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Written by Lemming
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Thursday, 26 January 2006 |
These notes were made after visiting the speed camp in Sardinia.
The body is a biological engine that gets power by burning food.
No fuel, no power, but how much do we need?
Energy requirements
Amount of energy used to keep basic bodily functions relatively constant:
| Kcal/day | = body weight in kg * 24 |
| = 2500 (average man) |
| = 2000 (average woman) |
| = 80 * 24 = 1920 (for me) |
Amount used for exercising is very variable:
| Additional Energy Usage |
| Example exercise | Kcal/hour |
| Weights / Gym | 250 – 400 |
| Playing sport | 350 – 600 |
| Endurance sport | 400 – 700 |
| Intensive endurance | 500 - 800 |
Skating tends to sit somewhere between endurance sport and intensive endurance, depending on what you’re doing.
Where and when do we gain energy?
Carbohydrates, Fats & Proteins.
Carbohydrates
Economic fuel for muscles
Important ‘brain fuel’
It’s the only fuel for red blood cells
Stored as glycogen in muscles and the liver
Storage of 1200-3000 kcal will last 60 – 90 minutes
1g of carbohydrate = 4 kcal
While aerobic, it’s available twice as fast as fats
Need less oxygen to burn carbs
The higher the intensity, the larger is the share of energy available (?)
Fats
Long term fuel for muscles
Essential for times of hunger
Stored as Triglycerids in fat tissue
Nearly unlimited storage
Lasts several hours
Need lots of oxygen to burn it
Only burned at low intensity exercise – it’s long lasting energy
General Information
We always use carbohydrate energy, no matter how much fat we have.
‘Fat burns in the fire of carbohydrates.’
Carbohydrate storage should be refilled – only lasts 90 minutes tops generally.
Carbs stored in body in glycogen cells. When stores are full, we can train for much longer. If they are empty, we experience a lack of energy:
- Less concentration
- Nausea (sick)
- Dizziness
- Have to stop whatever we’re doing
Reasons:
Brain does not get enough sugar – low blood sugar = low concentration
After a long race, carb storage is basically empty, so we need to refill. Best to do this within 2 hours of race finish, or asap.
If nutrition is rich on carbohydrates, it will take 12-24 hours to *** DO SOMETHING ***
Fat’s and proteins take 3 days.
It’s possible to train our glycogen storage.
Carb loading – super-compenstation before the race is only useful if the race will last less than 90 minutes.
When we store glycogen, water is stored in the muscles and we may gain up to as much as 2 kg.
If we eat right, we can improve our glycogen loading by as much as 5%.
A normal diet is OK ‘cos a race is generally too short for carbs to be useful.
Protein
Protein is a normal requirement after weight training.
0.6 – 1 g per kg of body weight
1.6 – 2 g per kg
Tablets vs Bars vs Gels
Tablets
Dextrose (tablets) gives energy for about 15 seconds. Combine dextrose with fructose (fructose is longer lasting).
Bars
Bars take longer to digest and you need more water to make them useful - each energy bar requires 0.5L of water to be used efficiently.
OK to eat a Carb bar before a race – 1 – 1.5 hours before.
Eat hard food before the race – during you should take on gels and liquids – they are more easily absorbed.
Gels
Provide 15 – 20 minutes of energy, so don’t take them too early.
0.2 litres of water should be taken to assist with getting it going.
Race Time!
Have a normal breakfast on the morning of the race – drink is more important – take 2 litres before start.
Have salt in your drink for the race.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 26 January 2006 )
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