32GI

[MDW]

I got some in December and tried it in training and it worked well. So I decided to try race with it in the Fast One. Drank one serving 30 minutes before and took one bottle of 32Gi and one of water. Did my normal pre-race food and drink as I have done in the past. Also took 4 gels with. Only difference to what I have done in the past was that I have 32Gi in my race bottle and took the pre-event serving. I struggled in the last part of the Fast One. The gels just about got me to the finish. For the Emperors Palace race I went back to the drink I have always used and felt strong throughout the whole race. So 32Gi just doesn't work for me in races. I have not studied nutrition or so but the possible reason that I found for it not working in a race is that in a race I need energy faster than 32Gi (being a slower sustained release of energy from what I hear) can provide. For the short durations of races at high intensities I need energy and I need it instantly, not over a long period of time. In training the intensity is lower so 32Gi can release energy at about the rate I use it but in a race I use energy faster than 32Gi can provide it.

On a recent long training ride of 5:42 I used 3212 Calories (according to my Garmin), which is about 9.39 Calories a minute.

In the Emperors race I did 2:29 and I used 1932 Calories, which is 12.97 Calories a minute.

Can 32Gi provide that extra energy quick enough in a race? For me, no. So I will stick with what I used in the past and what works.

Hi Andy,

 

I wanted to respond to this as you make some valid points and I need to point out to the people on this forum how, why and when with regards to nutrition.

As you point out when racing the fast one, probably a 2.5hour race or so, I won category there 4 years back so know it well :-) its fast pace especially in the last 45 minutes.

OK so firstly, remember the energy drink is there to assist in glycogen sparing, its not rocket fuel. Thats what all energy drinks really try and achieve, and of course provide the electrolytes to keep u hydrated.

The way 32Gi works is that it allows lipolysis to take place due to the low insulin spike in other words using your fat stores to provide fuel to the muscles, its a very efficient way of doing it, and its far more balanced no roller coaster riding on ups and downs with blood glucose issues. However when performing at a very high intensity, lipolysis cannot really assist because it takes too long to process fat to fuel when u need it quickly and in this situation you would really need immediate feed which is ATP which comes from the glycogen stores, assuming you have preserved them and they are topped up. The thing is that in order to keep your mind and body on track and focussed, you will have to pump in something high GI or something that releases glucose quickly into the blood stream in order to keep you on your toes and not let your body shut down. I need to emphasize that when I race at high intensities, 32Gi will be my energy level stabilizer, my fuel in my bottle, BUT, of course I take in additional calories, under race conditions your body requires more. My calories come in the form of 32Gi chews, I find it keeps me very stable and provides sufficient glucose feed to the muscles when the going gets tough. I tend to eat a packet up within 60-80minutes, in bits, but others like it whole. The other thing important to note is you can take 32Gi as your drink and eat high GI or take in other products with it, what will happen is the high GI product will spike you but 32Gi will slower down the drop and taper off nicely, again its there to keep your energy levels balanced and stable.

During training sessions as you correctly mentioned its a phenomenal drink to train on as it will allow you to maintain a decent fat burn rate and ensure you are stable throughout, especially when you are riding within your maximum threshold and not exceeding it. Its a better option when training as you wont gain unnecessary weight with excessive sugar product which a lot of cyclists tend to over indulge in without reason.

 

So your experience is really spot on and not unique, and so I am just clarifying the science behind what you are experiencing. I tell my athletes, keep the sugar for the kick to the finish or fuel at a rate which is optimum to spare the glycogen correctly.

 

I did a 70.3 two weeks ago overseas, really tough race, winning time is usually around the 4h50 mark depending on wind speed, but its a really tough ride, the 90km cycle is barely finished under 3 hours even by some of the worlds top triathletes. I placed 15th overall and 5th in age cat (40-44), in a really strong field, but the thing I most want to share is my nutrition, for a 5h20 race.

Carbo Load - 2 days before 2 bottles a day

Pre-Race Meal - 2 thick slices of rye seed loaf with jam and a few sips on some 32Gi concentrate

Pre-Swim - just walking transition with a 32Gi bottle, I dont like too much liquid before the event so maybe 100ml's at the most -

Bike Leg - 2 x 750ml's of 32Gi due to cold weather conditions I put a concentrate of 1.5servings into the bottles as I knew I would be drinking less and did not want to lose the carb factor, remember hydration and energy r separate, a lot of people still dont understand that. Its the 50grams u need in 2 hours, not the 500-750mls.

I also took 3 packets of chews, I pre-opened them and shoved them in a line in my bike bag

My nutrition for the bike leg of 3H20 of hard hard riding was 1 litre of liquid most likely 3 servings of 32Gi in there. 2.5 packets of 32Gi chews. I ate 1 block every 20 minutes, as opposed to the entire packet.

In run transition, a sip of 32Gi ready in a bottle, and then only water to the finish. My energy levels felt so good going onto the run, I felt really topped up, due to the slid bike feed. I need to mention I broke my personal best on the 21km run in a 70.3, doing it in 81minutes.

All I am trying to indicate is that nutrition needs to be planned, stuck to and it will work wonders.

 

What you wrote above is 1000% spot on, and I agree when racing under those conditions, you need to know what to feed. Generally, try utilize your fat stores as much as possible, then switch to fast feed when the going gets tough :-)

 

Appreciate your honest feedback Andy

 

all the best

M

[Purnjap]

Hi Andy,

 

I wanted to respond to this as you make some valid points and I need to point out to the people on this forum how, why and when with regards to nutrition.

As you point out when racing the fast one, probably a 2.5hour race or so, I won category there 4 years back so know it well :-) its fast pace especially in the last 45 minutes.

OK so firstly, remember the energy drink is there to assist in glycogen sparing, its not rocket fuel. Thats what all energy drinks really try and achieve, and of course provide the electrolytes to keep u hydrated.

The way 32Gi works is that it allows lipolysis to take place due to the low insulin spike in other words using your fat stores to provide fuel to the muscles, its a very efficient way of doing it, and its far more balanced no roller coaster riding on ups and downs with blood glucose issues. However when performing at a very high intensity, lipolysis cannot really assist because it takes too long to process fat to fuel when u need it quickly and in this situation you would really need immediate feed which is ATP which comes from the glycogen stores, assuming you have preserved them and they are topped up. The thing is that in order to keep your mind and body on track and focussed, you will have to pump in something high GI or something that releases glucose quickly into the blood stream in order to keep you on your toes and not let your body shut down. I need to emphasize that when I race at high intensities, 32Gi will be my energy level stabilizer, my fuel in my bottle, BUT, of course I take in additional calories, under race conditions your body requires more. My calories come in the form of 32Gi chews, I find it keeps me very stable and provides sufficient glucose feed to the muscles when the going gets tough. I tend to eat a packet up within 60-80minutes, in bits, but others like it whole. The other thing important to note is you can take 32Gi as your drink and eat high GI or take in other products with it, what will happen is the high GI product will spike you but 32Gi will slower down the drop and taper off nicely, again its there to keep your energy levels balanced and stable.

During training sessions as you correctly mentioned its a phenomenal drink to train on as it will allow you to maintain a decent fat burn rate and ensure you are stable throughout, especially when you are riding within your maximum threshold and not exceeding it. Its a better option when training as you wont gain unnecessary weight with excessive sugar product which a lot of cyclists tend to over indulge in without reason.

 

So your experience is really spot on and not unique, and so I am just clarifying the science behind what you are experiencing. I tell my athletes, keep the sugar for the kick to the finish or fuel at a rate which is optimum to spare the glycogen correctly.

 

I did a 70.3 two weeks ago overseas, really tough race, winning time is usually around the 4h50 mark depending on wind speed, but its a really tough ride, the 90km cycle is barely finished under 3 hours even by some of the worlds top triathletes. I placed 15th overall and 5th in age cat (40-44), in a really strong field, but the thing I most want to share is my nutrition, for a 5h20 race.

Carbo Load - 2 days before 2 bottles a day

Pre-Race Meal - 2 thick slices of rye seed loaf with jam and a few sips on some 32Gi concentrate

Pre-Swim - just walking transition with a 32Gi bottle, I dont like too much liquid before the event so maybe 100ml's at the most -

Bike Leg - 2 x 750ml's of 32Gi due to cold weather conditions I put a concentrate of 1.5servings into the bottles as I knew I would be drinking less and did not want to lose the carb factor, remember hydration and energy r separate, a lot of people still dont understand that. Its the 50grams u need in 2 hours, not the 500-750mls.

I also took 3 packets of chews, I pre-opened them and shoved them in a line in my bike bag

My nutrition for the bike leg of 3H20 of hard hard riding was 1 litre of liquid most likely 3 servings of 32Gi in there. 2.5 packets of 32Gi chews. I ate 1 block every 20 minutes, as opposed to the entire packet.

In run transition, a sip of 32Gi ready in a bottle, and then only water to the finish. My energy levels felt so good going onto the run, I felt really topped up, due to the slid bike feed. I need to mention I broke my personal best on the 21km run in a 70.3, doing it in 81minutes.

All I am trying to indicate is that nutrition needs to be planned, stuck to and it will work wonders.

 

What you wrote above is 1000% spot on, and I agree when racing under those conditions, you need to know what to feed. Generally, try utilize your fat stores as much as possible, then switch to fast feed when the going gets tough :-)

 

Appreciate your honest feedback Andy

 

all the best

M

Jislaaik. Posts like these make the hub worthwhile, thanks

[benadeja]

Hi MDW ,

 

I also use the product and really like it I have noticed on the 70km mark I usually start losing focus and start cramping. I am on a strict low sugar diet but usually on the day before the race I eat high sugary foods and I suspect this is my downfall during the races. As a pre-race meal I eat JUNGLE ENERGY CRUNCH , which is a low gi cereal and works pretty good for me. What would you recommend as a low-gi meal the night or afternoon before the event that would work well with 32GI , is pasta sufficient or what would you recommend I have ?

 

Oh and the morning of the race I eat JUNGLE ENERGY CRUNCH , with a glass concentrate of 32GI (don't want to consume too much liquids before the start) ,

then during the race I have a bottle of water for the 1st half then a bottle of 32 gi for the second half of the race.

 

What would you recommend ?

 

Looking forward to your response.

 

Thanks.

[wonduhboy]

Couldn't find anything about this before:

 

Would there be any benefit/harm in adding some glutamine to 32gi?

[Lolly27]

Couldnt agree more 32gi is the shizz nizz.... the rasberry juice and the gel sweets.... can survive for hours on the stuff!!!

['Dale]

Agreed, Purnjap!

 

MDW, thanx for your open feedback.

Very useful.

 

Very few marketeers are athletes as well.

Makes for awesome credibility.

[AndreZA]

MDW, I would like to say that I do not like the unflavoured version. It tastes like it was diluted 1000:1. Will stick with the orange thank you.

[MDW]

Hi MDW ,

 

I also use the product and really like it I have noticed on the 70km mark I usually start losing focus and start cramping. I am on a strict low sugar diet but usually on the day before the race I eat high sugary foods and I suspect this is my downfall during the races. As a pre-race meal I eat JUNGLE ENERGY CRUNCH , which is a low gi cereal and works pretty good for me. What would you recommend as a low-gi meal the night or afternoon before the event that would work well with 32GI , is pasta sufficient or what would you recommend I have ?

 

Oh and the morning of the race I eat JUNGLE ENERGY CRUNCH , with a glass concentrate of 32GI (don't want to consume too much liquids before the start) ,

then during the race I have a bottle of water for the 1st half then a bottle of 32 gi for the second half of the race.

 

What would you recommend ?

 

Looking forward to your response.

 

Thanks.

 

Hi Benedeja

 

I need to first stress that Jungle energy crunch I would not really recommend as pre-race, its just not a really sustainable meal to load the stores. I would rather go with one of the following:

 

Low GI toast (seedloaf etc) with diabetic jam (my preference), peanut butter, honey, some of my pro cyclists like nutella, whatever the pallet desires.

 

Future Life Cereal

 

Pro Nutro Wholewheat

 

Egg on Toast

 

Morvite

 

If you lead a pretty low sugar diet, then you really really should avoid it the day before a race, it is pretty harmful, maybe its nerves that make you do this, but rather stick to fruit, etc. Its fine taking in a concentrate of 32Gi I am exactly the same I cannot take i a lot of liquid before an event, it kills me :-).

 

The bottle of water for the first half of your race is your downfall big time. No no, no. Start using 32Gi and stick with it. You see drinking only water is not giving u any benefit, u r not getting any electrolytes for the drink, you could actually be depleting your electrolytes as u might be diluting them. Secondly you have no carb in take and u will start to chew away at your glycogen and u need to spare it. Use the drink from the start and keep it all the way through, if u sick of one flavour try 2 different on the bike. towards the end of the race, is when you can put some sugar in the pallet in a race. If the intensity climbs so will the need for quicker glucose

 

hope this helps

all the best

M

[MDW]

Couldn't find anything about this before:

 

Would there be any benefit/harm in adding some glutamine to 32gi?

 

Definitely you can add any amino or protein. Just remember though you cannot stick the drink back in the fridge for the next ride, it will go off. On its own it never goes off :-)

[wonduhboy]

Definitely you can add any amino or protein. Just remember though you cannot stick the drink back in the fridge for the next ride, it will go off. On its own it never goes off :-)

great, thanks for the feedback!

[MDW]

MDW, I would like to say that I do not like the unflavoured version. It tastes like it was diluted 1000:1. Will stick with the orange thank you.

Ha ha Mampara, its definitely not for everyone, it tastes like a mild coconut flavour. But we have had a lot of positive feedback, as its really suitable for asthmatics and for anyone that does not like a flavour or color.

 

Remember you can combine it with any existing flavour to tone down sweetness levels, like 1 scoop natural and 1 scoop orange, if you so wish.

 

all the best

Mark

['Dale]

Definitely you can add any amino or protein. Just remember though you cannot stick the drink back in the fridge for the next ride, it will go off. On its own it never goes off :-)

Was wondering about this, MDW...

Often leaves a bottle in refrigerated state for several days.

Good to hear that it remains in good shape.

[AndreZA]

Ha ha Mampara, its definitely not for everyone, it tastes like a mild coconut flavour. But we have had a lot of positive feedback, as its really suitable for asthmatics and for anyone that does not like a flavour or color.

 

Remember you can combine it with any existing flavour to tone down sweetness levels, like 1 scoop natural and 1 scoop orange, if you so wish.

 

all the best

Mark

 

ah ha, instead of diluting the mix to take bit of the sweetness away, I will mix it with the unflavoured powder. Great advise, thanks.

 

RE the chews.Can't you make thinner (and longer) like a regular bar. As is it is quite a big chunk of sweet to carry along.

[DaLoCo]

I only hopped in on the 39th page, but by reading MDW's two posts on this page I can see some contributory factors to me having a horrid time on the Herald this past sunday.

 

I get rather nauseous of the fruity flavoured drinks like Energade, which is why I rode the Herald only with water and gels (coffee flavoured) The result was cramping at 20 kms, and then I could not recover, making for a very hard 85 kms home. My prerace meal was a smoothie with banana, wholwheat pronutro, milk, strawberry yoghurt and a touch of cinnamon. The cramping I assume was because of bad hydration, or rather dehydration the night before due to nerves and a mild sinus infection(all above the shoulders)

 

I assume that the natural is not as sweet, so if I mix that with another flavour, preferably orange, it would be less sweet. I realize I need some better racing intake, and this seems to be the answer.

[benadeja]

Hi Benedeja

 

I need to first stress that Jungle energy crunch I would not really recommend as pre-race, its just not a really sustainable meal to load the stores. I would rather go with one of the following:

 

Low GI toast (seedloaf etc) with diabetic jam (my preference), peanut butter, honey, some of my pro cyclists like nutella, whatever the pallet desires.

 

Future Life Cereal

 

Pro Nutro Wholewheat

 

Egg on Toast

 

Morvite

 

If you lead a pretty low sugar diet, then you really really should avoid it the day before a race, it is pretty harmful, maybe its nerves that make you do this, but rather stick to fruit, etc. Its fine taking in a concentrate of 32Gi I am exactly the same I cannot take i a lot of liquid before an event, it kills me :-).

 

The bottle of water for the first half of your race is your downfall big time. No no, no. Start using 32Gi and stick with it. You see drinking only water is not giving u any benefit, u r not getting any electrolytes for the drink, you could actually be depleting your electrolytes as u might be diluting them. Secondly you have no carb in take and u will start to chew away at your glycogen and u need to spare it. Use the drink from the start and keep it all the way through, if u sick of one flavour try 2 different on the bike. towards the end of the race, is when you can put some sugar in the pallet in a race. If the intensity climbs so will the need for quicker glucose

 

hope this helps

all the best

M

 

Thanks so much for the feedback I really appreciate it , 1 last question what would you recommend as a good meal to have the night before a race ?

[Andyr249]

Hi Andy,

 

I wanted to respond to this as you make some valid points and I need to point out to the people on this forum how, why and when with regards to nutrition.

As you point out when racing the fast one, probably a 2.5hour race or so, I won category there 4 years back so know it well :-) its fast pace especially in the last 45 minutes.

OK so firstly, remember the energy drink is there to assist in glycogen sparing, its not rocket fuel. Thats what all energy drinks really try and achieve, and of course provide the electrolytes to keep u hydrated.

The way 32Gi works is that it allows lipolysis to take place due to the low insulin spike in other words using your fat stores to provide fuel to the muscles, its a very efficient way of doing it, and its far more balanced no roller coaster riding on ups and downs with blood glucose issues. However when performing at a very high intensity, lipolysis cannot really assist because it takes too long to process fat to fuel when u need it quickly and in this situation you would really need immediate feed which is ATP which comes from the glycogen stores, assuming you have preserved them and they are topped up. The thing is that in order to keep your mind and body on track and focussed, you will have to pump in something high GI or something that releases glucose quickly into the blood stream in order to keep you on your toes and not let your body shut down. I need to emphasize that when I race at high intensities, 32Gi will be my energy level stabilizer, my fuel in my bottle, BUT, of course I take in additional calories, under race conditions your body requires more. My calories come in the form of 32Gi chews, I find it keeps me very stable and provides sufficient glucose feed to the muscles when the going gets tough. I tend to eat a packet up within 60-80minutes, in bits, but others like it whole. The other thing important to note is you can take 32Gi as your drink and eat high GI or take in other products with it, what will happen is the high GI product will spike you but 32Gi will slower down the drop and taper off nicely, again its there to keep your energy levels balanced and stable.

During training sessions as you correctly mentioned its a phenomenal drink to train on as it will allow you to maintain a decent fat burn rate and ensure you are stable throughout, especially when you are riding within your maximum threshold and not exceeding it. Its a better option when training as you wont gain unnecessary weight with excessive sugar product which a lot of cyclists tend to over indulge in without reason.

 

So your experience is really spot on and not unique, and so I am just clarifying the science behind what you are experiencing. I tell my athletes, keep the sugar for the kick to the finish or fuel at a rate which is optimum to spare the glycogen correctly.

 

I did a 70.3 two weeks ago overseas, really tough race, winning time is usually around the 4h50 mark depending on wind speed, but its a really tough ride, the 90km cycle is barely finished under 3 hours even by some of the worlds top triathletes. I placed 15th overall and 5th in age cat (40-44), in a really strong field, but the thing I most want to share is my nutrition, for a 5h20 race.

Carbo Load - 2 days before 2 bottles a day

Pre-Race Meal - 2 thick slices of rye seed loaf with jam and a few sips on some 32Gi concentrate

Pre-Swim - just walking transition with a 32Gi bottle, I dont like too much liquid before the event so maybe 100ml's at the most -

Bike Leg - 2 x 750ml's of 32Gi due to cold weather conditions I put a concentrate of 1.5servings into the bottles as I knew I would be drinking less and did not want to lose the carb factor, remember hydration and energy r separate, a lot of people still dont understand that. Its the 50grams u need in 2 hours, not the 500-750mls.

I also took 3 packets of chews, I pre-opened them and shoved them in a line in my bike bag

My nutrition for the bike leg of 3H20 of hard hard riding was 1 litre of liquid most likely 3 servings of 32Gi in there. 2.5 packets of 32Gi chews. I ate 1 block every 20 minutes, as opposed to the entire packet.

In run transition, a sip of 32Gi ready in a bottle, and then only water to the finish. My energy levels felt so good going onto the run, I felt really topped up, due to the slid bike feed. I need to mention I broke my personal best on the 21km run in a 70.3, doing it in 81minutes.

All I am trying to indicate is that nutrition needs to be planned, stuck to and it will work wonders.

 

What you wrote above is 1000% spot on, and I agree when racing under those conditions, you need to know what to feed. Generally, try utilize your fat stores as much as possible, then switch to fast feed when the going gets tough :-)

 

Appreciate your honest feedback Andy

 

all the best

M

 

Hi M,

 

Thanks for your response and explaining the science behind it. I read somewhere awhile back (so the exact details may be a bit fuzzy) that at one time they experimented with "Fat-loading" instead of "Carbo-loading" before events but found, as you pointed out, that it takes too long to process fat to fuel during the event. But utilising fat for fuel during training would be good.

 

Are the 32Gi chews a solid form of the 32Gi drink or are they more like "gels"?

 

Good result with your 70.3, well done.