The Best Pre-Ride Fuel Up
Riding the 947 on Sunday? Here are some of the best pre-ride fuel-ups!
Breakfast does more than simply provide the day’s first dose of kilojoules. It also kick-starts your metabolism, regulates your weight, supercharges your riding – and can even lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes. In fact, experts say breakfast wields more authority over your body’s systems than any other meal.
“By the time you wake up, you’re in a fasted state,” explains Cara Marrs, a nutritionist and endurance athlete. For six to 12 hours – a long stretch, given that most people eat every four hours while awake – you ingest no energy. Yet your body is hard at work rebuilding muscle and processing the information you took in during the day. It powers these efforts by tapping into your stored energy. But by morning you’re operating on a kilojoule deficit – and your brain takes the hit.
Studies have shown that fuelling up in the morning improves mental acuity and coordination. “It fuels your body and your brain,” says dietitian Roberta Anding, director of sports nutrition at a children’s hospital. “That lets you make smart decisions and react quickly on a ride.” Conversely, research has shown that not eating breakfast can dim your mood and mental function.
And what about the idea that working out on an empty stomach promotes weight loss? That may work for some cyclists as part of a long-term and deliberate programme that trains the body to utilise fat stores more efficiently, says Marrs. But for the majority of cyclists whose primary goal is fuelling their rides, eating breakfast is the way to go. And according to research, you should do so within an hour of waking, to kick-start your metabolism before your body starts going into energy-conservation mode.
Ride-Specific Choices
But not just any breakfast will do. Gulping a pile of refined carbs – such as a doughnut, or a bowl of sugar-packed cereal – triggers a blood-sugar spike (and subsequent drop) that sends you reaching for fast energy all day long. Starting off with a variety of healthy fats, protein, and unrefined carbs, such as oats and whole-wheat breads, delivers sustained energy that curbs cravings. The key is to tailor the meal to your kind of riding. Use the ideas below to fill your plate wisely.