Should You Fuel for Zone 2 & Sweet Spot Training (Sports Dietitian Explains)
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Fuelling for different types of sessions can be quite confusing. In this video we talk about how to master your fuelling techniques pre, during and post session. By following these guidelines you'll be able to achieve your optimal training performance!
#cycling #roadcycling #training #dietitian
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From my experience, 1hr sessions dont't need to be fueled for the most part. However, i will always get on the bike after work and therefore my last meal is always some time ago, so on some days, when i feel a little hangry, i do fuel 1hr rides with 50g carbs (read sugar). Longer than 1hr i do fuel, even if it is just zone 2. My go to is still 50g carbs per hour and on hard session it is more likely to be 75g. For some time i did fuel even 1hr zone 2 session and can't say , that i felt any negative effect, but over time, i noticed that it isn't really necessary. However 50g of carbs is just 200kcal, nobody should make a fuss about 200kcal. It is way better to "overfuel" a session than to underfuel and have a low quality session! Btw, the easiest and most cost effective way is to use table sugar with water as a fuel source, this totally changed the game for me as it is so easy to digest.
Awesome comments 👏
I just replied to similar effect. My fuel is same homemade mix of table sugar plus a bit of maltodextrin and some electrolytes that I use for all rides. I use 60g/hr for Z2 and 80g/hr for intensity. I'm fairly lean at age 54, 5'9" 155lbs.
Totally agree on table sugar and water for best results.
But...I got absolutely roasted by my dentist for it.
A new filling and a crown later.. she said the problem was sipping every 20 minutes which meant that saliva never had a chance to remineralise teeth as they were constantly drenched in sugar.
Her advice was to have all of the sugar in one go.
So I've started experimenting with home made rice cakes or a banana every half hour/45 mins and nothing but plain water in my bottles.
So far so good.
can confirm, also use a bit of table salt
@@michaelconway8352 what about having one bottle of sugar and one with plain water?
The WT riders I coach for weight loss consume 150g to 200g of sugar per hour.
Table sugar is most commonly used as its ph neutral and doesnt cause any gut issues like gels can with all their additives/acidity.
If you consume enough sugar in training you wont want all the fatty/protein stuff after that blows you out and causes insulin resistance.
Interesting. as a bigger guy around 200lbs training for triathlon, somewhat front of pack age grouper. I push the upper limit of carbs while racing 130-140g per hour, & on zone 2 sessions fall right around 80-90g carbs per hour when I ride over 1.5 hrs or so. Anything 1 hr or shorter I still try to get 60g per hour, but then again I typically am training 2-3 times a day
1hr zone 2? Just water, 2hours zone 2? Yes, 60g/hr sugar water for me for Zone 2.
Body stores about 1600 kcal carbs, half of it in legs. Thats easily good for a fasted 1.5-2 hour z2 ride before breakfast or dinner.
Sweetspot needs more carbs. How much depends on your power level.
If you want to eat like a pro you better ride like a pro.
The way I understand it, the liver can only process 60g/hr so anything more makes no sense at any intensity level. Zone 2 is more about training for fat adaptation and technique, not speed and intensity.😊
@@-wretched1 I thought it went straight from the stomach to the blood stream, then to the working muscles? I think the liver only needs to process what is not immediately used by the muscles.
So 60g just for that second hour? Why is the second hour different from the first hour?
@@richardmiddleton7770 if I'll end in an hour, my bidon only contains water. if I ride for more, my bidon contains 120g of sugar which I need to finish on 2 hours
Me watching this with a 80g carb drink doing an hour session wondering why I don’t loose fat 🤌🏻
lmao
So, inhaling the fridge after Saturdays social bunch smashfest is out? Oh no! 😂
If you've earned it! 🤷♂️
What a great summary, with just the right amount of necessary, “it depends on this and that.”
Not saying this works for everyone, but over the past three or four months I've really dialed in my ride nutrition - or at least thats how I feel.
I'm far from a pro racer and I'm losing weight (down a little more than 20kg), but my fitness level on the bike is and has improved a lot; without structured workouts. Typically I'm riding between 200 - 300kms per week. I'm even breaking PRs that I set ~10 years ago when i was 10 - 15kg lighter.
My nutrition on the bike is a Cliff Bar every hour plus a sports drink mix. This gives me about 60g of carbs per hour. If I can get my favourite gels in stock here, I'll alternate a gel with a Cliff Bar every other hour. So hour one I'll have a Cliff Bar and sports mix. Hour two, I'll have a gel and a sports mix.
I am starting to really want to experiment with swapping the sports mix out with electrolyte tablets. Especially because where we live is very hot and humid.
Again, I'm far from an A grade or pro rider, but this has worked well for me. I'm also far from a medical or health professional, so I don't suggest trying this. But i am curious as to the sports mix vs the electrolyte tablets conversation.
why not use table salt?
I start fueling for zone 2 rides if they’re longer than 2-3 hours
But there is a watt dropoff a bit after about 2 and a half hours maybe
@Elonpocalyps420 that's training!
3 hr Z2 for me = normal meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner), then 30-50g carbs for final hour. Z2 makes me hungry otherwise. Fluids are isotonic, at a rate commiserate with the ambient temperature. Mid 50's athlete - above average / sort of well trained.
Saying a well trained athlete shouldn’t fuel but a new athlete should for something like a two hour Z2 or one hour Sweet Spot workout seems pretty backward to me. If you look at the raw calorie expenditure between someone riding Sweet Spot with a 300W FTP vs someone with a 180W FTP the difference is pretty stark. The higher your FTP, the more you should focus on fueling every workout to avoid being in a calorie deficit.
agreed. My ftp is 301 and I have to fuel for a 2 hr sweet spot session pretty drastically. Gels every 20 to 25 min. If I don't I'm incredibly tired throughout the day vs completely fresh legs and body if I'm fueled properly.
I was thinking the exact same thing
I think it makes sense in the way that if you’re well trained zone 2 is rather easy and you can burn more body fat while if your untrained zone 2 is harder and you will use more carbs.
I think if your goal is to lose fat then zone 2 fasted is smart but if you’re happy with your weight then fuel appropriately. For me I do 30 grams carb per hour zone 2 if I’m going more than 90 minutes and 100 grams per hour high intensity and racing. My wpkg is 5, I ride about 20 hours per week
@@davido8086yes this! Adapting to proper zone 2 training takes months!
Incorrect. A well trained athlete will not only have a much larger glycogen 'tank', they are also burning much more fat at higher percentages of FTP.
1:40 correction: the human body utilizes a mixture of fuels, it never burns 100% fat or 100% carbohydrate under any exercise stimulus.
Great video, Cam! Exactly what I needed. Appreciate this one like all the others!!
A basic question if I may: How do you stick/secure your chews to the top tube as shown in the footage?
Lick'n'stick!
Thank you.
I don’t know….. been in the endurance game for a while, not fueling for 2 hours and/or only 30-60 grams is nonsense. You need the carbs for performance. It’s proven that 80-100 (or more) carbs per hour improves performance and endurance. This is what pro and amateur cyclist are doing all day everyday. I do agree not fueling 90 min or less.
I think the pre and post meal was not focused on enough.
Well it depends on the intensity, I mean do you eat carbs every 90 minutes OFF the bike?! Pushing your LT1 up is part of training, actually it's MOST of training!
Right to the point excellent
All videos with Steph...👍👍
My Z2 one hour rides are somewhere between 700-800 calories. So crazy to think that a pro sports dietitian would recommend not eating before this kind of ride. Even harder to believe the same recommendation would be made for a two hour ride. I can definitively say that I feel stronger on the bike if I eat something before these kinds of rides. I also feel less fatigued afterward and can go much harder on more intense outings.
This needs to be cross posted to the GCN site, where the philosophy caters to cafe socializing and showing off carbon bikes while pretending to keep pacing and energy output consistent with pro athletes.
My 60-80 min. Z2 rides are generally 6-7pm on weeknights after work and before dinner. No time for a pre-ride snack, and previous meal is usually 11:30am. I find that I feel better on the ride, next day, and a LOT eat less at dinner after the ride if I take same 60g/hr during that ride as I would for longer weekend rides. BTW - surely power makes a difference for caloric needs? My Z2 rides are 195-205W, at a weight of 155lbs, 5'9" (age 54). That's got to need more energy than a 140W Z2 for someone the same size?
If I eat a large meal before bed (I know, not ideal for sleep) does that change any of the recommendations for morning workout fueling? Will I be more topped off as opposed to if I ate a dinner and then had a couple hours before I went to bed.
Do we have any long term data on fueling with sports drinks / gels / sugar products and insulin resistance (later on)?
You won't develop one if you fuel yourself correctly during excercise.
Even Keto endurance athletes can stay in ketosis during high intensity rides if they consume the correct amount of carbs.
@@PaulJennings123 Keto and Endurance in the same sentence ? please no
@@The14b88 Keto is far more compatible with ultra endurance than anything with high intensity.
@@PaulJennings123 it isn't. Ofc in ultras you need fat. But you need way more carbs
I would ask do people go to work without eating when they are working in a office???
All my training I use the eat my ride app work out my fuel intake
did you pay for it?
@@deDANIEL11609 yeah
Zone 2 and sweet spot are completely different.
what percentage of protein/carbs/fats should I be using to say lose 20lbs in half a year? What type of training is possible to do this without losing muscle mass?
I did that in an 8 months period some years ago.
40 % carbs, 40 % fat, 20 % protein.
1-2 hours of easy rides a week.
It's important to remain in the easy zone. This is where the body uses mostly fat.
For 60 km rides I took 2 slices of bread with lard and a bit of chocolate. Maybe a Cola towards the end. This is flat terrain ride.
I found that this protocol (which I developed almost accidentally) works well for me.
The downside is that you remain kinda slow. With no intensity involved, there is not much muscle gain.
But loss can be certainly prevented, especially if you up the protein to 25 % of total caloric intake.
In the past 3 years I've been focusing on increasing power and found that I cannot do it with loosing weight at the same time (got some extra kilos due to the covid politics...) My body also doesn't like being on high calories and high carb on long ride days and being in deficit on rest days.
Says SST interval session but what is time in SST zone for 1h of that session? I personally can't believe doing 1h SST ride (time in SST is 100%) without any fueling.
I fuel my tempo and sweet spot sessions
1 hour= 1 alcoholic beverage
No it’s two standard drinks in the first hour and one drink per hour thereafter. That way you should be right to avoid the breathalyser limit.
@@doctorscoot haha perfect
So 24hour audax is a Slab?
I like a 1:2 ratio personally
@@helmetculture1:2? You absolute helmet
But there's no downside. Weight loss argument is nonsense - you can burn more if you fuel more. The pros are doing 100g+ for Z2 and they're lean. You need to think about recovery too - the body needs carbs for that.
1) The pros ride 30h per week. I have a feeling that someone who goes for 1h Z2 rides does a little less volume. “You can burn more if you fuel more” is only true if volume or intensity are increased.
2) The same person will likely have a threshold lower than the Z2 of a world tour pro. That also means the pro burns more calories in Z2 than the slower rider at threshold.
3) Consuming carbs during a ride apparently does not spare muscle glycogen but reduces fat oxidation as the carbs are used preferably. The recovery part of refilling glycogen stores still needs to happen whether you fuel or not.
@@andorsn I'm still waiting for you to mention the downside...?
@@andorsn "is only true if volume or intensity are increased" - or if you need more recovery or motivation to train - both problems amateurs have due to having a busy life.
Re: 2 - Even someone with very low power can *never* eat enough on the bike - even 100w is 360kcal/hour, or 90g CHO. All riders, no matter their FTP need to be fueling at their best.
3) Recovery starts on the bike. If you finish a ride and are hungry, you didn't eat enough. Who cares what fuel is used on the bike anyway? What matters is power output.
Yeah, except the pro's Z2 is like 280w unlike your 150. They need to consume to be able to output that amount of power regardless if it's Z2.
Three hour ride on the ebike and then home for rice , beans ,porkchops and avocados. Then some Coors beer.
Ok, so, if I'm a recreational gravel rider, riding at distances of about 60-70 km (fifty-fifty tarmac vs. dirt roads) in my zone 2, with about 20 km/h average speed, what my nutrition plan should be? 60 g of carbs per hour? Less? I weigh about 64 kg now with some overweight. I probably should weigh something about 60 kg (162 cm in height). I use mostly gummy bears for fueling. For an amateur and recreational rider, I would judge my current fitness as average. Any advice? If not from RCA then maybe from the community?
I’m 180/80 recreational rider, 100 km/wk. Gravel 40-50 km @ 20 kph non stop average speed in 20-30C heat. Fluids only, provided I ride within 2 hrs of a normal low fat meal.
@@paulgrimshaw8334 , thx for your opinion on the subject.
So, to use a rule of thumb, training rides can be specifically fueled (controlled), non-training rides (majority zone 2, with zone 3/4+ spikes) should be fueled as required.
What is your definition of a training ride? I'm honestly curious.
@@macht4turbo Training ride - A ride which has a known structure prior. i.e. 2hr zone 2 , HIT efforts, or controlled race course prep.
Cam that seat looks low…..😢
Shouldn’t end a ride feeling depleted or hungry
Fuel? You don't "fuel" your body by eating unless you are using unnatural food sources to load the bloodstream with simple processed sugars. You fuel the body with perfect and pure food and water 12 to 24 hours before intense rides. Organic, natural food, that you prepare yourself. This fuel is stored in your body as hydrocarbons (fat). If you store all pure food, your fuel source is taken care of for weeks if your body is over 15% BFI. The problem is people and riders don't eat pure and they store up this chemical, heavy metal, insecticide and herbicide food for fuel, but it is toxic fuel. So they compensate by stuffing drugs (simple processed sugar) down their throats before and during rides to keep this short term energy source going blocking the toxic fat they should be burning. 20 minutes is the sugar (drug) high energy duration, then replenish for 17, again for 14, each replenishment has a shorter span of energy. Why is this: because it is a drug. Pure food stored as hydrocarbons is a long term energy source, no need to eat for even a high intensity 7 hour ride. And you don't eat for at least 12 hours before the ride. This means your digestive system is not engaged during high intensity training or racing. The digestive system is a high energy use of thousands of processes, when you turn this off that energy can be used for racing and training. You get to turn off this high energy drain and use only the water digestive systems, a much simpler system with low energy drain.
I figured this out 16 years ago when moving to one of the hottest environments on earth with summer temperatures at 100 to 115 degrees every day. Eating before and during rides does not work at all in this heat. But the above diet suggestion for fuel does! And it works even better in the other seasons of normal temperatures of 50 to 80 degrees. This is not some fad diet, but the natural way your body functions, this diet and training strategy works with the body not against it like the ridiculous sugar/caffeine drugged training. Problem is you can't just switch to this diet and the next day have it work for you. First you have to use up all your toxic fat stores, this is very difficult for non organic diet people. To use it up means rides of very low energy BONK is what we called it where you have no energy, a death march. Most cyclists are not dedicated enough to do this. You can do this in the off season, by eating very little until at the 7% BFI stage and then begin storing pure natural organic fat on your body. You will also have to change your daily diet by not eating the sugar and caffeine drug diet confusing your body with toxic fake energy. You can eat your sugar: cookies, donuts, candy just before sleep, its drug effects will be long gone before the next days ride.
Soon your body will adapt and eating before and during a ride will not be necessary and would be actually detrimental to your performance. You will be riding clean and natural using the absolute maximum amount of energy your body can produce for high intensity rides of any distance.
( I am a former pro rider in ultra-marathon racing. My weekly training included sprint days, interval days, climbing days, distance days. Most of my training was the same as any road racing cyclists with short milage high intensity, but offset by long weekend rides instead of road racing. Friday began at 10:00 pm and ended at 8:00pm the next day, no sleep, 22 hours non stop riding, long distance. Then Sunday was a century day, giving me about 300 to 400 miles of training distance in one weekend.
i dont read all of that bro. give us a short answer
@@bestjal654 Short and simple, can't be done, I am cramming 56 years of serious cycling into a short comment. Individual training specific to you is very complex. We are all different.
What if you have a lot of muscle
3h endurance without fueling? no way lol
It’s not that hard. In fact, two hours is downright easy.
@@paulgrimshaw8334try that riding in the Caribbean 😂
Fuel is not suitable for human consumption.
Seeing cyclist eating sugar and lollies in the first half of this vid is absolutely shocking. That’s not fueling that’s sugar addiction. If your using lollies as a fuel source you have no idea what your doing to your long term health .
This is just ridiculous. Should I drive my car without putting fuel in?
Technically, you're made of fuel
You start with a lot of fuel on board. You might need hydration though.
Α simplistically naive and inaccurate analogy. Your stored body fat provides the required fuel for your zone two slow-twitch muscle fibres. Cheers!
@@robredpath9860 if it’s got half a tank and you only wanna go 10kms, why not?
@@kostaspapazoglou2851 you do you.
Too many people eating on bikes.
are you a bot? is this a joke?