Bars in sports

I keep hearing that bars are such a great product and are often used in training or maybe even in competitions.

Bars consist of a variety of complex macro and micronutrients, the effects of which on digestion and also on athletic performance should be given particular consideration. Here are a few examples and my thoughts on them:

Dietary fiber:

A bar in particular contains a relatively high amount of fiber. For one day, an adult should consume up to 30g of fiber per day. A bar can contain between 2g and up to 7g of fiber. Let's assume that you consume 1 bar per hour on a long-distance bike ride and are on the road for 6 hours. With an average of 4g of fiber per bar, that equates to around 24g of fiber.

The average adult doesn't even consume that much throughout the day on a normal day (statistically speaking). Dietary fiber has a nasty habit of causing flatulence when consumed in large quantities. So it's only to be expected that someone running a long distance would have problems with digestion in the final run after consuming this amount of organic waste.

Fats:

Bars usually contain fats, including saturated fatty acids. However, fats are difficult to process during exercise. The fat metabolism prefers to use the lipids already present in the body. The intestine concentrates better on absorbing glucose than fats. Between 3g and 10g of fat should be taken into account for medium and long distances. These fats definitely do not necessarily contribute to improving performance.

Protein:

There are studies that claim to show that proteins are not necessarily harmful during exercise. They definitely do not help improve performance. Bars contain between 7g and 14g of protein. The body needs additional energy to break down the proteins into usable components. I would rather use this energy for performance than the protein.

Magnesium:

Magnesium is often advertised as a way to reduce possible muscle cramps. The fact is that magnesium is a depot mineral. The depot should be built up before exercise so that the body can use it. The gastrointestinal tract does not like absorption during exercise. This can lead to stomach pain and diarrhea. The recommended daily dosage for men is 350mg to 400mg and for women 300mg to 350mg. If a bar already contains around 75mg of magnesium and 6 of these are consumed, that is 450mg of magnesium. So it is no surprise if you have real problems on the run after these 6 bars.

Generally:

But if it's questionable to use bars during a competition, why should you do it during training? It doesn't make sense either. During training you should prepare yourself and your body (including digestion) for the competition. So it's advisable to also take care of your body during training in a competition-oriented way. For me, bars are out of the question.

© Ingolf
SportBrennstoff™