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DIET |
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Basic Nutrition Facts
Protein, fat and carbohydrate are the main essential components of
your diet. Protein supplies the amino acids essential for muscle development,
but little energy while a mix of fat and carbohydrate fuel the working
muscles during exercise. Fat is relatively hard for your muscles to
“burn” and it produces energy slowly. Carbohydrate is
easy for your muscles to “burn” and it produces energy
quickly. The ratio of fat to carbohydrate in the fuel mix changes
according to how quickly you need to produce energy (e.g. how fast
you want to ride), your fitness level and how much carbohydrate you
have remaining in your fuel tank.
During very low intensity riding, a higher proportion of fat and a
lower proportion of carbohydrate are used by the working muscles.
During moderate and faster riding, carbohydrate is the main fuel used
by the working muscles. Carbohydrate let’s you ride strong,
it makes riding more enjoyable, it reduces the risk of over-training
injury and it helps prevent illness (carbohydrate depletion can suppress
the immune system).
Unfortunately the amount of carbohydrate that your body can store
is relatively small and it can become quickly depleted. When the body’s
stores of carbohydrate start to run low, the muscles are forced to
burn a less energetic fuel mix, which contains a higher proportion
of fat than they would like. The more-and-more you deplete your carbohydrate
reserves, the more-and-more fat will be added into the fuel mix. This
increasing reliance on fat is felt as fatigue.
Carbohydrate depletion and associated fatigue will take the “edge”
of your performance early in a MTB marathon. In the latter stages
a heavy reliance on fat can often reduce performance to such an extent
that you are happy to just reach the finish line. Maximising the amount
of carbohydrate fuel you have available is the key to maximising performance
in an endurance event. You should:
1. Ensure that your carbohydrate tank is full as
possible before you start
2. Feed yourself with carbohydrate during exercise
3. Re-fuel your carbohydrate stores immediately after exercise finishes |
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