It is easy for us to have a misunderstanding that the food we eat one minute before riding is the main energy that can be used immediately. In fact, the main energy comes from the food you ate four to eight hours ago-digested, transformed and stored in your muscles. So in front of this article, let's talk about the problem of eating time first:
Meal time-it depends on the specific situation
If you are used to cycling in the morning, you should eat more sugary foods, such as bread jam and bananas, the night before. Avoid eating foods containing too much fat for breakfast, such as steamed bread, hamburgers and other foods that are not easy to digest and cannot provide enough sugar.
If you are used to cycling at night, you can prepare some rich lunches for yourself. If you want to lose weight, just don't wake up hungry at midnight. If you don't lose weight, you need both carbon compounds and protein, which is the golden time for night riding to absorb and recover.
If you need to call the next day, you must ensure the storage of liver sugar. Then you need to eat a lot of carbohydrates and water the day before yesterday to keep liver sugar.
The time of eating varies according to the competition time and the type of food. The food you eat can provide sufficient nutrition and energy during the competition without causing gastrointestinal discomfort during the exercise. It's best not to try food that has not been practiced in the competition, so as not to cause unnecessary negative effects.
It is best to eat 2-3 hours before you start riding, so that the food has enough time to be digested and converted into "fuel" for physical exercise.
In fact, no food or any eating schedule can suit everyone, and everyone needs to experience it in practice to find out the most suitable and effective food and eating time.
If you plan to ride for a long distance, eating the right food before, during and after riding will get twice the result with half the effort.
Before riding-carbohydrates
The best choice for food is complex carbohydrates. Choose foods rich in carbohydrates and protein, such as bread, rice, noodles, fish, chicken, beef, eggs, beans and nuts. They can continuously release energy for you during your riding.
If the riding time is less than 60 minutes, you can eat bread and sports drinks, which are easy to digest and can provide sugar quickly. If you ride for more than 60-90 minutes, you can choose foods with low glycemic index, such as fruits, skim milk, rice and beans. These foods are slowly digested into sugars, which can be supplied to muscles for a long time during exercise. Oatmeal with fruit and a cup of yogurt; Brown rice with tofu and chicken; There are also apples and peanut butter, which can continuously release energy for you during riding.
The following are some suitable and convenient food combinations before riding training, which can be used for reference before riding.
1, oat+cinnamon = improving endurance+insulin sensitivity.
Some foods are digested very slowly, such as oatmeal, which will force the fat in the muscle to be converted into fuel in advance, which is itself a sugar source. If you want to get more nutrition, add a little cinnamon (3g daily dose) to your breakfast bowl, which will help improve insulin sensitivity and regulate blood sugar level.
2, honey+water = natural sports gel
The advantage of honey is that it contains fructose and glucose at the same time, and the absorption routes of these two sugars are also different, which is beneficial to many aspects of absorption. Scientific tip: One tablespoon of honey contains 17 grams of carbohydrates, and two to three tablespoons per hour can completely avoid physical fatigue.
3, coffee+banana = preheat food
Before exercise, food can greatly improve the body's energy reserve. Generally, it takes 30 grams of carbohydrates, which is about the energy provided by a banana. It works well with a cup of coffee. A study shows that caffeinated drinks can effectively improve the level of cyclists, and the peak intake level is about 45-90 minutes, so it is suitable to have a drink before riding.
Riding-protein+Carbohydrate
Things with moderate protein content and high carbohydrate content are more suitable for supplementing energy when riding. Because the portability of food is very important during riding, you can choose energy glue or energy bar, which are specially developed and produced for cyclists. The contents of carbohydrate, protein and fat are well matched, so you don't have to worry about it yourself. It can be bought online and in special bicycle shops.
In addition, don't forget to replenish electrolytes when riding, and you can bring a bottle of electrolyte drinks. If the riding time exceeds 1 hour, or the weather is particularly hot, electrolyte drinks are particularly necessary.
After Riding-protein+Fat.
Eating some lean protein after riding is especially important to restore the torn muscle tissue during riding, such as eggs, low-fat dairy products, fish skin and so on. In addition, foods rich in carbohydrates are good for replenishing lost liver sugar and preparing muscles for the next day's riding. After riding a bike, you need to eat a proper amount of fat, because it can provide vitamins and minerals, and make you feel full for a longer time, so that you are not so hungry and want to eat again. You can also eat fruit and yogurt. Berry fruits are good, such as blueberries and cherries. They are rich in antioxidants and are good for your health. Eating within an hour after cycling is best for your health.
If you want to lose weight, you can eat a small amount of whole grains, which can effectively help your body burn fat and make the slimming effect more remarkable.
Warm reminder: before riding, it is best to eat less fat! ! !
Such as Snickers, chocolates, etc. These foods are high in calories, sugar and energy supply. At the same time, the fat content is still very high, resulting in a relatively low GI value. (GI value refers to the rate at which blood sugar rises, that is, the ratio at which blood sugar rises when we eat food into our bodies. Simply put, the easier it is to make blood sugar rise rapidly, the higher the GI value, such as sugar and starch, which belong to high GI; On the contrary, foods that make blood sugar rise slowly have low GI values, such as oils and protein, which belong to low GI. People with high blood sugar are more suitable for low GI diet.
Although it is said that we should eat foods with low GI value, eating these foods before exercise is not an ideal diet. On the one hand, the digestion and absorption of fat is slow, and this satiety will hinder exercise. On the other hand, using fat as an energy supply substance will increase the body's demand for oxygen, and too much fat will also increase the acidic substances in the body, which will easily make people feel tired.
Of course, it is not enough to have the right person. You need to bring enough water. Don't wait until you are thirsty to drink water, but always replenish water. Fitness coaches in clubs generally require students to drink at least 450ml of water two hours before exercise, and every15-20min during exercise.