ENERGY GELS

Sports gels

Energy gels are carbohydrate gels that provide energy for exercise and promote recovery,commonly used in endurance events such as running, cycling, and triathlons. Energy gels are also referred to as endurance gels, sports gels, nutritional gels, and carbohydrate gels.They come in small, single-serve plastic packets. Each packet has a strip with a small notch at the top that can be peeled off to reveal an opening through which the gel can be consumed.

Why we need gels

0ur “gas tank hold a finite amount of gas”The body can only store a limited amount of calories in the form of glycogen)

Fully carboloaded we can only store between 1320kcal and 2020 kcal.Depending on size and fitness,running utilizes about 1 kcal/kg/km.If you have say a weight of 80kgs,you need 80kgx42=3360kcal to make it through the race.

2020 kcal<3360 kcal needed to finish the race.

Since its impossible to eat the deficit  calories during a race,gels come in handy to supply the required energy otherwise we deplete all available glycogen in our body a condition referred to as hitting the wall leading to feelings of fatigue and negativity

Tips on gels’

1. Use them for races of 90 minutes or more.
2. The body needs time to process the gels and convert it into glycogen, which means the timing of your gels is important.
3. Use them early on in a race, as they can unsettle your stomach later on.
4. absorbed into your bloodstream as sugar initially and then they are fed to your muscles.
5. Rate at which this absorption occurs will depend with individuals .
6. Have a gel in the first 45 minutes of your long run and then wait around an hour for the next one.
7. Maintain that strategy for the duration of your run.
8. For some runners, their stomachs effectively shut down in the latter stages of races or long runs because of fatigue and they are unable to digest the gel
9. Practice to use the gels in training.
10. Take before a water point
11. Using them too late in the run can unsettle the stomach.
12. For some runners, their stomachs shut down in the latter stages of races or long runs because of fatigue causing an emergency stop. Its important to practice with gels during your runs. Wash them down with water to assists in their digestion

Available on https://davidthuo.com/product-category/energy-gels/