What you need to know about fueling.

The basics of Fueling

Let's start out by saying that we are adamant that a healthy and varied diet should be the foundation of your nutrition. You want a clear nutrition plan that includes carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and everything else you need, through a delicious variety of regular foods.

Exercise and competition

During high intensity exercise and racing, a more efficient way to get your fill of carbohydrates is needed. There are two reasons: 1) You want to load as many calories as it is possible to utilize in order to keep maintain a higher pace. 2) To avoid stomach issues as your body's ability to digest decrease.

Your body will adapt

The human body adapts extremely well. Keep fueling with easy-to-utilize carbohydrates and you will increase your energy uptake. That will set you up for an extremely potent advantage as you will be able refuel faster.

120-180 grams per hour!

We have meticilously tested a variety of products on the market. Maurten is in our opinion the most efficient, which is why we wanted them as our partners. Through a Marathon, a high aim for fueling is often around 60 grams per hour. With Maurten, Kristian and Gustav are able to consume 120g per hour, they have even experimented with as much as 180g. A key factor to their success in long distance triathlon.

How Maurten works

All Maurten products are marked by a number that gives you the amount of calories in each pack. In a Drink Mix 320, you will find exactly 320 calories or 80g of carbohydrates, and in a Gel 100, there is a 100 calories or 25 g of carbs. 

Why use gels or drink mixes?

Gels are developed to optimize your intake and absorption of carbohydrates during higher intensity activity. They are designed to pass quickly through the stomach, to the intestines, reducing the risk of gastrointestinal distress. During low intensity exercise you do not need to use gels. Food works. As intensity builds, blood is diverted away from the stomach and digesting food becomes more challenging. This is when you can transition to gels.

Daily requirements (3-12 g/kg)

Glycogen stores in the body are limited. Pre-event nutrition strategies aim to optimize glycogen stores for the work required. Where possible, you should avoid foods or meals with high-fat, protein, and fiber. In particular at race-day.

 

During race or training (30 - 90 g/hour )

Depleted glycogen stores can result in underperformance. Glycogen stores will last 60-90 min during high-intensity exercise, and up to 120-180 min for moderate intensity. Fueling during training and racing is important — but you should work to understand your specific requirements. 

 

Post race/training (1g/kg every hour for 4 hours)

Are you doing double thresholds, or generally under high training loads? That is when you should consider an aggressive refueling strategy. In this case we recommend compact, high-glycemic index carbohydrate foods within 30 min.

 

Check out the figures below for an illustration of a Marathon fuel plan.

As always, we appreciate that you have taken the time to read this newsletter and welcome any questions.

Please reach out if you have any questions about fueling. We are always happy and ready to help out. Simply reply to this email, or reach out through our online form. 

Very best,

Alexander

DU KAN AUKA