What to drink to fuel your cycling – and when
AS a cyclist and athlete, it’s critical as an athlete to stay hydrated, and also to know what to drink when, if you’re to maximise your performance. Cycling is a tough activity and the fluid that we’re constantly losing through sweat needs to be replaced, along with the salts and nutrients that the body also needs before, during and after the ride. It’s critical to develop a proper cycling hydration plan, and to ensure that your own cycling hydration is right for you.
In this latest blog, Nadezhda gives some useful advice to guide you in your training and nutrition plan for cycling; helping you to ride stronger and better.
Morning
Coffee
Caffeine to kick-start your day. A 30ml cup contains eight percent of your daily niacin requirement, needed for the production of red blood cells, and one percent of your daily potassium needs, which can help regulate blood pressure and heart function.
Sports drinks
This type of drink replaces fluid lost through sweat and provides energy which is burned up through muscle use, enabling you to cycle further and faster. It also contains sodium which takes water directly into the blood when it is absorbed, helping to prevent dehydration. Once you get home after your training session, top up your fluid levels with a carb-protein recovery drink to restore energy.
Afternoon
Green tea
Trade in your regular cup of coffee for a steaming mug of green tea. Not only is it packed with antioxidants, in particular catechins which help people who exercise to lose more weight, but a study conducted in Japan found that regularly drinking green tea could help boost endurance exercise performance by up to 24 percent.
Cherry juice
Not only is it full of antioxidants, but tart cherry juice, according to research from Oregon Health and Science University, can be an effective pain reliever. In a study, long-distance runners who drank the juice twice a day for seven days before a big run had significantly less muscle pain than those who had any other fruit juice.
Orange juice
Potassium-rich orange juice is perfect as the potassium lost from your muscles during exercise needs to be replaced to stop muscle cramping and cardiovascular irregularities. Also the electrolytes in orange juice replace those lost through sweating, its carbohydrate helps restore muscle glycogen, and Vitamin C helps protect cells and keep them healthy.
Evening
Hot milky drink
Time to get some shut-eye, but even after a tiring day this can be easier said than done. That’s where a warming drink such as malted milk comes in – sweet enough to boost sugar levels and give a sense of wellbeing, warm enough to help you feel comfortable and sleep.
