Cycling is a sport that has traditionally used a great amount of sports supplements due to the huge physical demands of this discipline.
Nevertheless, many times this supplementation is done in an inefficient way, using unnecessary supplements that could be avoided with a proper nutrition and specially since many supplements don’t have scientific evidence to support their usefulness and thus become a waste of money for the consumer.
On the other hand, you also have to consider which is the cycling discipline practiced (road, mountain biking, gravel, etc.), and which is the goal of taking supplements; optimise workouts, improving recovery or enhancing racing performance.
This article recommends the ideal supplements for cyclists, safe, effective and legal, with a small user guide to compete, train or recover.
Which kind of supplements are the best for cycling workouts?
Within the great amount of supplements that can be used to support cycling workouts, some such as carbohydrate supplements(bars, gels, sports drinks), can be used nearly everyday, and others such as caffeine, pre workouts or nitrates, will be used for some specific quality workouts which will also be interesting for racing.
Hence and coming into details, the recommended supplements for cycling workouts are:
1. Carbohydrates
Essential for long duration or mid and high intensity workouts. The recommended guidelines are 30-60-90 grams of carbohydrates per hour for low-moderate-high intensity workouts respectively, and as long as the cyclist is able to tolerate these quantities.
To cover this carbohydrate requests, energy bars, gels or sports drinks can be taken, which will also promote the cyclist’s hydration. Choosing one product or another, will depend on the cyclist’s preferences and weather conditions, being recommendable to intake gels and bars during winter and sports drink in summer, to avoid dehydration.
2. Salts
To avoid cramps and problems associated with dehydration, it’s recommendable to take salts, specially sodium, potassium and magnesium. This can be done in three different ways; with salt capsules, sports drink (which also contains carbohydrates), or drinks enriched with salts, such as Hydrazero.
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3. Protein
A cyclist, as any other athlete, must consume protein regularly to favour his/her recovery.It’s therefore recommendable intaking whey protein at breakfast or before nighttime. When the immune system might be affected, for example during winter, racing periods or high impact training blocks, it’s recommendable to take probiotics and/or products that enhance the immune system. Thus, K-Weeks Immune can be a product that may be able to carry out this double function, stimulate the immune system and provide protein.
4. BCAAs
Branched chain amino acids, also known as BCAA, can be very useful for fasted or low availability carbohydrate workouts, aiming to avoid protein catabolism and delaying central fatigue.
5. Beta alanina
To improve the cyclist’s anaerobic metabolism (sprints, accelerations, etc.), beta alanine helps to buffer lactic acid produced by the cyclist, and hence allow a greater use of this energy path. To benefit from this, it’s necessary to continuously intake 0,05 g/kg body weight per day, during 8-12 weeks. If it causes itching, this dose can be split into 3-4 daily intakes.
6. Creatina
This excellent supplement is also recommended for cyclists, such as we explained in another article. The recommended intake would be 3-5 mg /kg body weight per day.
On the other hand, in case of deficit and under medical or an expert’s supervision, there are two very important supplements for cyclists and that quite frequently appear to lack; iron and vitamin D.
Pre-race sport supplements for cyclists
Within this part, a series of useful, effective and safe supplements are recommended before racing, or prior to intense or important workouts. These are:
Pre workout
Depending on its composition, it helps improve performance and optimise the training session. All information concerning this product is fully detailed here.
Nitrates
their main function is to act as a vasodilator, allowing a greater oxygen contribution to the muscle and improving the cyclist’s effort economy. In order to be effective, 400-800 mg of nitrates must be taken during 5-7 days, around 90-120 minutes before the workout or competition.
Supplements for cyclists during racing
In this case, the supplements used by cyclist during the race are discussed, some of them already mentioned before. Undoubtedly the most important and those that will have the greatest impact on performance are carbohydrates and fluid intake.
The recommended carbohydrate intake while racing ranges from 60-90 grams per hour to 120 g/h for cyclists with a well trained and highly tolerant digestive system. Gels or drinks with high carbohydrate content help to intake large amounts of carbohydrates, especially when it’s hard to take the hands off the handlebar (mountain biking), to constantly eat and drink.
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The other star supplement for racing (or intense/important workouts), is caffeine. The recommended intake and depending on each individual’s tolerance, ranges from 3 to 5 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight, being suitable to always start with low doses.
Caffeine reaches its blood stream peak 30-45 minutes after its intake and lasts another 45 minutes. This information is key to determine the intake timing or when to take another dose. Caffeine can be found in capsules or in some gels/chews that contain carbohydrates, or even in pre-workouts.
Supplements to improve cyclists’ recovery after racing or training
Lastly and to favour recovery after workouts or stage races, cyclists must pay attention to replenish liquids (150-200% of weight lost), and carbohydrates.
“Recovery drinks” are quite recommendable for recovery since they provide carbohydrates and proteins, besides being a product easy to prepare, transport and to take quickly after a workout/race, when having a meal is not feasible.
RECOVERY DRINK - Recuperador Muscular Grass Fed - Monodosis 50g
Recovery Drink es un complemento alimenticio a base de proteína, hidratos de carbono, creatina, lino dorado, triglicéridos de cadena media (MCT) y L-arginina para tomar después de un entrenamiento o un esfuerzo, ya que aporta más de un 40% de proteína de alta calidad que proviene del concentrado de proteína de suero de leche GRASS FED (vacas alimentadas de pasto sin el uso de antibióticos ni hormonas de crecimiento), no contiene gluten y tiene menos de 2g de azúcar por toma para no interferir en la asimilación de nutrientes.
Antioxidant supplementation might also be recommendable during racing periods, although it’s preferable to get them through natural foods such as red berries, fruits and vegetables.
Thus, this article shows a wide summary of the best supplements for cyclists, in which each athlete according to the discipline practiced and the training performed, will be able to choose between them, being sure they are effective, save and efficient
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