Sorry for this, as I KNOW it’s covered in multiple posts and I think in a couple of podcasts, but can’t seem to find exactly what I’m looking for so far. I think in Episode 289 there is talk about making your own Maltodextrin type drink, and I believe that in a few places they’ve recently discussed that getting 90g / hr on the trainer if it’s a hard workout IS recommended, but wanted to re-listen to that.
I personally am on a quest to bring my FTP back up after back surgeries, but also need to lose the weight gained during that process.
I aim for 60g per hour right now, regardless of intensity. This is mostly to ensure I balance out the calories burned. There is a thread in this forum that has some carb drink recipes that I’ve linked below. I use the Gatorade and Maltodextrin mixture with 2/3 (40g) Gatorade and 1/3 (20g) Maltodextrin. It’s has made a massive difference in how I feel during and after workouts.
I’m eyeing up the same idea, getting a big bag of Maltodextrin and mixing up my own. Even with a shop sponshorship buying big bags of Skratch needs to come to an end. My understanding is from listening about this and reading about this is maltodextrin is rather flat in flavor, most “recipes” I see throw in some sucrose (ie table sugar), salt, some sort of flavoring agent (eg Kool Aid, fruit juices, etc). I also see for extended rides that most people in the know consider adding protein helpful.
They also frequently recommend you take a systematic approach to the carb intake and find your limits and push up against that limit – trying to get your body to be able to digest and increasing amount of those simple carbohydrates.
Just pay attention to the nutrition information of your ingredients – and with some basic math you should be able to mix up your own mixes on the cheap to match the carb intake you are aiming for.
On intense rides I go to around 100 grams/hour – starting off with dates, rice cakes, a waffle, or a gel at the start of every hour. That gets me at least 20 grams of carbs and then I typically drink the rest of my carbs – right now 4 scoops of scratch with varying amounts of water and bottles. I will go down to 40 gms/hour on low intensity rides.
When faced with long traditional base plan rides I found it best to switch the carb intake medium from water based to more solid based (ie gels and real food) as drinking bottle after bottle of water for 3 hours on end has … consequences.
This conclusion I am about to share is based on a sample size of N=1 (ie ME), but it jibes with what the podcast crew preaches on a regular basis. The bike is not a place to lose weight when you are training and to make sure your you are providing your body with the fuel and material it needs to train, live, and grow. I have noticed less post workout fatigue, less RPE, more enthusiasm for the next workout, and I have finally completed an entire plan.
Thanks all, appreciate the insights. I think more than anything was hoping to be pointed to where there is discussion about how much to take in when on the indoor trainer, though the recipes have been helpful (ordered my own Maltodextrin thanks to this!).
Episode 289 sort of touches on it, but not the “is this the right thing to do”, but I’m sure it was discussed in a recent podcast. Anyone know?
I am currently varying between zero and 100 grams/hour. Right now I’m in sweet spot base LV and the scheduled rides are basically full on and I believe every bit worth 100 gms/hour. That fueling and a 12 oz chocolate milk slam afterwards puts me at about 0 net calories (or perhaps +/- 50). On my off day supplemental endurance rides I keep to 45 minutes or less I don’t fuel at all – I have plenty of fat to draw from.
When I started this year my first fueled workout was 60 gms/hour and that was no problem, so I upped it. My gut was also able to deal with 80 gms/hour no problem. I then pushed it to 100 grams/hour and that took a bit of getting used to.
Until this year when i learned better i used to not take on nutrition during workouts and I’d run up a calorie deficit on rides so that afterwards i’d feel bummed out and take a while to come right again while eating massive amounts of food. Now i’ll have a load of oats (120-150g) each day for breakfast, I’ll try and consume SIS gels and/or mix on the rides (60g per hour, but more if it’s a big one like a 90 minute Zwift race) and a SIS Rego chocolate recovery shake and i’m flying. I’m also not feeling the need to eat like a monster afterwards.
