Avoid GI Issues: How to Fuel Racing and Training

One of the toughest challenges faced by athletes is determining what to consume during exercise.

There is so much information out there.

The reality is there is no 'one size fits all'.

There are a number of guiding principles that you can use to help you pick a strategy.

In this video and article we are going to look at the following:

• Explain the different types of carbohydrates in sports products

• Show what the science and research says about using carbohydrates

• Give some practical guidelines on how to fuel

During exercise we use fat and carbohydrates as sources of energy.

Depending on exercise intensity we utilise our fat and carbohydrate stores at different rates.

During long slow steady swims, cycles and runs we burn fat with a little carbohydrate.

For higher intensity work we will use more carbohydrate as fuel. The graph below shows this relationship. Here we see the impact of fuel utilisation as power output

increases.