Professionals often tend to do things differently to amateurs or beginners. Professionals take everything to the limit and then some. Their diets also vary greatly to those of ordinary people, especially the people who love junk food and other food which is low in any sort of actual nutrients. In order to maintain a healthy body and the highest level of performance, professional cyclists need to eat differently. Here is what you can do to improve your diet and eat like a professional.
Breakfast – The Most Important Meal of the Day
You slept for more than 8 hours, or sometimes less, but most likely, you had your last meal at least 2 hours before bed. That can be anywhere from 10 hours to even 12 hours passing until your next meal.
Your body repairs itself over night with the nutrients you supplied it with during the day. You need to charge your body once you wake up, as the glucose levels are probably relatively low unless you did carb loading and you probably didn’t since you are most likely not racing.
It is worth noting that your breakfast should be smaller in calories if you plan to go for a ride/workout in the morning. What this means is that a single banana or gel can help you get through the morning. You could also eat a smoothie, especially if you prepared one the night before.
If you don’t have a ride scheduled so early, anything from scrambled eggs to tomatoes, bananas, seeds, berries and even toast can be a good breakfast. The idea is to get enough carbs in your body to prepare for the day and eventual ride.
Lunch – After Your Ride
Riding usually takes a lot of effort and burns through our calories like a hot knife through butter. With that in mind, you need to replenish your supplies after a workout. But, replenishing in this case means eating enough protein, anywhere between 20 and 40 grams, depending on your body size, as well as plenty of carbs, once more. You could eat anything from a chicken breast, tuna or anything with peanut butter, with potatoes, rice, chia seeds or any other source of carbs, to replenish your supply.
Dinner – Proteins and Carbs (again)
Dinner should be very similar to lunch, in the sense that you need enough healthy proteins and carbs to give your body enough nutrients to do its repairs during the night. People add BCAA supplements or glutamine to aid recovery. Protein supplements are also helpful, but these have been proven to help cyclists repair their muscles the fastest.
If you want to become better in cycling, this is a great way to start, by improving your diet.