Since there has been some discussion on this topic recently here is my attempt to compile the information. Obviously a solid whole food diet is a priority. I’d like to hear what everyone thinks about the formulas.
It is far more complicated if you have the time and of course money…for example green tea may be a great way to fight the free radicals but you will need to time it right and rotate mineral needs.
I would use powerdrive or BLS go…(I prefer the down home punch) for pre-workout…
Effect of high-fat, high-carbohydrate, and high-protein meals on metabolism and performance during endurance cycling.
Rowlands DS, Hopkins WG.
Department of Exercise Science in the Institute of Food, Nutrition, and Human Health and Massey University, Private Bag 756, Wellington, New Zealand.
The effect of pre-exercise meal composition on metabolism and performance in cycling were investigated in a crossover study. Twelve competitive cyclists ingested high-fat, high-carbohydrate, or high-protein meals 90 min before a weekly exercise test. The test consisted of a 1-hour pre-load at 55% peak power, five 10-min incremental loads from 55 to 82% peak power (to measure the peak fat-oxidation rate), and a 50-km time trial that included three 1-km and 4-km sprints. A carbohydrate supplement was ingested throughout the exercise. Relative to the high-protein and high-fat meals, the high-carbohydrate meal halved the peak fat-oxidation rate and reduced the fat oxidation across all workloads by a factor of 0.20 to 0.58 (p =.002-.0001). Reduced fat availability may have accounted for this reduction, as indicated by lower plasma fatty acid, lower glycerol, and higher pre-exercise insulin concentrations relative to the other meals (p =.04-.0001). In contrast, fat oxidation following the high-protein meal was similar to that following the high-fat meal. This similarity was linked to evidence suggesting greater lipolysis and plasma fat availability following high-protein relative to high-carbohydrate meals. Despite these substantial effects on metabolism, meal composition had no clear effect on sprint or 50-km performance."
Relative to the high-protein and high-fat meals, the high-carbohydrate meal halved the peak fat-oxidation rate and reduced the fat oxidation across all workloads by a factor of 0.20 to 0.58 (p =.002-.0001). Reduced fat availability may have accounted for this reduction, as indicated by lower plasma fatty acid, lower glycerol, and higher pre-exercise insulin concentrations relative to the other meals (p =.04-.0001). In contrast, fat oxidation following the high-protein meal was similar to that following the high-fat meal.
the high-carbohydrate meal halved the peak fat-oxidation rate and reduced the fat oxidation across all workloads by a factor of 0.20 to 0.58 (p =.002-.0001).
JB’s research tip had a during workout formula of 820 calories! Some supramaximal stuff is off the charts…and if you look a viru’s work it is supported. Guys like Nightmare can do this protocol since his output is insane on the bike…I watched him train and yes the nightmare4d is real. My guess if you are eating very lean and bodybuilding this may work…but t-nation and cf.com have different audiences.
Just a few quick comments …
First of all it’s only one study and we all know how certain we can be be about single academic studies returning conclusions.
Secondly these are competitive cyclists - their energy requirments are completely the opposite to that of the T-mag audience, so I’m not sure why he used it as a sample study.
Finally, this is the first study or reccomendation I’ve seen to promote the idea of using carbs to drop fat or promote fat usage pre-exercise.