An important component to any cyclist's performance is the optimisation of nutritional practices — or in layman's terms, eating and drinking the right things at the right times.
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Through appropriate and effective on- and off-the-bike feeding strategies, adequate nutritional intake during periods of increased physical work can maximise training adaptations. For the cyclist, this allows for more consistent and intensive training by promoting recovery between training sessions, reducing interruptions of training because of illness or injury, and enhancing competitive performance.
Divided into three components: pre-exercise, during exercise and post-exercise, scientific research over the last three decades has repeatedly shown the benefits of a varied range of nutritional practices to ensure that the performer is achieving the full potential from their nutrient consumption.
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Feeding strategies
Researchers have applied varying strategies of feeding during performance assessment to determine the effect of nutritional intake, but translating some of these laboratory-based feeding practices to the open road can often be problematic.
For example, the approach of providing cyclists with nutrients every 10 minutes during a 90 minute static cycle test to show the positive effect of carbohydrate use, may not convert when performing in a competition, as performers tend to consume when possible, not necessarily at defined time intervals.
The nature of training or competition will therefore impact on the practices that are adopted, and when on the bike you'll need to consider the most appropriate and effective strategies to ensure optimal nutritional intake.
On the road
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