Nutrition Critical as Temperature Rises

With Summer now in full swing, keeping properly hydrated becomes more of a challenge as the body struggles to replace the minerals that exercising uses.  Good old fashioned water is fantastic to keep the body hydrated,  however lacks the electrolytes that the muscles need to perform well over an extended period.  These electrolytes (Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium and Sodium) are also essential for the body to recover properly and be ready for the next adventure.  Many riders this time of year can wake up feeling a bit tired and lethargic after a ride the day before which in some cases can be due to the deficiency of these electrolytes that the muscles need to recover properly.  So if your like us and like to ride several times a week it's a good idea to look at nutrition closely.

Now before we go any further I feel it's important to squash any ideas that drinks such as Gatorade fall into the category as sports nutrition.

With the risk of Coca Cola sending their team of lawyers in to take down My Mountain high, it must be said that these drinks more closely resemble high sugar cordial than an endurance sports fuel.  Sure they have some electrolytes, but in very small amounts and in very sub standard forms.  These drinks are also full of cheap simple sugars which cause an insulin spike that results in a short burst of "I feel awesome" followed by an energy slump that will resemble Keith Richards on Sunday morning.

So if Coca Cola can't save the day "what should I do" I hear you say.  Well there are quite a few good sports supliments out there.  Hammer, Gu, Torq, Endura, Ascend etc.  We at some stage or another have stocked and sold just about every brand listed above but have settled on Endura and Ascend. 

Sports nutrition can become a big subject, but if we just stick with the absolute minimum you have electrolyte drinks, chews, or tablets and recovery drinks & bars.  Electrolyte drinks are designed to give you the optimum amounts of esential minerals in concentrations that will encourage the most amount of absorbtion.  This last point is also the reason you should mix your drinks to the amounts specified on the label.  These amounts have been tested to provide the best obsortion rate meaning you hopefully wont get a crook gut and wont need to go to the toilet mid ride. Endura Magnesium Rehydration Formula is a great example of this electolyte drink that can be taken before and during exercise.  Before could be up to three days before a major endurance effort as this will ensure that the body is fueled up and ready to go.  During exercise you would expect to drink 1 bottle for every hour you are riding.  Yes that's 750mls or drink per hour for an average person.

When exercising for a period of time that is longer than 2 hours the bodies requirements change as you burn through stored energy in the muscles.  In these cases you will need to look at replaceing carbohydrates and proteins as well as the electrolytes.  A drink such as Endura Optimizer is carefully designed to give the body the delicate mixture of all these goodies to keep you riding hard for longer periods of time.  Taken after exercise or at night after dinner can  greatly help recovery getting the body ready to do it all again the next day.  you know, ride, eat, rest, repeat!!!  If you ever make it out to an endurance mountain bike event such as a 6 hour enduro and you have seen solo riders ripping around witha chocolate looking drink you can bet it's Endura Optimizer.  Athletes the world over know this product to be extremely good.

With the fear that this post is turning into an epic I will leave nutrition there for now.  It's a massive sugject which has entire volumes of books dedicated to it.  For anyone looking for more info we have some great free booklets in store and we are always happy to talk about this at length.  I personally spent years racing at a high level in the 90's without a clue about this stuff.  And nobody told me anything either..... Doh!
Crusty Mark