Many walkers are also watching their calories and carbs, and they may avoid sports drinks that are meant to supplement sugars as well as salt and water. When I walked the half marathon of the Portland Marathon this year, they had Ultima Replenisher at the water stops rather than a sugared sports drink. It has electrolytes (salts) but no sugars, so it has only 10 calories per 8 oz. vs. 50 for Gatorade.
On a long run or walk, you eventually need to refuel with carbs. The marathon provided a sports gel, but I took along mini-CLIF bars instead and had one after two hours of walking when I felt hungry.
A small study of endurance cyclists found that a low carbohydrate sports drink with added protein actually improved endurance compared to a traditional sugared sports drink. This is good news for those who still want to watch their calories when training for or racing in a distance walk.
Source: Ferguson-Stegall, L, McCleave, EL, Ding, Z, Kammer, LM, Wang, B, Doerner, PG, Liu, Y, and Ivy, JL. The effect of a low carbohydrate beverage with added protein on cycling endurance performance in trained athletes. J Strength Cond Res 24(10): 2577-2586, 2010
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