolism – Tim Podlogar. He’s also one of the nutritionists for the BORA Hansgrohe World Tour cycling team. So I thought he might be able to tell me.

 “I don’t think there is much of a downside really. The thing that comes to my mind is that in sports nutrition products usually you use maltodextrin over glucose. And by doing that you reduce the number of particles in the solution or osmolality. And this is better from the perspective of water absorption. Not much, but in theory it works better. And the other thing is that maltodextrin-fructose is probably less sweet than sucrose just because maltodextrin is not sweet. But who knows  – never tried. I can say that we used Haribo last year at Vuelta in feeding bags as treats sometimes. And in training some riders use them pretty often.” 

I also know that the cyclist Chris Miller (Nero Show) uses sugar water to fuel his races. Maybe something for me to try? As for Haribo, why not? I live in Sweden and most people here have been gut training, binge eating sucrose since they were kids “lördagsgodis” (Saturday sweets or candy). We should be world-class!

Moving on to another macronutrient protein, which is more important immediately post-workout than carbohydrates unless you are going to train within four hours. If you are, then take on some carbohydrates too. Protein is needed to build and repair the muscle tissue that is undergoing constant breakdown from day-to-day training. For optimal recovery, take in 25 to 30 grams of protein within the first half hour post-training. In terms of total daily protein intake look to be taking in a total of 1.4-1.8g/kg [0.63-0.82g/lb] body mass spread out during the day as meals and/or as supplements. 

The third macronutrient, fat, is also important but if you have a healthy diet (fat from healthy sources) it is unlikely to be something you need to worry about. 

On the hydration side electrolytes are important. Make sure they are part of your hydration plan. Check the labels of your sports drinks/gels and make sure you are getting enough. The major electrolytes are sodium, potassium, and chloride with sodium being the most important. You are probably okay with 800-1200 mg of sodium per hour. Aim for the high end of these ranges for longer events. Practice your fluid and sodium intake amounts in training and adjust for weather conditions.

One other thing you can consider is caffeine. Caffeine exerts its ergogenic effect by binding to adenosine A1/A2 receptors and inhibiting the fatigue-inducing effects of adenosine in the brain. It is widely shown to decrease motor-related cortical potential and Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and yields performance benefits. If it isn’t part of your strategy it should be! Ingest 3 to 6 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight at the start-line… it takes about 60 minutes to kick in, by which time you’ll be glad of a boost.

Another thing I have been better at is carb-loading the day before an event. As it is possible to fill glycogen stores in 24 hours there is no need for multi-day pre-loading strategies.

• Start your activation ride/run/swim the day before the event as early as possible. This will get your muscles ready to absorb glycogen.

• The first four hours after the activation run/ride, consume 1-1.5 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body mass per hour.

• Then eat normal meals for the rest of the day, high in carbohydrates and protein (e.g., rice with meat or fish).

• Use the power of Haribo gummy bears.

• Avoid fat and fiber.

• Your total intake for the day should be around 10 to 12 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body mass.

Tim P again “The breakfast before the race should focus on carbohydrates of different types. We recommend rice with lactose-free milk, cacao powder, and some sugar. Keep avoiding fat and fiber. Rice is good. Oats, not good.”

Fuel well and train well