What we are trying to achieve here is to prevent more than a 2% drop in body weight caused by fluid loss (about 3 lbs (1.4 kg) of weight loss for 150 (68 kg) pound athlete). The two main goals of performance hydration is to:
Improve calorie absorption by utilizing performance hydration as a “transporter”
Maintain blood volume.
Don’t wait until you get thirsty! Remember: better hydration = better performance. Now pull out your calculator, I’ll teach you how to create your ideal hydration solution:
Carbohydrates: 4-8% solution. To calculate it, divide the grams of carbs (sugar) per serving size by the volume of the serving size (in mL), then multiply by 100 . So let’s say you want to fill your bicycle flask of 500 mL with a 6% solution we will need 30 grams of carbs (sugars).
Electrolytes. Calculations are easier here: 0.5-0.7 grams of sodium per 1 liter (34 oz) of water. So in the same 500 mL cycling water bottle you will need to add 250-350 milligrams of sodium.
The chart below describes carbohydrates and electrolytes needs for optimal hydration during exercise, based on time. Athletes don’t always need to take extra electrolytes during training or racing. Anything under 75 minutes doesn’t require extra supplementation with sodium pills or salt tablets.
Notes: Glucose can be absorbed around 1g/min and fructose has been shown (when combined with glucose/maltodextrin) to be absorbed at 1.5g/min.
The reason is why you should include calories into your hydration solution is to improve fluid absorption rate. “Fueling” and hydration should be separate from one another, so you’re not trying to get your fuel from your hydration solution. A little bit of sugar works as a transporter to pull the sodium across the intestinal barrier to keep your blood plasma volume up.
Hydration guidelines:
When creating your ideal performance drink strive for 2:1 ratio of glucose:fructose as it has been shown to improve absorption rate.
Drink 5-8 oz (150-250 mL) of your solution every 10-15 minutes.
Train yourself to get used to drink fluids on a schedule while exercising.
If exercising at higher temperatures or humidity, reduce the intensity to improve the gastric emptying.
Go with sports drinks over the plain water to minimize the risk of hyponatremia.
Past 4-5 weeks were hell. The taper began 5 days ago and my training volume has been decreased. Having failed so many times I am not looking forward to this workout. The race is in one weeks, but I am not excited, I am not confident. Not in a right place mentally or physically. I made an effort to eat more carbohydrates than usual two days prior to this workout. Staffed myself with oatmeal and quinoa right before bed on Thursday night, continued eating quinoa and oatmeal the entire day on Friday. Little to no fat or protein, carbs only.
Lessons Learned Last Workout:
Reduce fiber intake 1-2 days before
Two water bottles (1400 mL) on the bike last only for about 1 hour (30 km). During the race I will need to make 2stops to refuel at aid stations (First at 33 km; Second at 58 km)
Highway 1 that goes north has nothing besides hills… and more hills. Good to work on hill climbing; Not good for speed work. Maybe riding West to East or vise-versa will have less hills.
BRICK
A brick workout is any workout that combines swimming, biking and/or running into a single session. The most common example is the bike to run brick, where you go for a run immediately after finishing a bike ride.
Fueling
Formula: min 0.25 – max 0.33 grams carbs per hour x body weight (lbs) Or min 1 calorie/hour x body weight (lbs)
The main focus is to maintain adequate glycogen levels in muscles and liver to delay fatigue and prevent “bonking“.
No FRUCTOSE!
0.33 g/h x 150 lb x 2.25 (2hr 15min) = 111 grams of carbs required.
Hydration
TheGOAL: prevent loosing more than 2% (1.5 kg) of body weight in fluids.
What I got
What do I need? Sweat Rate: 1400 mL x 2.25 = 3150 mL Sodium: 0.5 x 3150 = 1575 mg Carbs: (X / 4125) x 100 = 5% -> X=0.05 x 4125= 206 g of carbs!?
Results
Pre-weight: 69.9 kg Post-weight: 68.7 kg Liquids consumed: 1950mL (Left one bottle) Weight lost: 3.150 kg Sweat Rate: 1260 mL/hour
Total weigh loss: 3.150 kg (4%)
Not good 2% is maximum loss allowed
BIKE
Felt Strong! Holding 210 Watts felt easy. 300 Watts for a minute were easy as well. Even knowing I was planning on fueling with protein bars, it felt too easy to inject extra carbs to fuel the workout. Therefore I did not eat anything and completed the ride purely on very little sugar from isotonic drinks.
RUN
Felt Strong! Experiencing really bad digestive issues previously. I was going into the run worried they will come back. However I did not have diarrhea or even the slightest symptoms of it. Thats a Win!
Lessons Learned:
I reduced fiber intake two days before workout (starting Thursday evening) this helped to prevent GI issues. Also, NO FRUCTOSE and supplements or foods containing high concentrations on VITAMIN C.
“Carb Loading”worked. Making emphasis on eating more complex carbs such as quinoa, sweet potatoes and oats, two days before filled up my glycogen stores and made me feel strong. I even didn’t need to fuel during the ride. Also glycogen do not get filled up overnight. It took me about 36-48 hours to begin feeling better.
It can not continue like this What can I change? Where was the mistake made? At this point I believe it’s fair to say that
my preparation for IronMan 70.3 Marbella has failed
For the past month I was constantly failing on my bike workouts. Such failures pushed my confidence to the lowest point it ever been. I feel insecure and begin developing negative associations with cycling. Before I was excited to see a bike workout on my schedule, now I am not looking forward to it. I approach the bike with fear of physical and emotional pain caused by self judgment and mental fatigue. It’s not a plato, it’s degradation. There is something very wrong either with my Training Program or Recovery (Nutrition, Sleep, Health) or all together. I keep on hitting the wall over and over again. I slowly kill my passion for sport and self-confidence. I reached a peak of performance 3-4 weeks ago and now it’s falling down a cliff.
Why do I train so much? Where is the FUN? How are you feeling, how are you performing? Does the training data reflect that? Is there is a correlation between objective and subjective measures?
My hobby has become my second job. Every workout had to be perfectly executed. Pass or Fail. I approached every big workout was with anxiety and worries. Pass or fail, win or loose.
“Analysis paralysis“. I got drawn into obsessing over daily workout metrics. Never look at individual session to measure the level of your improvement. Stop seeking for validation of performance improvement from each daily session. Great performances does not require perfect training! No one has perfect training!
This the first time this year I was riding outside. For the past 5 months I’ve been training in my basement on a trainer. I am so happy to finally get outdoors and test this machinery I’ve been working on so hard.
BRICK
2 hours @ 210 Watts + 45 min Run off bike
A brick workout is any workout that combines swimming, biking and/or running into a single session. The most common example is the bike to run brick, where you go for a run immediately after finishing a bike ride.
The more time you have before workout, the larger meal can get. Also it shouldn’t be high glycemic because you don’t need the energy available any time soon. Instead give preference to “slow carb” with lo moderate-low GI. Also don’t forget to include protein.
TheGOAL: prevent loosing more than 2% (1.5 kg) of body weight in fluids.
What do I need? Sweat Rate: 1400 mL x 2.75 = 3850 mL Sodium: 0.5 x 3850 = 1925 mg Carbs: (X / 4125) x 100 = 5% -> X=0.05 x 4125= 206 g of carbs!?
What I got:
WATER + Beta Alanine & BCAA. All calories come from solid foods.
Total Calories: 1010 calories: 367 calories/hour Riding outside. No power meter.
Results
No weight/sweat data.
Pre-weight: kg Post-weight: kg Liquids consumed: 2000 mL Sweat Rate: mL/hour
Total fluid loss:
BIKE
Right the second I clipped into the pedals, Ialmost lost balance. Riding on a trainer doesn’t require you to keep balance and I got to re-learn how to. Took only about 10 minutes to adjust. It was VERY windy. Strong side and front facing winds were blowing consistently throughout the ride. The wind was so strong, so I couldn’t let go one of my hands to reach back for a protein bar. Instead of 3 bars, as planned, had 1.5. There we A LOT of hills. Literally no flat stretch on the road. It was not quite the ride I was hoping to have, however I tried to stay positive and enjoy it as much as I could. It was certainly nice to get outside of my basement. Wasn’t feeling strong. Two water bottles I had mounted on the bike weren’t enough, felt thirsty.
What’s good?
Did a lot of hill climbing. Ironman 70.3 Marbella has 1400 meters of climbing on the bike course. It will help to prepare for the race.
Used different muscles, keeping the balance and fighting the wind.
Tested my bike in action, making sure everything’s working properly.
RUN
First 10 minutes felt really weak in legs. I think I went too hard on a bike part. Hills after hills after hills… Around minute 10, had to pause the workout to use the restroom. Not critical. I wen’t into the run with full stomach. I think reducing the fiber a day before will help. Finished the run to the best of my abilities.
Lessons Learned:
Reduce fiber intake 1-2 days before
Two water bottles (1400 mL) on the bike last only for about 1 hour (30 km). During the race I will need to make 2stops to refuel at aid stations (First at 33 km; Second at 58 km)
Highway 1 that goes north has nothing besides hills… and more hills. Good to work on hill climbing; Not good for speed work. Maybe riding West to East or vise-versa will have less hills.
You are a competitive athlete. You put a lot of hard work into your training days in, days out, completing every workout as prescribed. You are the workhorse, doing everything necessary to succeed in the sport you are in. You pay close attention to your nutrition and your kitchen has no place for Doritos and donuts. You fuel your machinery with high octane, nutritiously rich foods. While your friends are just getting ready to hit the bars on Friday night, you are in your bed at 8 pm. You sacrifice meeting with your buddies, because you know how important the quality sleep is for recovery. Everything seem to be in check and there is nothing that could possibly stop you on your way to your dream – a podium. Nothing besides… diarrhea.
Discussing intestinal problems in athletes is not sexy. What’s even less sexy is shitting yourself on the course in front of other people and fellow athletes.
You are not alone
Gastrointestinal problems among athletes are more common than you may think. About 30 to 50% of endurance athletes experience GI problems related to exercise. The numbers go higher with the level of athlete and can reach 70% for elite class performers.
Don’t perceive GI problems as your personal flaw. Instead accept it as the opportunity to learn and grow. Your body is intelligent super-machine and it is trying to communicate with you by bringing up GI symptoms, which only cover the bigger underlying issues. Work with your body, not agains it. Understand that there is not a singe person in the world that will have exact same body as yours. People keep different lifestyles, eat different foods and have personal training regimens. It is nearly impossible to create universal “pill” that will help each and everyone. You must take initiative in your hands and experiment to find the root cause of your GI distress. Realize that you are the one who caused your body behave this way, and you are the one responsible to fix it. However you are not alone and I am here to help you and give you some tips on how to fix what’s leaking.
What causes GI distress?
There are many reasons why your tummy fail on you. We can place them into 3 buckets: mechanical, physiological and nutritional. Let’s break them down:
Mechanics
The mechanical causes of GI-problems are either impact-related or are related to posture. Running and jumping movements cause your GI track repetitively bounce, which can contribute to lower GI symptoms such as diarrhea and urgency. More severe case of lower GI issues is gastrointestinal bleeding and is common amongst long distance runners.
Posture of your body also have an effect on GI symptoms. Shifting to aero position on a bicycle move your body to more horizontal position and increase pressure on the abdomen, which can trigger upper GI symptoms.
“The frequency is almost twice as high during running than during other endurance sports as cycling or swimming and 1.5-3.0 times higher in the elite athletes than the recreational exercisers“, (Erick Prado de Oliveira, Oct 2009).
Physiology
Reduced blood flow and pre-competition anxiety fall under physiological causes of GI-symptoms. During exercise blood flow to the gut can be reduced by as much as 80%. The body redirect blood to the working muscles and compromise gut function to varying degrees.
Anxiety and stress mess up your hormone secretion which affects gut movement, compromise absorption rate and cause loose stool.
Nutrition
Fiber, fat, protein, and fructose intake increase the risk of developing GI-symptoms. Dehydration with body weight loss greater than 4% may also exacerbate the symptoms.
Dehydration. In an extensive literature review using an evidence-based approach, main factor for exercise-induced GI tract symptoms is shown to be dehydration (body weight loss > 4% during or after exercise).
Hydration solutions overloaded with carbs can also distress your stomach. Too much is >12 g /100 ml of carbohydrate as well as electrolytes (most sports drinks are around ~6 g/100 ml).
“Association was reported between nutritional practices and GI complaints during a half ironman-distance triathlon with the intake of fiber, fat, protein and concentrated carbohydrate solutions during the triathlon, in particular beverages with very high osmolarity“, (Erick Prado de Oliveira, Sep 28, 2011).
Alright, let’s get practical…
Foods to Avoid before exercise
High fibre foods. (use the table below to learn about fiber content of some of the most common foods you need to stay away from)
Fermented foods. Wanna know where adrenaline is coming from? Have Kombucha as a pre-workout.
Coffee and tea. Hot fluids can stimulate gut movements while caffeine itself can have a laxative effect
Fatty and Spicy foods
Alcohol
Vitamin C in large doses
Are you Overtraining?
Below are the few possible underlying causes of runner’s diarrhea and other intestinal problems which are less obvious than the ones I described above and require your personal assessment.
Let’s dig deeper…
Food digestion is very energy-demanding process and requires your body to dedicate energy resources into it. When you overload your body and it can’t handle the external stress caused by training, it puts less priority on eating and digestion.
When the off-season is over, athletes are usually ramping up volume, intensity and frequency of their workouts. Total load on the body increases, while caloric consumption often stays the same. In addition, the amount of rest and downtime is not properly adjusted to support higher training load. This essentially leads to overtraining.
Overtraining can disrupt your liver’s ability to properly break down nutrients, which can lead to leaky gut syndrome, bouts of diarrhea or constipation.
You haven’t always had GI problems, however at one point in time something worked as a trigger and you started to experience them. Next time you find yourself on a toilet after another “incident”, ask yourself the following questions to narrow down the possible causes:
Do you remember when you began having the symptoms?
Did your training regimen change lately?
Do you experience any of the signs of overtraining?
Washed-out feelings (tired, drained, lack of energy)
Night sweats
Mild leg soreness, general aches, and pains
Pain in muscles and joints
Drop in performance (decrease in training capacity/intensity)
Insomnia
Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
Moodiness, irritability, depression, loss of enthusiasm for the sport
Decreased appetite
Is your caloric consumption adequate to the level of energy you expand? What those calories are mainly coming from (carbs, fat or protein)?
Have you introduced any new sports supplements into your diet?
When all else fails
There is no quick fix for your health issues and there is no magic pill that will cure you once and forever. You must search for the answers by asking yourself the questions outlined above, you need to experiment with different foods, especially during pre-workout time period. However racing season is here and you need something that could at least relieve the symptoms while you search for the root cause. Below is the over counter medicine that might temporarily stop the leakage:
Pepermint TUMS
Taking peppermint TUMS prior to hard efforts to decrease stomach irritation and diarrhea. Here’s how TUMS may help with your symptoms: – Calcium works with the neuromuscular contractions and muscle metabolism – Carbonate helps to coat the intestinal cells, reducing endotoxin release and the ensuing symptoms – Peppermint is a homeopathic remedy for GI disturbances.
Imodium
Imodium help stop diarrhea by slowing the movement of food through your intestines. Many runners suggest that by taking a does prior to long runs or races could relieve GI problems. It can also take up to 48 hours to work, so if you’re trying it for the first time on race day there are no guarantees.
Possible side effects of Imodium include:
dizziness,
drowsiness,
tiredness,
constipation,
stomach pain,
skin rash, or itching.
Again, it should be considered as an option… not a solution. Figure out the cause, don’t mask it.
Lomotil
Lomotil (diphenoxylate and atropine) is alternative medicine to imodium and both are antidiarrheal medications used to treat diarrhea.
Common side effects of Lomotil include:
drowsiness,
dizziness,
headache,
tiredness,
restlessness,
blurred vision,
dry mouth,
nausea,
vomiting,
upset stomach,
loss of appetite,
skin rash, or itching.
SuperStarch
“Super Starch” mixes are used by many endurance athletes to fuel their workouts. Unlike sports gels and high GI sugary solutions offered on the course, super starch mixes don’t overload the system with a high GI sugar shock, which may prevent some gastro intestinal problems. If you tried eating real food of all kinds, various different gels (including all natural ones) and still have GI issues, you might want to try super starch mixes.
Summary
GI problems should not be perceived as personal flaw. Instead they should be used as the opportunity to learn and grow.
Mechanics, physiology and inadequate nutrition are main contributors to GI distress.
Reducing consumption or avoiding certain foods prior to exercise can help reduce or eliminate symptoms.
Overtraining can be the root cause of gastrointestinal problems.
There are over counter medications that can help reduce GI distress symptoms.
References:
How much fiber is found in common foods? (2018, November 17). Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/high-fiber-foods/art-20050948
Clark, N. (2012). Recognizing and managing exercise-associated diarrhea. ACSM’s Health and Fitness Journal, 16(3): 22-26.
Masters Athlete. (2012, November 30). Retrieved April 4, 2019, from http://www.mastersathlete.com.au/2012/11/diarrhea-in-athletes-stopping-the-runs/
Lomotil vs. Imodium Treatment for Diarrhea: Differences & Side Effects. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2019, from https://www.rxlist.com/lomotil_vs_imodium/drugs-condition.htm
Oliveira, E., De. (2009, September). The impact of physical exercise on the gastrointestinal tract. [Scholarly project]. Retrieved April 5, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19535976
De Oliveira, E. P., & Burini, R. C. (2011, September 28). Food-dependent, exercise-induced gastrointestinal distress. Retrieved April 5, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3190328/
Few years ago, my employment journey with Uber began from two month on-boarding & training at the Pittsburgh office. I haven’t had much time to spare outside of work, however I made an effort to explore the city and see new places.
My initial thoughts and impressions of the city were not too bright. Ever since, I came back numerous times and had a chance to experience familiar things and places from a different perspective. Such business trips work as a reset button for me and I would come and leave as a different person. This trip is not an exception.
Past autumn I not only moved to a new country, but also transitioned to a new position at the company. I finally got a chance to meet my team mates in person. Young, bright people, with totally different backgrounds and skill sets are working together, and share the same mission. I feel proud to be the part of Test Engineering team, working with such intelligent people.
I learned that Self-driving Vehicle Test Engineering requires more than solid foundation of knowledge and experience, but also the strong interpersonal skills. “Soft or peoples” skills are essential to build relationships with developers across different teams.
You also have to be a fast learner. Before any work is done you need to have a clear understanding of how certain features, hardware or software work. You have to ask questions, a lot of questions! You got to put your ego to the side to be able to ask questions that might seem silly to someone. This essentially pushes you outside of your comfort zone.
Continuous education and strive to learn is what you need to foster not just at work, but in life.
My work is not always easy and this is great! If it feels hard, you are on the right track to improve and evolve.
Coming back to Toronto feeling accomplished and determined to grow.
Training
My first Ironman is rapidly approaching and I begin to have a bit of anxiety about it. The race is in one month.
I can’t afford myself to skip a single day of training therefore I brought my bike and trainer with me. Nicely set it up at my Airbnb, I was able to put in three quality workouts. Proud of myself.
In addition I was able to join Pittsburgh Masters Elite Swimming Team for two workouts. Swimming with them was hard, I felt slow and doubted myself along with the ability to achieve the levels of performance I set for myself. I definitely left my comfort zone and stressed the system. That’s good! Thanks to the coach for a chance to splash around, slowing everyone down and thanks for the feedback.
Mr. Blake
In such a short life, this dog traveled and seen more places than 90% of the people in their lifetimes.
He’ve been behaving exceptionally well and I even brought him to the office. Everyone loved him and for being so good he jot a nice chunk of beef jerky from me. Gooood Boy!
Travel
Being back in US brought up a lot of memories, good memories. I suddenly became nostalgic. The second I stopped in to the Target Supermarket I got flooded with emotions. Smells and sounds opened up the door into the past, reminding me of people that I used to have in my life, the places I used to go, the thoughts and feelings I had. I miss a lot of things, but more people… Time to leave.
I am grateful for all the nice people I met on this trip. Grateful for the opportunity to travel and see new places. Grateful for the healthy body that continues to improve, allowing me to take on this athletic journey. Grateful for Blake and his strong loyalty despite me being an ass sometimes.
The race is over. You’ve given all you had. You pushed your body to the limit. What’s next?
Recovery Proper post-exercise nutrition as much important as the two previous stages pre- and during- exercise fueling. Show your body appreciation and give it exactly what it needs and deserves for the work it’ve done. Learn about how to maximize your recovery through the lenses of sports nutrition.
First 30 minutes after the exercise stops are extremely important in recovery. There are five main goals we are trying to accomplish during this stage:
Replace expanded Carbohydrate Stores
Take in carbohydrates that are high on GI: potatoes, rice and grains are great choices. Take in 1/2 – 3/4 body weight in grams of carbs within 30 minutes of exercise (ex: 150 lbs = 75 – 112 grams). Liquid form is preferred.
Rehydrate
Take in 500 ml of liquid for every pound lost during exercise.
Provide Amino Acids
After carbohydrate stores get depleted in the working muscles, the body begins to break down protein structures within the muscle cells, cannibalising itself. Protein, particularly BCAA should be taken in at a carb-to-protein ratio of about 4:1 or 5:1. Best sources are Egg or Whey Protein (easiest to absorb).
Begin Replacing Electrolytes
Electrolytes are critical for muscle contraction and relaxation. Drinking juice or eating fruit will easily replace nearly all of the electrolytes, with the except of sodium.
Reduce the Acidity of Body Fluids
During exercise, body fluids trend increasingly towards acidity. Fruits & vegetables have a net alkaline-enhancing effect (reduce acidity).
Below is the table of GL (glycemic load) and GI (glycemic index) of alkaline-enhancing foods:
(L. Cordain & J. Friel, 2012, p. 63)
Meal Examples
During this stage the emphasis is still primarily on the intake of solid carbs and proteins. See the alkaline-enhancing foods table above to pick net-alkaline starchy vegetables with high GI that you might enjoy.
Good choices for carbs and proteins are:
CARBOHYDRATES Potatoes, Sweet potatoes, Yams and Dried Fruits
PROTEIN Fish, Shellfish, Egg whites and Turkey Breast
The protein intake is recommended within the same ratio 4:1 or 5:1 with carbohydrates.
The most commonmistake here is to keep eating a high GI diet. Right after the exercise your main focus was on carbohydrates, and specifically the ones that are high on GI. Those foods are great for refueling your glycogen tanks, however they don’t bring much of nutrients. Now you need to shift you focus to eating more nutrient-dense foods, filling your body with minerals and vitamins. The more you demand from your body, the more important it becomes.
The optimal food choices here are:
Fruits Any fruit is good so pick and choose whichever you prefer
Vegetables Vibrant color ones: red, yellow, green and orange. Stay away from white colored veggies
Nuts, Seeds and Berries Macadamia nuts and walnuts are rich in omega-3. Avoid beans and peanuts
Lean Protein from Animal Sources Rich in BCAA and essential amino acids: Game animal and Free-ranging animal meats, Ocean or Stream-caught Fish & Shellfish, Turkey breast High in Omega-3: Cold-water Fish, Beef Liver, Eggs enriched with omega-3
Omega-3 Supplements Fish or Flaxseed Oil
The five MAIN GOALS for this stage:
Maintain Glycogen Stores
Assuming you’ve done a good job eating enough of carbohydrates from good sources in the previous hours, less carbs are required to maintain your glycogen stores. To maintain, aim for low GL fruits and vegetables.
Maintain a healthy pH
Fruits and vegetables reduce blood acidity protecting your muscles and bones from losing nitrogen and calcium.
Reduce Inflammation
Omega-3 have been shown to reduce inflammation. The ratio between omega-6 to omega-3 should be approximately 2:1
Rebuild muscles
To prevent your body from cannibalizing itself in attempt to repair damaged muscle tissue, it requires optimal amount of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and essential amino acids.
Optimize body weight
The lower your body mass, the less to carry. Maintaining low body fat percentage, in most endurance sports can lead to improved performance.
Make It A Habit
Create a non-negotiable habit of fueling your workouts. You will notice your energy balance throughout the day is enhanced, training and racing performance improves, it will get easier to manage body composition and you will experience fewer cravings for foods later in the day, you try to avoid.
Last Tip: Sleep Recovery & Protein
If your training load is heavy, you struggle to sleep, or simply want to maximize recovery and minimize stress, then begin and end your days with protein.
20 grams of protein before bed 20 grams of protein when you first wake up
Protein suppresses the negative effect of cortisol (stress hormone) and helps you to switch from fight-or-flight response to rest-n-digest.
References:
The Paleo Diet for Athletes: the Ancient Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance, by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel, Rodale, 2012, p. 63.
A brick workout is any workout that combines swimming, biking and/or running into a single session. The most common example is the bike to run brick, where you go for a run immediately after finishing a bike ride.
38 g (carbs/hour) x 2.75 (2 hours 45 minutes) = 105 grams of carbs required. 2 protein bars + Cliff energy chews = 100 C 21 F 28 P 660 calories
Hydration
TheGOAL: prevent loosing more than 2% (1.5 kg) of body weight in fluids.
What do I need? Sweat Rate: 1500 mL x 2.75 = 4125 mL Sodium: 0.5 x 4125 = 2062 mg Carbs: (X / 4125) x 100 = 5% -> X=0.05 x 4125= 206 g of carbs!?
What I got:
G2 Gatorade: 6 bottles (591 mL) + own solution (580 mL)= 4126 mL Carbs: 12×6 = 72 g Sodium: 270×6 + 330 = 1970 mg Additional Sodium: AminoPro 2 scoops 230 mg + Vega hydrator 100 mg = 330 mg in 580 mL of water💦 Calories: 300
Total Calories: 960 calories: 350 calories/hour Using the Cooling Fan.
Results
Pre-weight: 69.3 kg Post-weight: 69.3 kg Liquids consumed: 3930 mL Sweat Rate: 1430 mL/hour (confirmed previous calculations)
Total fluid loss: 3930 kg (2% body weight)
I am satisfied with this numbers and consider my calculations right on point. It’s a win!
BIKE
What do you know about “bonking”?
The first 40-50 minutes felt strong, pedaling without too much of an effort (RPE 3-4). Wasn’t fueling until 30 minutes into the ride. Approximately at minute 50 my power began going down increasing RPE.
Since then it was a total suffer fest. No matter how much I ate or drank, my power kept going down and down. I hit the wall or how cyclists call it “bonked”. Glycogen in my muscles and liver got depleted making my body fatigue and bonk. It felt incredibly hard to keep pushing 190 watts and I had to slow down multiple times for 10-15 seconds, because I just couldn’t keep going. My mind began playing tricks on me, but no matter what I did, I just couldn’t physically spin my legs. Even knowing my legs were hurting, it wasn’t about pain. I simply couldn’t force my body to push the pedals. Multiple times I had thoughts to quit and stop this suffering as I couldn’t keep up with workout.
Here is how bonking looks like on a graph:
While heart rate is going up, speed and power falls down.
RUN
Immediately after the ride I put my running gear on and went out for a 15 minutes run. My legs felt like jelly, running at 5:28 /km pace RPE felt like 6-7. Didn’t try to push, making the emphasis on keeping the form.
Severe diarrhea hit me 5 minutes into the run. I honestly thought I would shit my pants… In addition to that had minor stomach cramps. Had to finish the cool down part short… at the restroom.
Lessons Learned:
3,000 calories / day with 400 grams of carbohydrates I currently eat on my diet is not enough to fulfill the energy demands. I went glycogen depleted into the training and payed the price.
100 grams of carbs from pre-meal burned in 40 minutes.
Confirmed my Sweat Rate calculations. Approximately 1500 mL/hour.
Learned what the bonking is and how it feels.
If you drain your glycogen tanks, there is no way to refuel it on the fly, while keeping the power & speed.
Cooling fan didn’t make significant change in my sweat rate.
I don’t like energy chews. They get stuck in teeth.
What will I do different?
Increase my carbohydrate consumption to 600 grams/day. Total daily calorie intake: 3,900 calories
Always have a big, carbohydrate-rich meal at least 90 minutes before workout.
Try consuming liquid calories. See how that feels on stomach and absorption.
I often meet people, healthy people, who tell me they wish they “could” run, wish they “could” bike, wish they ”could” get in shape. They wish they had the discipline or self-control needed. They act as if you are either born with this mysterious gift of willpower or not…
The bad news is that no one is born with it, but the good news is that it is trainable. So you tried going on a diet and couldn’t stick with it? You started a new business and it failed? The relationship you thought was “the one” fell apart? None of those experiences are “good”. However on the flip side, people that went through those experiences came out better, stronger, tougher, especially if they used that setback as a way to learn to avoid repeating mistakes. IT’S ALL GOOD MENTAL TRAINING.
…it’s been 7.5 hours of constant running and I definitely don’t feel like continue the race as my body is hurting and doing everything possible and impossible to stop me from continuing. I’ve got one more hour until the finish line is closed and that means only one thing to me – I’ve got a chance to continue and achieve my goal of 30 miles. Unless I’m suffering a serious physical injury that prevents me from taking a step, I know I’m not going to stop. I know I’m going to continue on, come hell or snow. 30 miles behind, 8 hours of constant running, but still finding enough energy to crack that awkward smile on my face… This race costed me three nails on my toes and the level of physical pain I haven’t experienced before. It made me tougher and stronger, as IT’S ALL GOOD MENTAL TRAINING!
Do you want to get the taste of every shade of pain? I’ve got a perfect recipe for you – get yourself dehydrated. All you need is to lose just 1%-2% worth of your body’s weight through the fluid loss. Here is how you do it: wake up early in the morning to get that 90 minutes bike ride done, before work or school. Have nothing besides a cup or two of coffee and jump straight on the trainer. I guarantee that your heart rate won’t go higher than zone 3-4, no matter how hard you push yourself. RPE of 3-4 will feel like 7-8, making every second of your workout count as you courageously suffer through it. Besides that, you might experience some of the following symptoms, but they most likely have nothing to do with you being dehydrated. Push harder!
Headache (wether changes)
Fatigue (don’t be lazy!)
Dizziness (thats ok, just don’t close your eyes)
Increased thirst (resist! less water = higher RPE)
Tachycardia (you won’t even feel it)
Weak pulse (don’t worry about that)
Chills/cold hands (put on an extra jacket)
Organ failure (people live even with one kidney)
Shrunken brain (less weight to carry)
Heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heatstroke – those are the things that will add more flavor to your experience of riding the paintrain. There are few tips on how to access those add on features and amplify your suffering:
Do some interval training outside, including extreme spikes in intensity or volume
Try exercising when sick. Disease and fewer is not an excuse to skip a workout
Put on as many clothes as you have. Let’s see how many cycling jerseys you’ve got in your closet
Neglect all the clues and heat-related illness signals your body sends you
Few more workouts like this and you begin questioning your abilities as an athlete and your existence on this planet overall. A little shit-talking voice in your head gets louder and louder, yelling at you to stop this suffer fest and quit the sport all together. Perfect! There are many other ways to get on the paintrain with a first-class seat, but I will not discuss all of them just yet. If it’s something that you’re specifically looking for, let me know and I will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to obtain the ticket to the suffer-land for free.
Let’s get serious
Performance Hydration
Let’s talk first about why exactly is hydration so important?
I bet you heard a million times that making sure you are well hydrated with clean water is essential to your well-being. I’ll just refresh a few things in your memory in regards to why you need to drink water.
About 40 liters of water contains a 150 pounds human body. Every day you loose 2-3 liters of fluids. Your body doesn’t produce water and heavily rely on external sources. Without proper amount of water, your body fails to:
Transport fuel to your working muscles
Eliminate the byproducts of your trainings from your cells
Keeping you alive and not let you dies from overheating by cooling itself down.
Digest the foods you eat and convert them into the fuel for your next training sessions.
Keep your brain functioning, making you a bit smarter than your dog. Concentration is compromised.
Maintain the blood volume. The sweat that you loose during exercise comes out of your blood plasma. Loose too much sweat -> blood volume goes down -> performance decreases.
The list goes on and on, but the main point here is that WATER IS LIFE.
Dehydration
When endurance athlete “hits the wall” or getting “bonked”, running out of energy, he can grab a gel or coke and rapidly put that necessary calories into the engine. Up to a certain point dehydration is manageable and there no performance decline. However, if the athlete is getting dehydrated, there is no fast way to restore hydration status. When is too late? Over 2% of body’s mass lost through the fluids links to a low performance. Your main task as an athlete is to stay above 2% or 3% off for fluids lost during exercise. Its easy to miss the point of not coming back and once you’re in the hole of dehydration, you’re not coming out of it in a course of the event. Game is over! Or it for the least your performance is highly compromised.
A symptom of dehydration is often expressed as hunger. That sound weird, but it’s true. When people reach for carbohydrate rich foods, because they’re hungry in the pm its often the fact that they simply dehydrated. By retaining hydration status during the day, it get easier to manage portion control and quality of food consumed.
Hyponatremia
On the flip side is over-hydration problem – hyponatremia. A lot of athletes are over-hydrating lowering the body sodium levels to dangerously low levels. Your blood becomes thicker and saltier and you feel thirsty. If you drink a lot of water or a lot of low-sodium fluids you actually diluting your blood down. You hold about 32 oz (950 mL) of fluids in your stomach. Depending on your body size and exercise intensity it empties at a rate about 30-42 oz (890-1242 mL) per hour. If you drink too much, too fast, your stomach gets overfilled, having no choice, but make you vomit to remove the excess. Overdrinking can cause nausea.
Electrolytes
You noticed in the past that your sweat leaves white marks on your clothing. Sometimes less, sometimes more. With sweat you never loose just the water, but also electrolytes. Without those positively and negatively charged ions you won’t be able to contract your muscles properly, making your running form seem more like a butt injured bear running away from the hunter. Potassium, calcium, magnesium and sodium are the micronutrients that in proper combination allow your body to remain in homeostasis by maintaining the fluid balance. Sodium is predominant electrolyte so you mainly loose this important nutrient with your sweat.
Five main electrolytes inside your body
If you don’t replace the fluids and electrolytes lost, it will essentially pull a cascade of negative events that will make you a dehydrated bitch. Luckily for you, mother nature provided your body with reliable fluid level management feature – a thirst. When too much water leaves your cells – they shrink and your brain gets notified immediately. If you feel thirsty, you’re on your way to a suffer-land, sponsored by dehydration. Listen to your body and drink enough to satisfy thirst, not more or less.
Better Hydration = Better Performance
You may not feel thirsty during exercise, but you absolutely need to hydrate while you exercise. Plain water is the best! There are three kinds you are safe to go with:
Purified water. This water is free of contaminants and produced by deionization, distillation, reverse osmosis and carbon filtration.
Spring water. Spring water is the “natural” version of purified water. may have been disinfected, but most impurities and contaminants remain. In terms of quality, spring water is much closer to tap water than purified water.
Alkaline water. It’s less acidic than tap water, however there is little evidence that its healthier than regular tap water.
“Taste and temperature have no perceptible effect on fluid absorption”
Karel, L
Sports drinks
Hypertonics. They are the high-calorie sports drinks or simply soda. Drinking these is notoptimal way to hydrate as your body has to move water out of the bloodstream into the gut to absorb the calories within the drink.
Isotonics or Hypotonics. This types of drinks are formulated to a concentration that is similar to your blood, which makes them a good hydration tools.
Coffee & Tea
Coffee is considered as probably harmless and possibly healthy. Just keep in mind that it’s a central nervous system stimulant so try not to over drink it.Commonly accepted safe dose of it is no more than 32 oz (946 ml) a day.
Tea also has caffeine in it, but way less than coffee. It is often praised for its health benefits and can help to fight free radicals, reduce the risk of heart related disease and even cancer. Herbal teas increase immunity, support weight loss, control appetite, promote better sleep and lower stress levels. It’s not a magic bullet, but if you get to pick between tea and coffee, I would go with the first one.
Juice, Energy drinks and Alcohol
Liquid produce is not healthier than whole, solid produce. Real juice, even with no added sugars is a very easy way to over-consume the calories, compared with eating whole foods. However it may come in handy after the intense workout, assisting in rehydration and delivering vitamins with minerals. To make it even a better post-workout option, add a tea spoon of pink Himalayan salt to make it more similar to rehydration sports drinks.
Energy drinks is a no-no! 5-hour Energy, NOS, Monster Energy, Red Bull, Rockstar etc. is a poison straight from a can. Sugar, enormous amount of calories and caffeine along with other stimulants will put you at risk of cardiac arrest. Save your heart and opt from such drinks, especially during the exercise.
There are no benefits to alcohol consumption. Sorry. The use of alcohol even in small amounts can negatively affect your hydration status, sleep, recovery, motivation and overall performance.Not to mention, it causes weight gain and weakens your immune system. If you are an athlete, especially during a competition season, do yourself a favor – stay away from alcohol.
Know your Sweat Rate
Everyone looses fluids differently, therefore to better understand how much you are sweating it’s important to calculate your sweat rate. Right before your next big workout, jump on scales and record your weight. When finished, re-weight yourself and calculate your sweat rate using the example of how to estimate the sweat rate for 150 lbs athlete after a 2 hour 30 minutes bike ride:
Pre-exercise weight: 150 lbs (68 kg)
Post-exercise weight: 148.5 lbs (67.3 kg)
Weight (fluids) loss: 1.5 lbs (0.7 kg) or 24.7 oz (700 mL)
Water consumed during exercise: 3 liters (100 oz)
Total Sweat Loss: 24.7 oz + 100 oz = 124.7 oz (3688 mL)
HEALTHY PEE CHART [Digital image]. (2017, January 30). Retrieved February 3, 2019, from https://hydratem8.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/healthy-pee-chart_03.png
