There’s always been a misconception about high carbohydrates intake in the cyclist world, it has been seen as a bad thing in some circles to carb-load before a big ride.
But one certain thing is carbohydrate remains the unchallenged king of fuel for hard, prolonged effort, and if you want to achieve your full potential, you will need to be fully fueled when you reach the starting line of your next big ride.
So what exactly are carbs? Carbohydrates are sugar-based molecules that the body converts into glucose, simply energy for your body. This glucose is then stockpiled in the liver and muscle as glycogen molecules that serve as a long-term energy store, which can be used up during an extreme ride.
Typically you can find carbs in naturally occurring whole foods like oats, brown rice, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, beans, and lentils.
So what is carb-loading?
In simple terms, carbo-loading is described as stuffing your diet full of carbohydrates in order to maximize the glycogen stores in your muscle and liver, both essential fuel stores to sustain high-intensity exercise such as a cycling race.
The main criteria you should look at when it comes to carb-loading before a big race event are:
1. Total race duration
There’s no reason to carbo-load when the exercise duration is less than 90 minutes. It’s a magical number to take into account. But normally, cycling race events are often longer than 90 minutes.
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2. Training intensity/duration
A week before your race, cyclists should monitor the intensity and duration of their training. If the training intensity decreases it may indicate that glycogen stores have had enough time to be replenished due to normal carbohydrate ingestion on those days.
Thus, if you have been resting in the days before your race, your muscle glycogen stores may be close to maximum storage capacity, so aiming for higher carbo-loading may not always result in better performance.
3. Athlete training level
Your training level also influences glycogen regulation. The higher your training level, the higher your muscle glycogen stores, your ability to spare glycogen is also increased.
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What food can be used while increasing carbohydrates intake?
Many cyclists have been relying on pasta as the main source of carbohydrates, but it’s not limited to it.
What cyclists should look into when choosing food for carbohydrate loading days is:
-Foods familiar to athlete
-Food low in fiber & easily digested
-Food that allows for total carbohydrate target to be met
For instance, rice, potatoes, sugary cereals, white bread, jams, pancakes, bananas, fruit juices. Basically, food that provides the highest amount of carbohydrates in the smallest volume possible.
Essentially, if you think about it, eating both before and immediately after a race is actually part of the ride and recovery. So look for healthier options and make sure you are not stuffing your face with food.
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