Before, during and after: building and checking a session’s fueling plan
Learn to distinguish carbohydrate, fluid and sodium intake, check labels and turn a fueling strategy into a workable plan.
A strategy may seem complete because it includes gel, drink and capsules. But these items only form a plan when we know what they deliver, how much will be consumed and under what conditions this will happen.
Chapter 4 connects the before, during and after. Its teaching is to treat fueling as a sequence of tasks with different objectives, rather than repeating the same product in all situations.
Before: come fed without creating a digestive problem
The author relates the size and composition of the meal to the time available. The longer the distance to the session, the more space there is for a full meal. Very close to race start, quantity and tolerance gain weight.
This explains why lunch that works on a normal day can be inappropriate immediately before running. Fiber, fat, volume, food and nervousness participate in the experience.
The goal is not to declare these components bad. It is to choose something compatible with the window and test the combination before the competition.
Editorial application: If the exit will be too early, decide the night before what is available and how it will be consumed. Depending on preparing a complex meal a few minutes before increases the chance of leaving without what was planned.
Glycemic index does not choose the meal alone
The chapter explains glycemic index and load, distinguishing response speed and amount of carbohydrates. A classification does not automatically transform a food into better for any situation.
Meals mix components, and cooking preparation, portion size and tolerance interfere. The choice also needs to fit into logistics.
The teaching is to look at the real meal. A number on isolated food does not describe all that will happen during the session.
During: start with three calculations
Organize carbohydrates in grams, liquids in milliliters and sodium in milligrams. They relate, but one goal does not automatically determine the others.
A sugar-free electrolyte drink can deliver sodium and liquid without relevant fuel. A gel can add carbohydrates with low sodium. The isotonic word does not inform, by itself, what a certain portion will provide.
Use the product numbers effectively prepared and consumed. The strategy depends on the sum, not the category name.
Complete example: what is there in this training time?
Consider a hypothetical editorial example:
| Item consumed in one hour | Carbohydrates | Liquid | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|
| A prepared bottle | 30 g | 500 mL | 300 mg |
| A gel | 25 g | Not accounted for in the example | 50 mg |
| Total recorded | 55 g | 500 mL | 350 mg |
These values are invented to teach the calculation, not a consumer recommendation. Brands and portions differ.
If the athlete drinks only half of the bottle, the total changes to 40 g of carbohydrates and 200 mg of sodium, in addition to 250 mL of the drink. The package taken does not equal the portion ingested.
Concentration: why doubling the powder changes the drink
Carbohydrate concentration can be expressed in grams per 100 mL. A bottle containing 30 g in 500 mL has a concentration of 6%: 30 ÷ 500 × 100.
If the same bottle receives 60 g, the concentration passes to 12%. It is not the same drink with a small reinforcement; its composition has changed a lot.
The current reference of AIS describes commercial beverages with varying concentrations and recommends testing tolerance to more concentrated formulas. The existence of a concentrated product does not allow any mixture to be improvised and the same result assumed.
The solution may involve separating part of the fuel from the water, as defined and practiced.
How much carbohydrate? Contextualize the duration
Editorial update: the AIS presents 30–60 g/h for endurance exercises from 1 to 2.5 hours and up to 90 g/h at events above approximately 2.5–3 hours, with appropriate carbohydrates mixtures and prior practice.
They are references to organize decisions, not mandatory goals for all readers. Intensity, tolerance and conditions of the event modify the strategy. A high intake should not debut on the day of competition.
The total quantity needs to be distributed in viable consumption opportunities.
Hydration: planning is not forcing yourself to drink everything
The work contains orientations of fixed schedules and warnings against depending on the thirst that need a later context.
Editorial update: the consensus of hyponatremia of 2015 highlights excessive fluid intake and recommends thirst as important protection against drinking beyond the needs. Sodium does not make a persistent excess of water or sports drink safe.
A schedule may help not to forget access to drinks, but should not become an obligation to terminate volumes indifferent to the conditions and signs of the body.
Then: refuel, repair and reorganize
The post-training needs to offer carbohydrates to recompose reserves, protein for repair processes and liquids and electrolytes as needed. Practical priority depends on how long there is until the next effort.
When another session is near, delaying all food may leave little time to recover. If there will be a full meal then it can fulfill an important part of the task.
It is not necessary to reduce recovery to a product or the idea that everything was lost after a few minutes. The book emphasizes the moment; the application should continue considering the whole of the day.
Test the complete system
In an appropriate session, register product, portion, time, weather, pace and tolerance. If something fails, look for the variable that has changed instead of concluding that all gels or drinks are inadequate.
At the end, the criterion is simple: has the plan been executed? If not, why? Learning to respond to this transforms food into a training skill.
Primary reference: EBERLE, Suzanne Girard. Endurance Sports Nutrition. 2nd ed. Human Kinetics, 2007. Cap. 4, “Timing Fuel and Fluids for Optimal Results”. Explanatory summary in our own words. Numerical examples and situations identified as editorials are from Enduran-se.
Sources for editorial updates:
- Australian Institute of Sport — composition of sports drinks.
- Australian Institute of Sport — carbohydrates during exercise.
- International Consensus on Exercise-associated Hyponatremia, 2015.
- Sports Dietitians Australia — Nutritional Recovery.
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