I read the guide to nutrition and am trying to implement the fuelling strategies within it. I have a question on the carb loading the day before that depending on the workout you are planning on completing the next day.
The suggested guides all have the workout timing post breakfast and pre lunch but my workouts during the week are generally after 3pm. Does this change the grams of carbs per kilogram you should take on board the previous day e.g. Hell hath no fury is 5-8g/kg but the workout is in the am? Should you increase your carb loading on the morning of the workout instead and to what levels.
Also is it possible to update the workout lists to incorporate more of the new videos with the carb guide or provide an intensity/length guide. E.g. 50 TSS for an hour requires x g/kg and 75 TSS requires y g/kg.
Excellent questions you raise here. In terms of carb loading the day before a hard session, no it doesn’t make much difference whether it’s a breakfast, lunch or any other time. Ideally, you’re spreading out those carbs throughout the day anyway. You don’t need to change the amount you take in based on the timing of your workout the following day…The fact is you’re just topping up the glycogen stores within your muscles, which is a continuous process. More specific timing of pre-workout meals on the day of the hard session is up to you and how you feel the best. If you’re generally training after 3pm, you should have time to eat a carb heavy meal for breakfast and process it out of your gut before the workout. You don’t want it still sitting in your gut when you get on the bike.
We’re actually hoping to release a new fueling/nutrition guide in the near future so I don’t see us taking the time to update the old one. As far as providing recommendations based on TSS, remember that TSS is not the best method for evaluating the demands of The Sufferfest 4DP workouts (see this article: What IF and TSS Mean in a 4DP World – The Sufferfest) and also that everyone is different when it comes to fueling and nutrition. I would take the current recommendations and use them as a guide to self-experiment and find what works best for you, personally.
Great - thanks Suzie. That makes sense, I have to say I’m surprised how much stronger I’ve felt during my current plan fuelling in line with the guidelines. I look forward to the new guide.
@Coach.Suzie.S
So I took this trainer season different than most years prior to the Tour. I have been meal planning and eating to shed some of the past 3 years of weight gain. As such I have hit the garage gym with dedication to 5 days of weights and 2 days of bike and or walk. As well as a 40%Pro /40%Carb /20%Fat close to 2000 calories at roughly a 20% calculated deficit of my daily expenditure.
So the burning question of mine is: Should I drop the protein and raise the fat to offset close to 30%. My rationale is the increased fat will help keep energy balance at a more “achievable” level. 40% of 2300 - 2500 calories is a ton of chicken / whey protein.
Follow up to this: Does it freaking matter? a simple yes/no is all good too.
I think it’s good to experiment with various nutritional methods and see what works well for you. It can also be beneficial to change it up as a way to give your body a new stimulus which alone can be beneficial. Kind of like periodizing your training plan- you have to change the stimulus in order avoid or break out of a plateau in order to continue improving, right? Nutrition can be similar. You might also find that your body just responds better to a different ratio of macronutrients. Of course meal and macronutrient timing is also a big factor.
So in the end, yes, go ahead and experiment and see what works for you!
