Bell, Mark

Bridge, Craig

Lindsay, Claire

Sparks, Andy

Introduction: Cyclosportive events often take riders &gt; 5 hours to complete. These events therefore require considerable training and appropriate nutritional strategies prior to and during the event if optimal performance is to be achieved. Recently, the recommendations for carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion during exercise bouts &gt; 4 hours have been increased to 90 g/hr, but little is known about the habitual ingestion strategies of these athletes in preparation for and during cyclosportive events. The aim of the study was to determine the caloric intake of trained cyclists prior to and during an ultra-endurance cycling event. Method: Eight trained male cyclists (age 40.3±6.6 yr, weight, 79.6±7.2 kg) completed a 241 km undulating route with 3225 m of vertical ascent at a mean ambient temperature of 17.5 (range 12.2 – 22.2) C. During the event, food stations at 103, and 196 km provided participants with opportunities to ingest additional food and fluid. Records of ingestion during each section of the event and at each station. Prior to the event participants also completed a 3-day diet diary. Dietary analysis was used to calculate total caloric intake and rate of CHO ingestion during the event. Perceptions of fullness, thirst, muscle aches and effort were also measured prior to the start, at each station and at the end of the event. One sample t-tests were used to compare CHO ingestion rates to recommended amounts and repeated measures ANOVA was employed to determine changes in perceptual responses during the event. Results: Mean caloric content of the pre-event diets for the 3-days was 3032.6 ± 537.4 kcal with 3907.0 ± 910.9 kcal ingested on the day prior to the event. Participants achieved just 5.8 g/kg CHO, which is significantly lower than the recommended intake (mean diff = 4.2 g/kg, t = 8.47, p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.95). The pre-event meals contained 638.1 ± 222.9 kcal and during the event riders consumed 2356.7 ± 654.0 kcal. Rates of CHO ingestion during the event of 40.9 ± 12.2 g/hr were significantly lower than recommended (mean diff = 49.1 g/hr, t = 11.36, p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.97). Stomach fullness was unchanged (f = 2.08, p = 0.133, ES = 0.23), but thirst (f = 14.71, p &lt; 0.001, ES= 0.68), muscle aches (f = 50.54, p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.88), and effort (f = 67.10, p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.91) increased significantly during the course of the event. Conclusion: The cyclists ingested insufficient CHO in the days leading up to and during the ultra-endurance event. This prevented them from achieving an optimal nutritional strategy, with likely negative performance implications

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Introduction: Cyclosportive events often take riders >5 hours to complete. These events therefore require considerable training and appropriate nutritional strategies prior to and during the event if optimal performance is to be achieved. Very few studies have been conducted on competitions of similar durations[1,2]. Recently, the recommendations for carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion during exercise bouts >4 hours have been increased to 90 g.hr-1[3], but it is unclear if athletes habitually ingest such amounts in competition. The aim of the study was to determine the dietary habits and ingestion strategies of trained cyclists prior to and during a single day ultra-endurance cycling event.            Method: Eight trained male cyclists (age 40.3±6.6 yr, weight, 79.6±7.2 kg, >10 yrs experience) completed a 241 km undulating route (Fig. 1) with 3225 m of vertical ascent at a mean ambient temperature of 17.5 (range 12.2 – 22.2) C. Prior to the event, participants completed a 3-day diet diary and recorded their pre-event meal. Food and fluid consumed during the event was recorded at official food stations (103, 196 and 241 km).  Macronutrient and total caloric intake prior to and during the event was performed by a Registered Dietician using dietary analysis software (Nutritics, Dublin, Ireland). Perceptions of fullness, thirst, muscle aches and effort were also measured prior to the start, at each station and at the end of the event using modified CR10 scales. One sample t-tests were used to compare CHO ingestion rates to recommended amounts and repeated measures ANOVA was employed to determine changes in perceptual responses during the event. S S S Sparks, S.A., Bridge, C.A., Bell, M.T., and Lindsay, C.  Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire UK.  20th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science   |   June 2015   |   Malmo, Sweden  |   Corresponding Author: Dr Andy Sparks   |             Andy.Sparks@edgehill.ac.uk   |             @sparks_andy  Results: Mean caloric content of the pre-event diets for the 3-days was 3032.6 ± 537.4 kcal with 3907.0 ± 910.9 kcal ingested on the day prior to the event. In the three days prior to the event, riders achieved CHO ingestion rates of just 5.8 g.kg-1, (Fig 2C) which was significantly lower than the recommended intake (t = 8.47, p < 0.001, ES = 0.95). The pre-event meals contained 638.1 ± 222.9 kcal and during the event riders consumed 2356.7 ± 654.0 kcal (Fig. 2A). Rates of CHO ingestion during the event of 40.9 ± 12.2 g.hr-1 were significantly lower than the recommended 90 g.hr-1 (t = 11.36, p < 0.001, ES = 0.97). Riders performed for 10:27:50 ± 1:17:20 hours during which they all used a “drink to thirst” fluid ingestion strategy and consumed just 2.53 ± 0.74 litres of fluid. This led to significant increases (f = 14.71, p < 0.001, ES= 0.68) in thirst perception (Fig. 3A).  Perceived effort (Fig. 3C) and muscle aches were significantly elevated during the event (f = 67.10, p < 0.001, ES = 0.91; and f = 50.54, p < 0.001, ES = 0.88, respectively). Interestingly, stomach fullness (Fig. 3B) was unchanged (f = 2.08, p = 0.133, ES = 0.23).    Figure 1. Ultra-endurance event route profile. (S) = Feed stations. References [1] Geesman, B., et al., (2014). International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 24, 497-506.  [2] Rossi, P., et al., (2014). Evidenced Based Complementary Alternative Medicine. 2014:979613.   [3] Jeukendrup, A. (2014). Sports Medicine, Suppl 1, S25-S33.   Nutritional Practices in Trained Cyclists Prior to and During an Ultra-Endurance Cyclosportive Figure 2. Energy intake (A), and macronutrient ingestion for the pre-event meal (B) and the mean intake for the three days prior to the event (C). Intermittent line denotes recommended CHO intake. (*) Denotes a significant difference between intake and recommended (p<0.05). Figure 3. Perceptions of thirst (A), stomach fullness (B) and effort (C) throughout the event. (*) Denotes a significant difference from 0 km, (†) a significant difference from 103 km, and (ǂ) a significant difference from the previous station (p<0.05).  Conclusion: The cyclists ingested insufficient CHO in the days leading up to and during the ultra-endurance event. This suggests that even very experienced riders did not meet the current recommended guidelines. Typically they did not consume enough food and drank to thirst, which limited the GI discomfort, but also energy intake. This may have prevented them from achieving an optimal nutritional strategy, with likely negative performance implications. A B C A B C 

Nutritional Practices in Trained Cyclists Prior to and During an Ultra-Endurance Cyclosportive

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Nutritional Practices in Trained Cyclists Prior to and During an Ultra-Endurance Cyclosportive

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