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Surely there is enough to think about, without having to
concern ourselves with food or drink. There`s the kayak to
prepare, jackets, spraydeck, helmet, paddle,ect, ect, Now you
want me to think about what I eat or drink! I`m no Steve Gurney
you know.
What ever level of paddler
you are, if you are on the water for over forty-five minutes you
should consider the needs of your body.
The fuel tanks of most of us will only keep our muscles working
efficiently for about forty-five minutes, unless we have taken
special care to "top the tanks up". After that time
the way the body gets its fuel changes, with some significant
negative effects.
The most important fuel for the working muscle is
carbohydrate, which is stored in the muscle as Glycogen. By
using a modified diet called Carboloading, it is possible to
increase the glycogen storage, with the total stores being
enough to fuel muscles for between forty-five minutes (without
carboloading) and nintey minutes ( with carboloading) of
reasonable intensity exercise.
Now while the muscles are burning these carbs, they also
churn through some fat and some protiens. This has led many to
reason that if we don`t have enough carbs for fuel, we will chew
through even more of our vast fat stores. Unfortunately this is
not the case. Muscles can only burn fat efficiently in the
presence of carbs, and if there aren`t enough carbs available,
the energy shortfall is made up by chomping into muscle protein.
The result being sore fatigued muscles for several days after
the exercise.
Something even more unpleseant is going on as well.
Although the muscles keep paddleing away eating up their own
tissue, the poor old brain is missing out,as its only food is
carbohydrate. Therefore, when the energy stores run low, the
brain literally runs out of fuel, leading to mental fatigue,
poor co-ordination, reduced performance and slower responses.
This can have nasty effects when kayaking in tricky waters,
negotiating rapids ect. Not recommended. So what do we do about
this? It`s not really very difficult.
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1 |
Never go kayaking on an empty
stomach. Always have a carbohydrate snack, and drink,
during the hour before a paddle session. This could be a
light cereal, sandwich, banna, a sports bar ( eg Edgebar
), or energy sachet ( eg Leppin, Ultragel ). |
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2 |
If
you are likley to be paddling for over forty-five
minutes you should carry adequate fluid to maintain
hydration ( usually about 500 ml per hour) and enough
foods to provide the carbs your muscles and
brain will need. For most people the carbo needs
are likely to be around 50g per hour, with body fats
providing the remainder of your energy.These carbo needs
can be met by a mix of sports drink and foods of gels.
Cabohydrates
Content
| XLR8
Sports Drink |
31g/500ml |
| Bananas |
20g
approx |
| Edgebar |
40g |
| Ultragel
(inc MTCs) |
25g |
| Leppins |
25g |
For
exercise over nintey minutes, keeping up this energy
intake is essential.
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3 |
After
exercise of over one hour, energy stores are depleted
and muscle damage has occured. As such it is desirable
to use a recovery formula containing carbs (to replenish
glycogen) and protein (to repair muscle damage), which
will help to minimise fatigue and muscle fade. This
should be consumed as soon as possible after completing
the exercise. After very long paddles (or other
excersise) follow the recovery formula up with continued
drinking of non alcoholic fluids and eating carbo foods
for up to four hours.
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If all this seems a bit much, remember
the objectives of your kayaking - to have fun, improve your
fitness, and stay dry. A little concern for your energy levels
will greatly improve your chances of meeting these objectives.
In racing, keeping up the fluids and energy caneasily improve
your speed by ten to twenty percent. Even a new boat won`t do
that!
Bryan Hanafin
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