I just did a 300K with 60g/hour of sugar. I made a heavy mix of 180g in a 750ml bottle, with a half-teaspon of sodium citrate. Made 1 bottle at the start, then mixed 180g in three ziplocs for the rest of the ride. Worked a treat, did 11:46 ride time and 2h stopped time. I've made stronger mixes for training but this was pretty good on its own, though I rinse/chase with water afterward for my teeth's sake. I did have some pops for caffeine along the way, and some solid food at the last control for variety.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Naw, I've tried kool-aid in the past but it stains my bottles and the taste gets old fast. I have the same thing eating gummy candy, love the flavours at first but get bored after a few packs. Going to try it again on a 400 and see how it goes.
@@clasherclasher Yeah, same here. I usually prefer lemonade as the flavor is tolerable longer than 'red drink', but the acidity becomes a problem. We have a few grain-based drinks here that act similar to Ensure, but they don't come in powder form. Luckily they are common at the convenience stores for getting out on the road.
Nice video, thanks. I've just started doing something similar with combinations of maltodextrin and fructose along with an occasional bit of citric acid. Having come across the LMNT recipe for electrolytes (using sea salt, potassium chloride, magnesium malate), I've experimented with putting all of that together with the carbs in either a water bottle or thicker and in a little squeezy bottle as an energy gel.
Nice! Have any of those ingredients been especially helpful? I've been really fond of sodium citrate lately to get sodium without wrecking my taste buds from chloride. I updated my recipre here: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html&lc=Ugz6NKV2rJpsBzcpCOx4AaABAg
You make great Videos, props to you! I only take a bottle with sugerwater und anonterone only with water. Sometime I tka my home made Energzballs with me. To note: I mostly ride 50km/30mi
I saw that! Very exciting. I'm pretty big, so I've been upping my dose on training rides, but am still cautious about going overboard for events. It often feels like tiredness should be onset, but the legs keep working when training at 100g+/hr. Less dropoff over time for sure. Since my target rides are usually over 12 hours, there are some issues with gastric fatigue and taste buds refusing to accept more carb mix though. With self-supported fueling for such distances, carb mix can realistically only be a supplement. I'll be updating this recipe soon. Do you have any links aside from the GCN stuff?
@@overbikedrandonneuring no links unfortunately. I have done 2 rides now - on the trainer - with 100g / hr but they were only 3 and 3.5 hours, so nothing like the 12 hours you're looking at. I could not agree more with taste fatigue. I reckon trial mix is the best thing. Nuts, fruit, bits of chocolate. Have used that many years ago on longer walks and it was always a good break. Also sandwiches, cheese, etc. Water for me has always been the big handicap. I sweat a LOT and need lots of water to continue performing. It's a real handicap when competing over more than 2.5 hours.
@@aarondcmedia9585 Thanks! I love trail mix from my days hiking (Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails). I still have it as a snack at work. For water, have you been using salt and/or potassium chloride in your mix? I've found salt results in better water retention. I used to try to drink enough to avoid dehydration, but then had to stop and pee every 30 minutes or so and get dehydrated anyway. Recently 2g sodium per 100g carbs has been working well for hard rides over 3 hours. Similar ratios of main ingredients to expensive fuels like Peeroton Hi-End Endurance and others, but lacking the low-dose ingredients. I've been enjoying the content from Dr. Alex Harrison on the topic. www.youtube.com/@SaturdayProFuelAndHydration
Since sugar is already 1 part glucose and 1 part fructose, wouldn't adding an equal weight of sugar with an equal weight of dextrose or maltodextin give the appropriate 2 to 1 ration of glucose to fructose?
Hi Barry, if you are looking for 2 parts glucose, 1part fructose, 100 grams of sugar will have 50 grams of each. Then 50 grams of maltodextrin/dextrose would create the 2:1 ratio. Some research like this review pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26373645/ suggests less maltodextrin/dextrose is needed for optimum absorption. I've been moving towards mostly plain sugar lemonade lately at about 8-10gcarbs /100mL since it's faster to mix up and easy to drink.
If my calculations are correct (omitting the salt since it's a bit negligible in calculating the gross osmolarity) the standard mix (80g) comes out to be a bit hyper osmolar (in reference to blood plasma) - around 300 mmol/L did you calculate osmolarity?
You are correct, the recipes here are heavily saturated with carbs. I hadn't considered this recipe might be considered for used as a do-it-all hydration + fuel by a viewer. That would results in quite the stomach ache due to the carb saturation. I personally run this mix in one bottle with 1-2 other bottles of plain water, along with solid snack foods. This recipe was intended as a supplementary fuel source for riders who usually rely only on solid food and plain water or Gatorade for endurance riding, which is the vast majority of Randonneurs I've come across.
Interesting idea! Sadly, we don't have good applesauce here for me to try that out. I ordered a food service sized bag a while back, but the flavor was terrible.
After getting my feed flooded with bodybuilding protein heavy content, it's super interesting running into this cyclist training nutrition video. I don't train but I ride everyday and am curious if a toned down version of these drinks could be beneficial to my mood and daily energy. Empowering!
Thanks! Two very different needs for sure, although I find the body building/bro-fitness media landscape...questionable at best. Your choice for sugary drinks would mostly depend on your duration, intensity, and goals for cycling. If mood and energy are a priority or have been a problem when not fueling, reducing your caloric deficit from endurance exercise with a sugary drink during and immediately after the exercise should help. You may find better performance, recovery, and reduced food cravings in the hours afterwards a pleasant side effect too. Just be sure not to overfuel or use sugary drinks outside of a narrow window before, during, and after your exercise session. Metabolism functions very differently during exercise than when at rest.
Yeah, should be no problem. Slightly larger cane crystals may mix slower than little granulated crystals. I've been recommended to try a range of sugar types as they impart a slightly different taste. Be sure to check out my newer video on sugary drink recipes. It has more up to date research and an improved recipe!
I liked the topic and I would like to ask you that I practice a relatively different type of sport. My question is, can I use natural honey with Himalayan salt and lemon and will it do the trick?
Hi, I'm new to cycling and I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding fueling. In the example yo give, the nutrition label for the white sugar is 8g per serving is 8g of carbs and the Dextrose (that I looked up on amazon) is 20g per serving is 18g of carbs. Here's my question, if I want 100g of carbs per hour, am I mixing 6 servings of sugar (48g carbs) and 3 servings (54g carbs) of Dextrose? I hope that made sense. ☺ And thank you for the video. This will help me save a ton of money. Edit: I didnt watch the whole video before posting. You go over the mix in the video. 🤦♂
Hi Louie, welcome to the channel and welcome to cycling. For long rides, I like to think of fueling a ride as starting 2 meals before the ride begins. Fueling ends with the post ride meal (and maybe a bedtime snack too) for recovery energy. Could be why I don't lose weight cycling haha. The carb mix strategy is good for shorter rides, but I like to mix in gummy candies or cereal bars for rides over a few hours to please the taste buds. Above 6 hours or so, I can only consider carb mix a supplement and not a primary fuel source. I've been moving towards plain white sugar recently and reducing dextrose use with no ill effects. Just saves time mostly. As a new rider, what kind of questions do you have? What goals are you aiming for? Hope you get value from my content. Thanks for watching!
@@overbikedrandonneuring I've been binge watching your videos and I'm learning quite a bit from them. I picked up cycling as a way to stay active and lose weight. I'm currently 240lbs with dreams of getting around 190-200ish lbs. This video pretty much addressed my main concern, fueling. I'm looking forward to giving plain sugar a try because these commercial products are burning a hole in my pockets.
do you have strange taste in your mounth after drinking such home made carbs drink? (5:4 - 2:1 ratio) ? Is it acidity ? do you add someting to the drink to alleviate this taste? (maybe bicarbonate of soda?)
I am always adapting my recipe. I think some poor taste comes from the chloride in table salt. An improved version using sodium citrate can be found in my pinned comment. I'm starting to move towards cooking up a bottle of syrup for long rides rather than powder. Sometimes a gulp of syrup and bottles of plain water are more palatable than a drink mix. Other times, the syrup can be mixed with water just like powder. I've been experimenting with brown sugar, maple syrup, and cherry cordial too, but lemon is still my favorite flavor to add.
*No.* Research the `vascular endothelial glycocalyx' and what high blood glucose spikes does to it. They are our shields against inflammation. It requires multiple hours for them to be restored. Also see the renowned sport medicine doctor, Prof. Timothy Noakes. He has a different take now, here on YT
Some of Noakes' work reflective of his shift in perspective is covered in the video linked in the pinned comment, which is an update to this one. As time passes, his academic camp seems to be continually losing ground. In an endurance/ultra endurance exercise context (the focus of this channel), the problematic mechanisms for glucose/insulin spikes present in daily life are not at play. Exercise changes how we process fuel during the activity (but I hope nobody is drinking sugar water drink mix in daily life). You will find diabetic athletes can very successfully fuel with large amounts of simple carbs with close blood sugar level monitoring. For non-pros, we simply can't burn enough fat to fuel these activities. San Milan (2018) measured energy use by substrate and found only about 30%, 208 kcal/hour, of energy for endurance cycling came from fat at intensity suitable for ultra endurance activity (132 watts). Energy from fat went down to ~10%, 98 kcal/hour as intensity increased to 208 watts. I do worry what the bro-science-podcast crowd is going to promote now that insulin and glucose are a new target of their affection.
@@overbikedrandonneuring " bro-science-podcast crowd" - well, I am paying more attention to the doctors with clinical practices. But thanks for the response!
@@jamesalles139 Sorry, that was intended as a non sequitur. I did not mean to lump you or your comment in with bro science crowd. Rather, bio hackers seem to have found the effects of glucose/insulin spikes as a shiny new toy in 2024 based on what the algorithms send my way. My worry is the effect their pattern of sensationalizing and failing to assess research in the greater context of what is understood to be true will have on discourse, performance, and health.
@@overbikedrandonneuring I understand. And we do need to understand that there is a lot that we don't understand - the science is not `settled'. My answer to your title was admittedly a knee-jerk reaction, because we have come to realize that type 2 diabetes is reversible. Sugar is what I eschew, in all forms. Blood sugar spikes + continuous elevation appears to me to be a major contributing factor to atherosclerosis / heart disease. This is a different context than your video. And on the insulin side of things, it _is necessary_ to lower insulin in order to burn body fat. Certainly more of an issue with an obese & sedentary person - not your typical cyclist. Dr. Benjamin Bikman is a good researcher / metabolic scientist in this realm. Peace!
I have a more up-to-date video here, which has a link in the video description to a drink planning calculator that can help you better determine personalized portioning: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html The Saturday App is also a great tool. In short though, 1 gram carb/sodium mix per 10mL of water (~10%) tends to be the upper limit of concentration I use. Concentration rates will vary depending on sweat rate versus carbohydrate needs.
Thanks for watching! These days, 100g of white sugar and about 3 grams of sodium citrate. I prefer to flavor it with lemon juice if starting from home. For dry mix to use later in a long ride, I'll replace ~30 grams of sugar with ~30 grams of lemonade or cherry ade mix for light flavoring. It depends on the weather and expected sweat rate though. I've updated my strategies as seen video here: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html
How long of a cycle is this for? Im looking for a mix to drink when I do my Muay Thai training, which is a combat sport, and id like to use this as a base for something i'd drink throughout 90 minutes of exercise.
My target rides are 8-40 hours in duration where muscle glycogen is essentially empty for most of the event. 90 minutes of very high intensity like Muay Thai will also benefit from carbs, and at least a bit of sodium. I expect caffeine 30 minutes pre workout is also rather popular, but I've found mixing it in a drink tastes horrible. Start with modest carbs, maybe 40g sugar/liter and a dash of salt. I've moved to plain sugar as detailed here: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html
Good question Paulo. The drinks I can pick up on the road here and enjoy are pretty low calorie and too flavorful. I'll split a drink between 2 cycling bottles and add sugar mix and water. Since making this video, I've moved towards packing an unflavored white sugar/dextrose/salt blend. I mix it with diluted teas, sports drinks, and fruit ades on the road to better match what tastes good at the time instead of being stuck with one flavor. If you aren't packing any mix or run out, plain sugar and salt are easy enough to find. I've also recently been growing fond of meal replacement drinks which are more available at convenience stores. Packed with simple carbs and satiating.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Thank you for the detailed tip, meanwhile checked some more info on your "Top tips for long distance" and will research some more on fueling. Great fun and data driven content!
@@overbikedrandonneuring As a almost absolute beginner not enough knowledge to know what is important. This said I enjoyed the "you need a fast bike" and options to optimize less than stellar bikes would be very interesting.
@@pyrkol Great idea. I have access to two aluminum rim brake road bikes equipped with Claris 2x8spd which should make good test subjects. If your bike fits, is in working order, and you have pretty quick tires, you have taken care of the most important equipment choices. Experience training and practicing riding strategies for brevets are the best place to focus from there. Here's my channel playlist for those: th-cam.com/play/PL-ytAHNEQM1-Py2WLExuO9dFfFsbOHh-K.html Typing this up, I realized there are a few big gaps in strategy that I should cover soon. Thanks!
Hi Zendermeister, it depends on activity intensity and an individual's maximum hourly digestive abilities. For high intensity events, a cyclist would benefit from carb loading and the maximum amount of carb fueling their body will comfortably allow. A significant calorie deficit will still be incurred, even with max fueling. Research and a growing body of anecdotal evidence suggests anywhere from 80g-120g per hour or more is possible. Optimizing hydration, osmolarity of total fuel/water consumption, and electrolyte intake can increase how many carbs you can ingest per hour without stomach problems. There is evidence that our guts can be trained to accept larger amounts of carbohydrate too. The folks over at the Saturday Morning channel make great content focused specifically on this topic and are a useful resource: th-cam.com/channels/2Xe4xhaXBF2IUE1tAdtwjg.html
@@overbikedrandonneuring Wow, this is really helpful, thanks for the detailed response. This goes against everything that one hears about sugar, that it is the consummate evil, the mother of every dietary sin. This is why I love sites like yours that look at the science and think out of the box. I really got my mind changed when I read the research that one's body deals with sugar MUCH DIFFERENTLY when in motion than when sitting on the sofa. No one ever takes this into consideration. You are one of the rare programs that does. So thanks again.
@@zendermeister Thank you for the kind words. I suppose my outlook might be different from a mainstream perspective, but it seems pretty normal to me haha. My experience thru-hiking 2 of America's long trails (12 hours walking, 5 days/week for ~5 months, each trail) influenced that significantly. Fuel vs food. Since then, I've considered diet specific to athletic activity performance completely separate from and in strong opposition to diet for general health in a standard lifestyle, and vice versa. The demands for sodium and carbs are so far beyond a sedentary day, that it can be difficult to wrap one's head around it for the first time, and even harder to act on in practice. A coworker was recently quite surprised when I told him about one-shotting an entire bag of gummy bears.
I thought you're Korean because of Korean on the label of sugar. I've been watching videos about alternative carb mixture and trying sugar for it. The hard things are reminding me to drink it all while I ride and washing bottles after ride.
Thanks for watching! I live in Gwangju, so most of my videos will have some Korean scenery in them. I've lost a few bottles to forgetting to wash them too. Using sodium citrate (from Coupang), has made this drink taste much better. There is a recipe in my newer video linked in the description.
Research found moderately active individuals burn about .38g fat per minute (23g, 208 calories/hour) at 132 watts, which is the maximum measured fat oxidation rate in the study for moderately active folk, and a reasonable proxy for ultra distance pacing. Carbs make up the difference, with 2g/min (120g, 480cal/hr) (Fig 6B and Table 3). Fat oxidation and carb utilization potential increases once a person reachers pro level fitness. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-017-0751-x The takeaway here is that even at moderate levels of intensity where we have maximum fat oxidation, only 1/3 of the energy comes from fat, and that carbs burned is still higher than what most people can consume. Even if you increased fat oxidation 50% above measured figures, you would still be burning more carbs than 9g of carbs per hour. The ~500g of stored glycogen we have can only do so much.
A more comprehensive video with better performing mix is up th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html
I just did a 300K with 60g/hour of sugar. I made a heavy mix of 180g in a 750ml bottle, with a half-teaspon of sodium citrate. Made 1 bottle at the start, then mixed 180g in three ziplocs for the rest of the ride. Worked a treat, did 11:46 ride time and 2h stopped time. I've made stronger mixes for training but this was pretty good on its own, though I rinse/chase with water afterward for my teeth's sake. I did have some pops for caffeine along the way, and some solid food at the last control for variety.
Glad to hear it worked out for you. That is very similar to my strategy from the last 300, but I was not as fast. Do you flavor your drink?
@@overbikedrandonneuring Naw, I've tried kool-aid in the past but it stains my bottles and the taste gets old fast. I have the same thing eating gummy candy, love the flavours at first but get bored after a few packs. Going to try it again on a 400 and see how it goes.
@@clasherclasher Yeah, same here. I usually prefer lemonade as the flavor is tolerable longer than 'red drink', but the acidity becomes a problem. We have a few grain-based drinks here that act similar to Ensure, but they don't come in powder form. Luckily they are common at the convenience stores for getting out on the road.
Nice video, thanks. I've just started doing something similar with combinations of maltodextrin and fructose along with an occasional bit of citric acid. Having come across the LMNT recipe for electrolytes (using sea salt, potassium chloride, magnesium malate), I've experimented with putting all of that together with the carbs in either a water bottle or thicker and in a little squeezy bottle as an energy gel.
Nice! Have any of those ingredients been especially helpful? I've been really fond of sodium citrate lately to get sodium without wrecking my taste buds from chloride. I updated my recipre here: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html&lc=Ugz6NKV2rJpsBzcpCOx4AaABAg
You make great Videos, props to you!
I only take a bottle with sugerwater und anonterone only with water.
Sometime I tka my home made Energzballs with me.
To note: I mostly ride 50km/30mi
Bora Hansgrohe scientists are talking up to 200g / hour absorption now. It's trainable too.
I saw that! Very exciting. I'm pretty big, so I've been upping my dose on training rides, but am still cautious about going overboard for events. It often feels like tiredness should be onset, but the legs keep working when training at 100g+/hr. Less dropoff over time for sure. Since my target rides are usually over 12 hours, there are some issues with gastric fatigue and taste buds refusing to accept more carb mix though. With self-supported fueling for such distances, carb mix can realistically only be a supplement. I'll be updating this recipe soon. Do you have any links aside from the GCN stuff?
@@overbikedrandonneuring no links unfortunately.
I have done 2 rides now - on the trainer - with 100g / hr but they were only 3 and 3.5 hours, so nothing like the 12 hours you're looking at.
I could not agree more with taste fatigue. I reckon trial mix is the best thing. Nuts, fruit, bits of chocolate. Have used that many years ago on longer walks and it was always a good break. Also sandwiches, cheese, etc.
Water for me has always been the big handicap. I sweat a LOT and need lots of water to continue performing. It's a real handicap when competing over more than 2.5 hours.
@@aarondcmedia9585 Thanks! I love trail mix from my days hiking (Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails). I still have it as a snack at work. For water, have you been using salt and/or potassium chloride in your mix? I've found salt results in better water retention. I used to try to drink enough to avoid dehydration, but then had to stop and pee every 30 minutes or so and get dehydrated anyway. Recently 2g sodium per 100g carbs has been working well for hard rides over 3 hours. Similar ratios of main ingredients to expensive fuels like Peeroton Hi-End Endurance and others, but lacking the low-dose ingredients. I've been enjoying the content from Dr. Alex Harrison on the topic. www.youtube.com/@SaturdayProFuelAndHydration
@@overbikedrandonneuring I put salt in my sugar bidons but not my water - I think the salt in plain water would put me off drinking it?
@@aarondcmedia9585 For sure, sorry I meant in the sugar mix.
Since sugar is already 1 part glucose and 1 part fructose, wouldn't adding an equal weight of sugar with an equal weight of dextrose or maltodextin give the appropriate 2 to 1 ration of glucose to fructose?
Hi Barry, if you are looking for 2 parts glucose, 1part fructose, 100 grams of sugar will have 50 grams of each. Then 50 grams of maltodextrin/dextrose would create the 2:1 ratio. Some research like this review pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26373645/ suggests less maltodextrin/dextrose is needed for optimum absorption. I've been moving towards mostly plain sugar lemonade lately at about 8-10gcarbs /100mL since it's faster to mix up and easy to drink.
The insights have changed now. Ratio is almost 1:1. You see many products already with this new ratio
If my calculations are correct (omitting the salt since it's a bit negligible in calculating the gross osmolarity) the standard mix (80g) comes out to be a bit hyper osmolar (in reference to blood plasma) - around 300 mmol/L
did you calculate osmolarity?
You are correct, the recipes here are heavily saturated with carbs. I hadn't considered this recipe might be considered for used as a do-it-all hydration + fuel by a viewer. That would results in quite the stomach ache due to the carb saturation. I personally run this mix in one bottle with 1-2 other bottles of plain water, along with solid snack foods. This recipe was intended as a supplementary fuel source for riders who usually rely only on solid food and plain water or Gatorade for endurance riding, which is the vast majority of Randonneurs I've come across.
I mix applesauce with maltodextrin for Sport Drink Mix. Does well.
Interesting idea! Sadly, we don't have good applesauce here for me to try that out. I ordered a food service sized bag a while back, but the flavor was terrible.
Iso - 20g sugar, 10g dextrose, 1g Salt
Think nowadays literature shows glucose fructose Almost 1:1. See Dylan for example. Let me see if I can find the link
It definitely does. Check out my video in the pinned link of the comments. It's a deeper dive into the topic and finds 1:1 to be nearly ideal too.
After getting my feed flooded with bodybuilding protein heavy content, it's super interesting running into this cyclist training nutrition video.
I don't train but I ride everyday and am curious if a toned down version of these drinks could be beneficial to my mood and daily energy.
Empowering!
Thanks! Two very different needs for sure, although I find the body building/bro-fitness media landscape...questionable at best. Your choice for sugary drinks would mostly depend on your duration, intensity, and goals for cycling.
If mood and energy are a priority or have been a problem when not fueling, reducing your caloric deficit from endurance exercise with a sugary drink during and immediately after the exercise should help. You may find better performance, recovery, and reduced food cravings in the hours afterwards a pleasant side effect too. Just be sure not to overfuel or use sugary drinks outside of a narrow window before, during, and after your exercise session. Metabolism functions very differently during exercise than when at rest.
Can you use cane sugar instead of granulated sugar?
Yeah, should be no problem. Slightly larger cane crystals may mix slower than little granulated crystals. I've been recommended to try a range of sugar types as they impart a slightly different taste. Be sure to check out my newer video on sugary drink recipes. It has more up to date research and an improved recipe!
I liked the topic and I would like to ask you that I practice a relatively different type of sport. My question is, can I use natural honey with Himalayan salt and lemon and will it do the trick?
@kokobeach2674 yes it will, if you find the taste suitable. There are just over 80g sugar per 100g of honey. Some people enjoy maple syrup too
@ 🙏👍
Hi, I'm new to cycling and I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding fueling. In the example yo give, the nutrition label for the white sugar is 8g per serving is 8g of carbs and the Dextrose (that I looked up on amazon) is 20g per serving is 18g of carbs.
Here's my question, if I want 100g of carbs per hour, am I mixing 6 servings of sugar (48g carbs) and 3 servings (54g carbs) of Dextrose?
I hope that made sense. ☺ And thank you for the video. This will help me save a ton of money.
Edit: I didnt watch the whole video before posting. You go over the mix in the video. 🤦♂
Hi Louie, welcome to the channel and welcome to cycling. For long rides, I like to think of fueling a ride as starting 2 meals before the ride begins. Fueling ends with the post ride meal (and maybe a bedtime snack too) for recovery energy. Could be why I don't lose weight cycling haha.
The carb mix strategy is good for shorter rides, but I like to mix in gummy candies or cereal bars for rides over a few hours to please the taste buds. Above 6 hours or so, I can only consider carb mix a supplement and not a primary fuel source. I've been moving towards plain white sugar recently and reducing dextrose use with no ill effects. Just saves time mostly.
As a new rider, what kind of questions do you have? What goals are you aiming for? Hope you get value from my content. Thanks for watching!
@@overbikedrandonneuring I've been binge watching your videos and I'm learning quite a bit from them. I picked up cycling as a way to stay active and lose weight. I'm currently 240lbs with dreams of getting around 190-200ish lbs.
This video pretty much addressed my main concern, fueling. I'm looking forward to giving plain sugar a try because these commercial products are burning a hole in my pockets.
@@LouieBaLLz Thanks for sharing! I hope you find lots of joy and health from cycling.
Since I can't get a dextrose powder where I live, I just mix white sugar and a bit of salt in some water, will this work fine?
@emmanuelnocete135 thanks for watching! check the video in my pinned comment. White sugar and sodium citrate are my go-to mix now. It's really nice
do you have strange taste in your mounth after drinking such home made carbs drink? (5:4 - 2:1 ratio) ? Is it acidity ?
do you add someting to the drink to alleviate this taste? (maybe bicarbonate of soda?)
I am always adapting my recipe. I think some poor taste comes from the chloride in table salt. An improved version using sodium citrate can be found in my pinned comment.
I'm starting to move towards cooking up a bottle of syrup for long rides rather than powder. Sometimes a gulp of syrup and bottles of plain water are more palatable than a drink mix. Other times, the syrup can be mixed with water just like powder. I've been experimenting with brown sugar, maple syrup, and cherry cordial too, but lemon is still my favorite flavor to add.
*No.*
Research the `vascular endothelial glycocalyx' and what high blood glucose spikes does to it.
They are our shields against inflammation. It requires multiple hours for them to be restored.
Also see the renowned sport medicine doctor, Prof. Timothy Noakes.
He has a different take now, here on YT
Some of Noakes' work reflective of his shift in perspective is covered in the video linked in the pinned comment, which is an update to this one. As time passes, his academic camp seems to be continually losing ground.
In an endurance/ultra endurance exercise context (the focus of this channel), the problematic mechanisms for glucose/insulin spikes present in daily life are not at play. Exercise changes how we process fuel during the activity (but I hope nobody is drinking sugar water drink mix in daily life). You will find diabetic athletes can very successfully fuel with large amounts of simple carbs with close blood sugar level monitoring.
For non-pros, we simply can't burn enough fat to fuel these activities. San Milan (2018) measured energy use by substrate and found only about 30%, 208 kcal/hour, of energy for endurance cycling came from fat at intensity suitable for ultra endurance activity (132 watts). Energy from fat went down to ~10%, 98 kcal/hour as intensity increased to 208 watts.
I do worry what the bro-science-podcast crowd is going to promote now that insulin and glucose are a new target of their affection.
@@overbikedrandonneuring " bro-science-podcast crowd" - well, I am paying more attention to the doctors with clinical practices.
But thanks for the response!
@@jamesalles139 Sorry, that was intended as a non sequitur. I did not mean to lump you or your comment in with bro science crowd.
Rather, bio hackers seem to have found the effects of glucose/insulin spikes as a shiny new toy in 2024 based on what the algorithms send my way. My worry is the effect their pattern of sensationalizing and failing to assess research in the greater context of what is understood to be true will have on discourse, performance, and health.
@@overbikedrandonneuring I understand. And we do need to understand that there is a lot that we don't understand - the science is not `settled'. My answer to your title was admittedly a knee-jerk reaction, because we have come to realize that type 2 diabetes is reversible.
Sugar is what I eschew, in all forms. Blood sugar spikes + continuous elevation appears to me to be a major contributing factor to atherosclerosis / heart disease. This is a different context than your video.
And on the insulin side of things, it _is necessary_ to lower insulin in order to burn body fat. Certainly more of an issue with an obese & sedentary person - not your typical cyclist.
Dr. Benjamin Bikman is a good researcher / metabolic scientist in this realm.
Peace!
How do you portion that out for a 750ml bottle? Like 50g scoop is 50g carb?
I have a more up-to-date video here, which has a link in the video description to a drink planning calculator that can help you better determine personalized portioning: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html
The Saturday App is also a great tool.
In short though, 1 gram carb/sodium mix per 10mL of water (~10%) tends to be the upper limit of concentration I use. Concentration rates will vary depending on sweat rate versus carbohydrate needs.
What's your recipe for 100g of "flavoured drink mix" ?
Thanks
Thanks for watching! These days, 100g of white sugar and about 3 grams of sodium citrate. I prefer to flavor it with lemon juice if starting from home. For dry mix to use later in a long ride, I'll replace ~30 grams of sugar with ~30 grams of lemonade or cherry ade mix for light flavoring. It depends on the weather and expected sweat rate though. I've updated my strategies as seen video here: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html
How long of a cycle is this for? Im looking for a mix to drink when I do my Muay Thai training, which is a combat sport, and id like to use this as a base for something i'd drink throughout 90 minutes of exercise.
My target rides are 8-40 hours in duration where muscle glycogen is essentially empty for most of the event. 90 minutes of very high intensity like Muay Thai will also benefit from carbs, and at least a bit of sodium. I expect caffeine 30 minutes pre workout is also rather popular, but I've found mixing it in a drink tastes horrible. Start with modest carbs, maybe 40g sugar/liter and a dash of salt. I've moved to plain sugar as detailed here: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html
You don't need to consume anything during a 90 minute event.
Any quick and dirty options to modify a store bought drink in route to make it a ok general use fuel?
Good question Paulo. The drinks I can pick up on the road here and enjoy are pretty low calorie and too flavorful. I'll split a drink between 2 cycling bottles and add sugar mix and water. Since making this video, I've moved towards packing an unflavored white sugar/dextrose/salt blend. I mix it with diluted teas, sports drinks, and fruit ades on the road to better match what tastes good at the time instead of being stuck with one flavor. If you aren't packing any mix or run out, plain sugar and salt are easy enough to find. I've also recently been growing fond of meal replacement drinks which are more available at convenience stores. Packed with simple carbs and satiating.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Thank you for the detailed tip, meanwhile checked some more info on your "Top tips for long distance" and will research some more on fueling.
Great fun and data driven content!
@@pyrkol Glad you enjoy the content! Are there any endurance cycling topics you would like covered?
@@overbikedrandonneuring As a almost absolute beginner not enough knowledge to know what is important.
This said I enjoyed the "you need a fast bike" and options to optimize less than stellar bikes would be very interesting.
@@pyrkol Great idea. I have access to two aluminum rim brake road bikes equipped with Claris 2x8spd which should make good test subjects. If your bike fits, is in working order, and you have pretty quick tires, you have taken care of the most important equipment choices. Experience training and practicing riding strategies for brevets are the best place to focus from there. Here's my channel playlist for those: th-cam.com/play/PL-ytAHNEQM1-Py2WLExuO9dFfFsbOHh-K.html
Typing this up, I realized there are a few big gaps in strategy that I should cover soon. Thanks!
Hello. Good video. How many grams of sugar do you think is ideal to consume per hour if you are doing, say, a three-hour event?
Hi Zendermeister, it depends on activity intensity and an individual's maximum hourly digestive abilities. For high intensity events, a cyclist would benefit from carb loading and the maximum amount of carb fueling their body will comfortably allow. A significant calorie deficit will still be incurred, even with max fueling. Research and a growing body of anecdotal evidence suggests anywhere from 80g-120g per hour or more is possible. Optimizing hydration, osmolarity of total fuel/water consumption, and electrolyte intake can increase how many carbs you can ingest per hour without stomach problems. There is evidence that our guts can be trained to accept larger amounts of carbohydrate too. The folks over at the Saturday Morning channel make great content focused specifically on this topic and are a useful resource: th-cam.com/channels/2Xe4xhaXBF2IUE1tAdtwjg.html
@@overbikedrandonneuring Wow, this is really helpful, thanks for the detailed response. This goes against everything that one hears about sugar, that it is the consummate evil, the mother of every dietary sin. This is why I love sites like yours that look at the science and think out of the box. I really got my mind changed when I read the research that one's body deals with sugar MUCH DIFFERENTLY when in motion than when sitting on the sofa. No one ever takes this into consideration. You are one of the rare programs that does. So thanks again.
@@zendermeister Thank you for the kind words. I suppose my outlook might be different from a mainstream perspective, but it seems pretty normal to me haha. My experience thru-hiking 2 of America's long trails (12 hours walking, 5 days/week for ~5 months, each trail) influenced that significantly. Fuel vs food. Since then, I've considered diet specific to athletic activity performance completely separate from and in strong opposition to diet for general health in a standard lifestyle, and vice versa. The demands for sodium and carbs are so far beyond a sedentary day, that it can be difficult to wrap one's head around it for the first time, and even harder to act on in practice. A coworker was recently quite surprised when I told him about one-shotting an entire bag of gummy bears.
But how big is your bottle?
600ml
I thought you're Korean because of Korean on the label of sugar. I've been watching videos about alternative carb mixture and trying sugar for it.
The hard things are reminding me to drink it all while I ride and washing bottles after ride.
Thanks for watching! I live in Gwangju, so most of my videos will have some Korean scenery in them. I've lost a few bottles to forgetting to wash them too. Using sodium citrate (from Coupang), has made this drink taste much better. There is a recipe in my newer video linked in the description.
@@overbikedrandonneuring I watched that one too 😀Thanks for sharing the info!
Remember Maxim😂
Don't make sense so 300g of sugar.
An updated video I made may be a bit more clear: th-cam.com/video/Av3o1Cw_iOQ/w-d-xo.html
ㅋㅋ 하얀설탕 한국이신가
네, 저는 광주에 살아요. 전라도는 자전거 타기에 좋은 곳이에요.
No...Try 1:0.8 !!
See my video linked in the pinned comment for a more updated recipe that touches on the 1:.8 ratio and better electrolyte source.
For longer events you'd be far better off training fat adaptation.
Research found moderately active individuals burn about .38g fat per minute (23g, 208 calories/hour) at 132 watts, which is the maximum measured fat oxidation rate in the study for moderately active folk, and a reasonable proxy for ultra distance pacing. Carbs make up the difference, with 2g/min (120g, 480cal/hr) (Fig 6B and Table 3). Fat oxidation and carb utilization potential increases once a person reachers pro level fitness. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-017-0751-x
The takeaway here is that even at moderate levels of intensity where we have maximum fat oxidation, only 1/3 of the energy comes from fat, and that carbs burned is still higher than what most people can consume. Even if you increased fat oxidation 50% above measured figures, you would still be burning more carbs than 9g of carbs per hour. The ~500g of stored glycogen we have can only do so much.
Go carnivore.
@@SS-qk8oc 🤣🤣