Does fueling REALLY matter for me?
Is intra workout fueling and hydration actually worth the effort? …Especially considering the tradeoffs when balancing work, family, and endless other responsibilities which already make time so limited? Here are some of our honest thoughts regarding the pros and cons of making the effort to fuel and hydrate for shorter training and competitions. We will start with the cons first:
Cons:
1. You have to wash your bike bottles, find your flasks, flush out the mold that has been festering in that hydration pack in the deep recesses of your garage (that you may or may not have forgotten about), and figure out if there is sugar, salt, or any other sport nutrition product in the house.
2. It takes a little “figuring” if you don’t have someone planning (and pouring) everything out for you.
3. If using funnels is hard for you like it is for me, you have to wipe up all of the sugar that missed the flask opening and wipe up the entire counter, floor, cupboards…and basically deep clean the entire house while you’re at it before it feels right to start training.
4. You need to remember to actually consume what you prepared while actually exercising.
Pros:
1. You like training more
Maintaining optimal blood glucose levels while staving off dehydration increases both cognitive drive (the will to push hard) and just makes you feel better in general while training.
2. You recover better from that session
Intra workout and post workout carbohydrates (along with post workout protein) help repair damaged tissues and stimulate adaptation to your training and if you have goals, adaptation is pretty important. :)
3. You recover from bigger sessions around it
Getting carbs in intra-workout is the best way to ensure they go to your muscles where they’re needed after any other longer or harder training sessions you’ve done recently. (Intra-training carbs keep going to your muscles after a short training session.)
4. More glycogen repletion for upcoming sessions
Consuming carbohydrates intra workout and immediately post workout increases glycogen repletion more than any other timing of consumption, allowing for more energy in future training sessions.
5. Better performance at work post-session
Carbs intra-workout means you’re less likely to be hangry if there’s any delay in getting to your post-workout meal. Hangry is a scientific term. Look it up. ;) If you’re hangry, or close to it, your brain can’t function and you’ll hate your job, even if you love your job!
6. Better sleep quality
Fueling well during training reduces sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep) and increases sleep quality because your brain isn’t kicking you into wakefulness all night telling you to go eat more. It also means you don’t have to eat as much right before bed, reducing overnight thermogenesis from food. Being too hot at night is not conducive to sleep!
The decision is yours.
Fueling and hydrating your training takes extra effort. There’s no way around it. If you can’t tell, we at Saturday are truly annoyed with the cons on this list (at least I am!) and working hard to make things easier, simpler, faster, and just better all-around, so that you can love and get the most out of your training and racing.
~Michelle
💬 Have questions or looking for extra help?
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