Optimum nutrition for 1 minute all out effort sprint

Ivan.Drago

I'm taking part in a friendly competition in which the winner is declared based on the distance they can cover over 1 minute on a stationary bike (yes, I am aware that stationary bikes do not move to pre-empt the obvious joke).
Being a competitive fellow I wish to give myself a small edge before saddling up for my effort.
Manipulation of what I ingest beforehand is the only factor of concern here (again, in before the inevitable EPO, HGH, shot of adrenalin etc comments). So, I put it to you, the experts of the Health & Fitness forum, what should I eat prior to the afternoon competition to give myself the best chance?

conzy

In the 24 hours leading up to the event, get in a gallon of water, 500+g of carbs and a few servings of creatine if you have some and go to town on the caffeine before the event.

Its an obvious one but if this event is a few weeks away practice sprinting on the stationary bike!

Ivan.Drago

conzy wrote: »

In the 24 hours leading up to the event, get in a gallon of water, 500+g of carbs and a few servings of creatine if you have some and go to town on the caffeine before the event.

Its an obvious one but if this event is a few weeks away practice sprinting on the stationary bike!

I assume this will work especially well if the bike is situated within view of a toilet and I imagine I'm trying to cycle towards it as fast as possible?

Event is very soon so no time to refine my motor skills on a bike beforehand

RidleyRider

To add onto what conzy said, your set up on the bike is going to have a huuuuuge impact on what distance you'll do.

Speaking from experience, set up shy of full extension of your leg while sitting on the saddle. There is a technical way of doing it but I always did mine by feel.

Start off in a standing sprint and gain as much speed as you can and then sit down and maintain it. You will die out in the final stages but just keep your legs spinning.

Are you doing it on a proper spin bike?

Ivan.Drago

Some nice tips there. I'm not certain but I believe that it's on a regular racing bike with the back wheel on one of those resistance contraptions. It's possible that it could be on a spinning bike though - does this change things?

Duck's hoop

Get some baking soda down ya.

200 mg sodium bicarbonate per kg BW in a litre of H2o will buffer against lactic build up.

It's a good 'hack' and proven. But try it a day or 2 before to assess gastric tolerance.

You'll deffo go faster for longer.

Alf Veedersane

Duck's hoop wrote: »

Get some baking soda down ya.

200 mg sodium bicarbonate per kg BW in a litre of H2o will buffer against lactic build up.

It's a good 'hack' and proven. But try it a day or 2 before to assess gastric tolerance.

You'll deffo go faster for longer.

This be a good tip - useful in and out of the gym.

RidleyRider

Ivan.Drago wrote: »

Some nice tips there. I'm not certain but I believe that it's on a regular racing bike with the back wheel on one of those resistance contraptions. It's possible that it could be on a spinning bike though - does this change things?

The problem if you're on a racing bike is that it might not be your size and if it is put up to a turbo trainer then you're not going to be able to stand up and get that drive.

If the bikes not your size then it's going to make set up very difficult. When I was gearing towards sprinting I had a bike 2cm smaller for me because I got a better power output but that was just me:P

Best of luck anyway and come back and tell us how you got on.

Hanley

Has anyone said beta alanine yet?

Ivan.Drago

OK, so far we've got:
- 1 gallon of water in the 24 hours prior to the event
- 500g of carbs in the 24 hours prior to the event
- Few servings of creatine in the 24 hours prior to the event
- Sodium bi-carbonate trick to buffer against lactic acid build-up
- Beta alanine
- Set-up on the bike (which will probably have more influence than all of the above tbh)

Interesting little experiment. I can give them all a try apart from the beta-alanine (none available to me unfortunately). Would be ideal if I could compare myself with and without the above.

Duck's hoop

Hanley wrote: »

Has anyone said beta alanine yet?

I got the impression he was doing it v soon. Like this weekend. In which case I went with bicarb as in my exp BA needs at least a couple weeks to saturate. Or whatever the term is.

Bicarb will work on the day with no lead in if done right.

Ivan.Drago

Speaking of BA needing time to saturate - would a similiar argument not hold for creatine?
And how long are we talking to get the bicarb in beforehand?

Duck's hoop

Ivan.Drago wrote: »

OK, so far we've got:


Interesting little experiment. I can give them all a try apart from the beta-alanine (none available to me unfortunately). Would be ideal if I could compare myself with and without the above.

Have your last drink no less than 30 mins out.
Don't forget pacing.
Get a solid endurance base working towards 600 mins a week in 10% increments.

Best thing to do is get a good night's kip; warm up really well, don't be afraid to get your HR right up there. Finish your warm up about 10 mins before event.

Go like fcuk. It's only 60 seconds. You'll only be hurting v bad for about 15.

Duck's hoop

Ivan.Drago wrote: »

Speaking of BA needing time to saturate - would a similiar argument not hold for creatine?
And how long are we talking to get the bicarb in beforehand?

Personally I wouldn't bother with creatine at this point. Prob beneficial otherwise with longer prep period.

Say you're taking 25g bicarb - divide your litre into 5 doses, taking first about 5-6 hours before and last an hour before.

Make sure to test a day or so before as it can give you a dodgy belly.

Alf Veedersane

Duck's hoop wrote: »

Go like fcuk. It's only 60 seconds. You'll only be hurting v bad for about 15.

This.

And make sure to pop your feet out as soon as that 60 second mark is hit. It will stop you snapping your ankles when you collapse off the bike.