Many triathletes struggle to balance time-consuming training schedules with demanding careers and family responsibilities. Taking in sufficient calories to meet the energy demands of training can be difficult. Eating regular meals is more often a luxury than a norm. Too frequently, it's grabbing what you can and eating and drinking on the go. This is where having well-designed sports nutrition products at the ready can make a huge difference, in both the quality of your training and your performance on course.
Your sports nutrition arsenal can include energy bars, sports drinks, energy gels, energy chews and recovery products. Each type of product can play multiple roles, but each one generally has a primary usage:
Energy bars should be high in carbs, with some protein, and not too much fat or fiber to slow you down. Most triathletes use bars for fueling before, between, and after training sessions or events, and during the cycling leg of a competition or workout. Bars are compact, individually wrapped, and easy to pack in a gym bag, bento box, or your jersey. Keep plenty on hand.
Sports drinks can be consumed before, during, and after training or competitions, but their primary usage is during exercise. Make sure the beverage you choose has a 2:1 ratio of glucose to fructose for optimal fuel delivery to working muscles, as well as sodium to help replace what you lose in sweat. For endurance exercise, and any exercise in the heat, a sports drink is a far better option than plain water. You can also use a sports drink to hydrate and fuel before exercise, and as a fluid and electrolyte source after exercise. When it comes to sports drinks, cool is more palatable and more quickly absorbed than beverages at room temperature. So chill if you can.
A well-designed
energy gel can deliver the carbs and sodium of a sports drink. Your job is to supply the water. Here again, make sure the gel you choose provides a 2:1 ratio of glucose to fructose for enhanced energy delivery. Use the energy gel-water combination during exercise as a substitute for your sports drink when you feel the need for a little variety. Energy gels are also a good way to get a caffeine boost during an event. Just make sure that you drink a few sips of water along with it. Gels can also be used as a carb snack before and between exercise sessions if you are on the go and have limited access to other foods.
Recovery products are available in the forms of beverages and bars. The key to their use is to consume one as soon as possible after exercise to get started on recovery. This is especially important if you have two workouts in one day or if you will be training again in less than 24 hours. Recovery requires carbs, protein, fluids, and sodium. A good recovery beverage will provide all of these. If you eat a recovery bar, be sure to pair it with fluids. Recovery products can help you start recovering faster, but they aren't designed to complete the job. Full recovery requires that you continue to consume the nutrients your body needs to reap the benefits of your training.
An Ironman triathlon is a formidable challenge that demands that you be at your best. A strategic approach to sports nutrition can be the difference in making you a better triathlete. Make that difference with PowerBar
® sports nutrition products!
Energy bars and energy bites
PowerBar® Performance Energy bars and
PowerBar® Energy Bites are a great source of carbohydrates, with just enough protein. PowerBar Energy bites are small bite size pieces, so you can take one bite at a time for personalized fueling, and re-seal the bag for later use. Both products are perfect as part of a pre-race meal or snack, during the biking leg of a triathlon, or as a between-workout source of extra carbohydrates and protein. For those who consume bars during exercise,
PowerBar® Performance Energy bars and
PowerBar® Energy Bites feature C2MAX, the research-based 2:1 ratio of glucose to fructose, which increases the rate at which ingested carbohydrates can be burned as muscle fuel compared to glucose alone.
Sports drinks
Ironman PERFORM™ sports drink feature C2MAX, the research-based 2:1 ratio of glucose to fructose. In addition, sodium in the beverage helps to replace some of the sodium lost through sweating, and this helps maintain the sodium-fluid balance in your bloodstream.
Energy gels
Each
PowerBar® Energy Gel provides the carbohydrates (in the form of C2MAX) and sodium of a sports drink. Your job is to provide the fluid. These gels, when taken with water, can be used as an alternative to a sports drink during exercise. PowerBar Gel varieties come with or without caffeine. So, when you're feeling like you need an extra kick on course, a
PowerBar® Energy Gel can be exactly what you need.
Enegy chews
PowerBar® Energy Blasts gel filled chews are great-tasting, gel-filled energy chews that contain the optimized carb blend of C2MAX. These chews come in an easy-open, resealable pouch of nonstick, bite-sized pieces. Six pieces would be the same carb content as one
PowerBar® Energy Gel packet.
Recovery beverages and bars
Ironman RESTORE™ sports drink mixes feature (per 16 fl. oz.): 40 grams of carbohydrates for rapid glycogen restoration, 6 grams of protein to help with muscle tissue repair and synthesis, and 500 mg of sodium. It comes in a powder that can be easily mixed with water before or after your workouts. Choose this refreshing beverage when you want to get the jump on rehydration and recovery after or between training sessions, and whenever you want something thirst-quenching that you can easily chug.
PowerBar® Recovery bars feature (per bar): 30 grams of carbohydrates to help replenish glycogen stores, 12 grams of protein to help support muscle tissue repair and building, 9 to 10 grams of a lipid blend to help with muscle lipid reloading, and 180 mg of sodium. Compact and easily transportable, these delicious bars are for you, when you want something solid and rewarding after training or a competition.
About PowerBar Expert Panel
Comprised of leading sports dietitians, researchers, trainers, and sports medicine practitioners, The
Panel advises PowerBar on the development of educational programs and materials that relate to sports nutrition and training. They also provide expert perspectives during the Professional Athlete Panels at sport events throughout the country. All of our experts share a passion for sports nutrition and a commitment to helping athletes perform at their best through improved nutrition and hydration.
Topics:
Pre-Workout, Hydration, C2MAX, Recovery, Energy, Caffeine, Carbohydrates, Endurance, Nutrition, Nutrition advice, Performance, PowerBar, PowerBar products, Sports nutrition, Training, Training advice
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