No, the body likes protein throughout the day. It’s not needed during workouts.
I’ve never heard a scientist recommend BCAAs or EAAs during exercise, only influencers and bros.
EAAs are otherwise great, though.
@Dr_Alex_Harrison, at the risk of going off topic, what are your thoughts on creatine for endurance athletes?
PS I love your app and have even subscribed to it.
I would actually advice against protein during exercise, too much stress on the gut. Unless your doing ultra-endurance.
Agreed, I meant EAAs are otherwise great outside of exercise. If you can afford them.
Yeah, like you say, anything you can do to keep it simple for the gut, especially if you’re training every day or with intensity.
Anyone mess around with DIY pre-hydration mixes with various electrolytes? I was thinking about trying something to down the day/night before a big ride or event, similar to the Skratch high-sodium mix and other products.
Good question. I usually just use a hydration tab, but to be honest never really looked at what is there.
| per 100g | per tablet 4,3 gram | RDI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calcium | 930 mg | 40 mg | 5% |
| Magnesium | 233 mg | 10 mg | 3% |
| Potassium | 1395 mg | 60 mg | 3% |
| Chloride | 4651 mg | 200 mg | 25% |
| Sodium | 5814 mg | 250 mg | |
| Zout / Salt (NaCI) | 5,6 gram | 0,24 gram | |
| Zout / Salt (1169/2011/EC) | 14,7 gram | 0,63 gram |
For a really big event (Marmotte f.i.) I might just combine this with a carb-loader…?
This needs some more thoughts.
Super short answer: If repeat sprint performance is of interest to you, or long-duration sprint performance is desired, and you’re not racing stages with 100ft/mile, then creatine is an easy “yes.” Beyond that, it’s a little more complicated.
Just started down this road recently and mixed my first sample today:
- 24g sucrose
- 12g maltodextrin
- 2g sodium citrate (475mg Na) [target, accidentally did the equivalent of 700mg Na per bottle in my sample)
- 2 True Lemon lemon crystal packets
- 19oz water
Osmolality should be something like 200.
Only drank it at rest, not on the bike, but felt like it wrenched my stomach pretty hard. Is it possible that my stomach doesn’t like maltodextrin? Is that a thing? Taste was good and otherwise seemed reasonable. I usually drink normal Gatorade mix (which I believe uses cane sugar and dextrin) and don’t have any GI issues on the trainer.
Maybe try a bottle with only the maltodextrine (same amount as last time), and if that bothers you with just malto & water, you have the beginnings of an answer.
This spring, I’ve been doing 60 mg maltodextrine, 3/4 tsp sodium citrate, about 1/8th tsp NoSalt, in a 20 oz bottle and a couple small squirts of Mio or sugar free Koolaid for some flavor. That’s working, so I guess I’ll start experimenting with bumping up the malto and/or adding some sugar (edited to add: I have also been eating 1 or 2 gels per hour when my rides have more intensity in them).
I now realize that I had waaay under-dosed sodium for years now. I’m drinking less, having to pee, and feel so much better after 2-3 hour outdoor rides. I’ll need to increase the water and sodium as the temp continues to rise in Florida, but so far so good.
Argh, maybe someone can help me quickly? I’m trying out a super no-frills drink mix tomorrow, for a bikepacking race in the summer (basically only with ingredients that I can get in supermarkets). So I’m going for 75g sugar, 1/4 tsp citric acid for the taste, but I don’t know how much salt I should add? Is a pinch enough for 900 ml?
Typical table salt? Approximately 1g/hr (which is about 400mg/h sodium iirc). If it is warmer or if you’re a heavy sweater maybe little more or in case the opposite a little less.
Yes, just table salt. I don’t have a scale that is accurate in single digits, so I’m going by pinch or parts of a teaspoon. Any ideas?
According to Google one gram is about 1/6th of a teaspoon.
Thanks. Seems like I need a bit more salt then.
Yeah, since having a detailed scale I also found out that I generally needed far more salt then I was adding before. Since upping the salt intake I also have to pee far less frequently when riding.
Has it been determined reliably what the fructose:glucose ratio is in Gatorade power mix? Having a tough time finding that info here or anywhere else…basically I want to made my own 2:1 maltodextrin to fructose mix and then add gatorade for flavoring.
Interesting! I can report that my sugar+salt mix worked moderately on the 400 km Audax I just did. I had enough energy but it’s really hard on the stomach. I had quite a lot of (manageable) stomach pain and I needed to pee all the time. Maybe I didn’t include enough salt?
Is that 2 to 1 by weight or volume?
Here’s a couple of things I do that have made diy drink mixing MUCH easier.
Instead of mixing my dry ingredients straight into the bottle, I use a plastic container. It’s easier to get the scoops into, and it allows me to pre-mix and store a bunch of bottles worth of mix.
These were crystal light drink mix tubes that I’m repurposing. They are flexible, so it’s easy to pour into a bottle, and have a lid that snaps on. Each of these has my mix for a 1L bottle.
It’s tough to get a bottle mixed all the way. There’s always clumping and trying to vigorously shake the bottle always results in some sticky leaking. Using an immersion blender with a whisk attachment solves the problem.
I start with a bit of warm water in the bottle, just enough to cover the bottom. Then dump in the mix from one of my pre-mixed containers. Then fill the bottle to about 3/4 full. This allows the blender to do it’s thing without splashing over the top. Run the blender for 1-2 minutes straight. If clumps are forming at the top just run the whisk around the surface of the liquid to break them up. Once it’s mixed well, fill the bottle the rest of the way and give it another 30 seconds with the blender.
I don’t know if this has been suggested before here. Just thought I’d share since it’s been working great for me.
Cheers!
Total noob question here. If we talking say 90g of carbs an hour coming from Table Sugar - for a 3 hour road race
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Would you put 90g of carbs per 700ml bottle - so you would need 3 bottles?
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If I want to mix things up and have say some solids every hour as well say 2x Mejool dates (15g carbs per date) then I will just need to have 60g of carbs coming from the sugar water or 90g of table sugar per bottle
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90g of Table Sugar is 7 tablespoons. Can I add boiling water to it to make it into a liquid than can mix easier when I add cold water?