I need to figure out how many calories per hour I need to be eating. Obviously it will change for different riding conditions, but it'd be nice to at least have a rough guess. Are there any online calculators that are good?
This is your answer. You may be burning 800+ calories/hour but your stomach could never process that much every hour. On average you can process anywhere from 200-300 calories per hour. Trying to ingest more can lead to bloating, nausea, gas, cramps, and reduced performance.
On average you can process anywhere from 200-300 calories per hour. Trying to ingest more can lead to bloating, nausea, gas, cramps, and reduced performance.
Yeah, you just need to experiment by going on hard training rides. I'm about 5' 10" 165lbs and around 200 calories per hour seems to work well for me during a 6 hour ride.
I'm able to do over 500 calories an hour for 4-6 hour races/rides, however it took me months of trial and error to figure out my tolerance. Choose your sources wisely and try nothing new on race day. Even tho I can do 500 some races, other times 400 seems like a struggle to take in.
This is your answer. You may be burning 800+ calories/hour but your stomach could never process that much every hour. On average you can process anywhere from 200-300 calories per hour. Trying to ingest more can lead to bloating, nausea, gas, cramps, and reduced performance.
it gets even more complicated. first you have to find out if you are fast or slow metabolism type.
if slow, then you are in luck, but will most likely not be a fast racer and put on weight very easily. you can digest foods and recover to keep riding or keep cramps at bay by just eating/drinking
if fast then you will likely lead the pack until your body runs out of nutrition, then you will be passed out on the side of the trail sleeping. you need to max eat/drink constantly and conserve high output to when necessary. staying ahead of nutrition is as important as breathing. by the time you cramp you have already boinked and will take three days to recover.
try hammer nutrition site. they have a lot of free info on how the body absorbs and recovers with food.
I'm been able to do over 500 calories an hour for 4-6 hour races/rides, however it took me months of trial and error to figure out my tolerance. Choose your sources wisely and try nothing new on race day. Even tho I can do 500 some races, other times 400 seems like a struggle to take in.
This was for the Breck 68 (6:18 time for me) I was 3rd overall and 2nd in my age group the bottles each had 3.5 scoops of orange accellerade, I didn't eat the bar.
it sounds cliche but you have to listen to your body and go with gut instinct. honey is great for me in addition to gels for raw calories and i think it tastes better.
My rules:
If you EVER feel like you can't think drink water
if you get cramps: slam water/accellerade wait...if no response do a gel
Also, I literally drink as much water as I can its hard for me to over due it...I pretty much water until i get vurps
This was for the Breck 68 (6:18 time for me) I was 3rd overall and 2nd in my age group the bottles each had 3.5 scoops of orange accellerade, I didn't eat the bar.
Nice stash! With all the boutique & custom stuff out there, it's easy to overlook good old Powerbar. After using Hammer and Clif stuff for the past few years, I tried my first Powergel the other day. (They were on sale at the grocery store.) Great stuff. It's more liquid than Hammer or Clif, thus it slides down much easier for me.
Never tried Accelerade either.
Curiously, what is in the two gel flasks?
To the OP: The moral of the story is trial & error. What works for some people could be an absolute disaster for others. Example: I cannot ride for 45 minutes using Hammer Perpetuem. It gies me what I have dubbed the "insta-bonk". I use other Hammer stuff and love it. I ride with a guy that swears by Perp and rides with it a lot. Loves the stuff.
The error part of the trial & error process is not too fun, but in time you develop what works and the body get used to seeing certain things. Once you find something that works, stay with it.
Nice stash! With all the boutique & custom stuff out there, it's easy to overlook good old Powerbar. After using Hammer and Clif stuff for the past few years, I tried my first Powergel the other day. (They were on sale at the grocery store.) Great stuff. It's more liquid than Hammer or Clif, thus it slides down much easier for me.
Never tried Accelerade either.
Curiously, what is in the two gel flasks?
To the OP: The moral of the story is trial & error. What works for some people could be an absolute disaster for others. Example: I cannot ride for 45 minutes using Hammer Perpetuem. It gies me what I have dubbed the "insta-bonk". I use other Hammer stuff and love it. I ride with a guy that swears by Perp and rides with it a lot. Loves the stuff.
The error part of the trial & error process is not too fun, but in time you develop what works and the body get used to seeing certain things. Once you find something that works, stay with it.
Very cool. I love honey and it may be nice to add something more "real" to the mix. Sometimes I grow tired of all the engineered foods. I might give the honey a try. Plus, I have a neighbor who is a beekeeper. Talk about LOCAL honey! (Best stuff I ever tasted too.)
The error part of the trial & error process is not too fun, but in time you develop what works and the body get used to seeing certain things. Once you find something that works, stay with it.
I really need to stress the error part of things. I was on a training road ride early this year (and targeting a specific wattage) and blacked out literally lights out, I awoke somehow riding through a field after being jarred around by the ruts and bumps.
If I hadn't luckily went right I may have swerved into oncoming traffic and.....well I don't wanna think about it.
I really need to stress the error part of things. I was on a training road ride early this year (and targeting a specific wattage) and blacked out literally lights out, I awoke somehow riding through a field after being jarred around by the ruts and bumps.
If I hadn't luckily went right I may have swerved into oncoming traffic and.....well I don't wanna think about it.
Be careful. This sounds really dangerous! You were indeed lucky.
I've been so dehydrated that I needed 3 bags of IV fluid at the end of the ride, but that's about it. Lesson learned.
As endurance athletes, I think we all have the tendency to keep pushing ourselves to get better. We probably do this with our nutrition as well. If we have a routine that seems to work well, we can use that as a safe zone from which we can test out other things to see if we can find something that works better for us. Does it ever end?!
Go to infinit nutrition and they have a calculator you can use for their products. Mine showed to be 290 per hour.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mountain Bike Reviews Forum
15.4M posts
515.2K members
Since 1990
A forum community dedicated to Mountain Bike owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about bike parts, components, deals, performance, modifications, classifieds, trails, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!