I’ve noticed that as my training weeks progress I get more and more tired, so that by the weekend I’m exhausted. This implies that I’m not getting enough food, but at the same time I’m not losing much weight, which implies that I am getting enough food. I decided to read up on post-exercise nutrition to see if I could be doing something a bit better immediately after exercising that would refuel me for my next session.

Turns out that there’s plenty written on the subject, though a lot of it is related to weight lifting and is more relevant to bodybuilders. However, there’s adequate evidence from endurance sources like Peak Performance Online (a brilliant training resource), CyclingNews and the Australian Institute of Sport which say essentially the same thing: that for an hour or two post-exercise your body is ready to suck up carbs to replenish muscle glycogen stores and protein to repair muscle damage. The guidelines recommend up to 1.5g of carbs (CHO) per kilo bodyweight, or to replace some of the CHO with protein (PRO) if you suspect muscle damage, eg: from weights or a long run.

Now the important part is you need to get the CHO and PRO into your bloodstream fast, so eating some lean meat isn’t going to cut it, as it will take two hours to digest by which time your optimum window is gone. So, for CHO you need maltodextrin powder and for PRO you need hydrolysed whey protein. Maltodextrin is very cheap ($10/kg) but the hydrolysed whey protein is a bit more expensive ($45/kg), though you need much less of it so it will last longer than the maltodextrin. The basic plan is to have 1.2g CHO/kg (102g) after a cycle in to work in the morning (about 1hr) and then 1g CHO/kg (85g) and 0.4g PRO/kg (34g) in the evening after a run. You mix it up in water (4ml/g) and drink half straight away then the other half after about 40mins.

I’ve ordered my stocks and I’m going to try it out and see if it makes any difference.