Stroh's Selection

Fueling

Nutrition, one of the words that has been coming up over and over again in the cycling world lately. With more research and testing on fueling for performance, we are now aware of the importance of nailing your nutrition on and off the bike to reach your full potential. One thing that has had the biggest impact on my career is starting to focus on what I was eating. When I finally took a deep dive into how I was fueling on and off the bike, I realized how much potential I was leaving on the table. For this reason, I do not sacrifice anything when it comes to my nutrition and only work with the best. My choice for fueling and nutrition is First Endurance, an American company that is pushing the boundaries of cycling nutrition and helping athletes reach their full potential!

How I Fuel

Before:

First Endurance has become part of my daily life from morning to evening! Every day after breakfast, I begin by taking the trio of MultiV PRO, Optygen HP, and Halo. When I was younger, I thought that because I was healthy, I didn’t need to take vitamins, but now I can’t imagine living without them! Within weeks of starting this, I had a 25% increase in recovery, felt stronger on the bike, and was much healthier overall! I began using these products long before I started working with First Endurance and really believed in their benefits, so it was an easy choice to work with them when the opportunity came around!

During:

Our view of fueling for performance on the bike has completely changed over the past few years, and First Endurance has everything you need to meet those demands with a complete range of on-bike fuel. For every training session, I use a different combination of products and get exactly what I need, making the process of deciding what to bring on a ride super easy! Here is what I fuel with:

EFS

The daily driver electrolyte mix! With the perfect amount of carbs and electrolytes, I use EFS on every ride. Replacing lost electrolytes throughout a ride is super important. Depending on the day’s training and the weather outside, I will use anywhere from 1 to 3 scoops in a bottle, and everything in between. This could be anywhere from 300 to 900mg of sodium in each bottle. Being able to sip on EFS throughout the ride gives me the confidence that I am getting the right amount of electrolytes, and I know I will be feeling good all throughout the ride, no matter the conditions.

EFS-Pro

Bring on the Carbs! With more carbs than regular EFS this is what fuels the hardest of days on the bike! The ratio of carbs to electrolytes is less, meaning you can cram more carbs into a bottle while keeping the electrolytes at the right level. Depending on how long or hard the interval session is, I can customize the amount of carbs in each bottle to make sure I get the perfect amount. As we are getting closer to the races and I am doing more intervals, I find myself reaching for EFS-Pro more and more.

Liquid Shot

Normally, I save gels for race day, but with Liquid Shots, I find myself using them in training more and more. I love being able to reach in my pocket and, within seconds, have 30 grams of carbs and electrolytes in my stomach. In the past few weeks, I have been combining gels with EFS-Pro during my intervals, and the combo has been awesome!

PreRace

The special stuff! PreRace 3.0 is the icing on the cake for race day! Everything else goes toward getting you to race day at your best, and PreRace is about getting you firing on all cylinders and in the zone, ready to leave it all out there on course! As soon as I take PreRace, something inside me flips, and I know it’s go time. You get the boost from caffeine with zero jitters, and have amazing mental clarity! When I take Prerace, I can think clearly as if my HR is in zone 2, but it is near maximal; this has been the difference maker in a lot of races, where a split-second decision can be the difference between winning and losing. This formula is so good that I feel like I am giving away secrets here, but if you haven’t had the chance to try it yet, PreRace 3.0 is my number 1 recommendation for race day!

Ultragen

Fueling off the bike is just as important as on the bike, and this starts within 30 minutes of finishing a training session. This is where Ultragen comes in, a recovery mix that has everything you need to kickstart recovery in 1 bottle. Unlike other recovery mixes that lack a bit of carbs or protein and require additional food on top of the drink, Ultragen has all the carbs, protein, and calories you need in the perfect ratio! This takes away all the stress of not knowing if you are fueling right after a ride and allows you to fully focus on other things to recover even more!

My Strategy

In the past couple of weeks, as some of the big races approach, my go-to for my interval sessions has been a scoop of EFS in one bottle and 3 Scoops(90g carbs) of EFS-Pro in the other bottle. This allows me to sip on the EFS through the rides to stay hydrated, then I take on the whole 90g bottle in 1 hour during my intervals. I will also have a pocket full of Liquid Shots to take in between intervals to keep the glycogen levels high throughout the whole session. During these key sessions, I have been able to push 120+ grams of carbs in an hour with zero GI distress! This has allowed me to consistently nail workouts at higher power outputs and recover better in between, all because I am giving my body what it needs to perform at its best on and off the bike!

Head over to the First Endurance website and check out their full range of products and reach your full potential on and off the bike!