Triathlon Nutrition Academy

Two of the best triathletes on the planet came undone in the Kona heat in back-to-back years, so how do you fuel a hot race without falling apart on the run?

After two decades of working with triathletes, I can tell you that most hot races are won or lost before the gun even goes off. As an age-grouper you’re out on course for hours longer than the pros, in the hottest part of the day, often on a race nutrition plan you built and tested through winter. I break down what the heat actually does to your body, why falling apart in a hot race comes down to much more than toughness and what should change in your plan when the forecast says it’s going to be a scorcher.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Why your body burns through stored carbohydrate faster in the heat, and why your aid stations can only top up so much
• The 3 ways triathletes fall apart in a hot race that look identical from the side of the road, and why they need opposite fixes
• Why “it’s hot, drink more” is the advice that puts age-groupers in the medical tent
• What heat does to your gut, and why backing off your fuel can make it worse
• The 4 mistakes I see over and over when the forecast is hot
• How one of my Academy athletes went from walking between poles at Spudman to crossing the line at the 70.3 World Championship in Nice

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction
01:28 How heat changes your body's job
03:30 3 ways to fall apart in a hot race
07:03 Why your gut struggles in the heat
09:16 4 mistakes when the forecast is hot
13:08 How to prepare for a hot race

STUDIES MENTIONED

• Almond, C. S. D., Shin, A. Y., Fortescue, E. B., Mannix, R. C., Wypij, D., Binstadt, B. A., Duncan, C. N., Olson, D. P., Salerno, A. E., Newburger, J. W., & Greenes, D. S. (2005). Hyponatremia among runners in the Boston Marathon. New England Journal of Medicine, 352(15), 1550–1556. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa043901
• González-Alonso, J., Teller, C., Andersen, S. L., Jensen, F. B., Hyldig, T., & Nielsen, B. (1999). Influence of body temperature on the development of fatigue during prolonged exercise in the heat. Journal of Applied Physiology, 86(3), 1032–1039. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1999.86.3.1032
• Hew-Butler, T., Rosner, M. H., Fowkes-Godek, S., Dugas, J. P., Hoffman, M. D., Lewis, D. P., Maughan, R. J., Miller, K. C., Montain, S. J., Rehrer, N. J., Roberts, W. O., Rogers, I. R., Siegel, A. J., Stuempfle, K. J., Winger, J. M., & Verbalis, J. G. (2015). Statement of the Third International Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia Consensus Development Conference, Carlsbad, California, 2015. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 25(4), 303–320. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0000000000000221
• Jentjens, R. L. P. G., Wagenmakers, A. J. M., & Jeukendrup, A. E. (2002). Heat stress increases muscle glycogen use but reduces the oxidation of ingested carbohydrates during exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 92(4), 1562–1572. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00482.2001
• McCubbin, A. J., Allanson, B. A., Caldwell Odgers, J. N., Cort, M. M., Costa, R. J. S., Cox, G. R., Crawshay, S. T., Desbrow, B., Freney, E. G., Gaskell, S. K., Hughes, D., Irwin, C., Jay, O., Lalor, B. J., Ross, M. L. R., Shaw, G., Périard, J. D., & Burke, L. M. (2020). Sports Dietitians Australia position statement: Nutrition for exercise in hot environments. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 30(1), 83–98. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2019-0300
• Mougin, L., Macrae, H. Z., Taylor, L., James, L. J., & Mears, S. A. (2025). The effect of heat stress and dehydration on carbohydrate use during endurance exercise: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 55(11), 2825–2847. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-025-02294-3
• Parkin, J. M., Carey, M. F., Zhao, S., & Febbraio, M. A. (1999). Effect of ambient temperature on human skeletal muscle metabolism during fatiguing submaximal exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 86(3), 902–908. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1999.86.3.902
• Périard, J. D., Racinais, S., & Sawka, M. N. (2015). Adaptations and mechanisms of human heat acclimation: Applications for competitive athletes and sports. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 25(S1), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12408
• Roberts, W. O., Armstrong, L. E., Sawka, M. N., Yeargin, S. W., Heled, Y., & O’Connor, F. G. (2021). ACSM expert consensus statement on exertional heat illness: Recognition, management, and return to activity. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 20(9), 470–484. https://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0000000000000878
• Snipe, R. M. J., Khoo, A., Kitic, C. M., Gibson, P. R., & Costa, R. J. S. (2017). Carbohydrate and protein intake during exertional-heat stress ameliorates intestinal epithelial injury and small intestine permeability. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 42(12), 1283–1292. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2017-0361
• Snipe, R. M. J., Khoo, A., Kitic, C. M., Gibson, P. R., & Costa, R. J. S. (2018). The impact of exertional-heat stress on gastrointestinal integrity, gastrointestinal symptoms, systemic endotoxin and cytokine profile. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 118(2), 389–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-017-3781-z
• Speedy, D. B., Noakes, T. D., Rogers, I. R., Thompson, J. M. D., Campbell, R. G. D., Kuttner, J. A., Boswell, D. R., Wright, S., & Hamlin, M. (1999). Hyponatremia in ultradistance triathletes. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 31(6), 809–815. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-199906000-00008
• van Wijck, K., Lenaerts, K., Grootjans, J., Wijnands, K. A., Poeze, M., van Loon, L. J. C., Dejong, C. H. C., & Buurman, W. A. (2012). Physiology and pathophysiology of splanchnic hypoperfusion and intestinal injury during exercise: Strategies for evaluation and prevention. American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 303(2), G155–G168. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00066.2012

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Ep 214: Sweat Science
• Ep 251: How Do You Carb Load for a Triathlon Without Feeling Bloated and Heavy?
• Ep 253: Is Carb Loading a Myth?

START YOUR HOT RACE WITH A FULL FUEL TANK

If you have a hot race coming up in the next 12 months, the fuel tank you take to the start line is your buffer. My Carb Loading Masterclass shows you exactly how much carbohydrate to eat, when to eat it and what to eat, so you can carb load properly without feeling heavy and bloated. Get the Carb Loading Masterclass

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you still training like you did in your 20s, going hard every session and wondering why recovery takes so much longer than it used to?

This is one of the most listened-to episodes of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast, back by popular demand. I sat down with coach Joe Friel, co-founder of TrainingPeaks and author of Fast After 50, to talk about how masters triathletes can stay fit, fast and injury-free in their 40s, 50s and beyond. Joe covers the training side and my Ep 178 on key nutrients for masters triathletes covers the nutrition side, so listen to them as a pair.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• What actually changes in your body as you age, and the one marker that holds up surprisingly well
• Why rest and recovery become your biggest performance lever after 40
• The 5:2 training week Joe uses with masters athletes (plus the nine-day alternative)
• Where strength and mobility fit into a busy training week, and the session you should never lift weights before
• How to use heart rate variability to decide when to train hard

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction

02:00 Training as a masters triathlete

04:09 How your physiology changes after 40

09:18 Why rest and recovery matter more with age

11:21 The nine-day week vs the 5:2 training week

14:28 The tortoise, the hare and the lactate myth

19:27 Mobility and strength training for masters athletes

28:57 Why you should never lift weights before a run

30:48 Recovery weeks, testing and the off-season

35:11 Using HRV and wearables to guide training

39:00 Daily habits for longevity in the sport

42:24 Joe’s number one piece of advice

ABOUT JOE FRIEL

Joe Friel has coached endurance athletes for more than four decades. He is a co-founder of TrainingPeaks and the author of Fast After 50, a go-to resource for athletes who want to keep performing as they age. Connect with Joe

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Fast After 50 by Joe Friel
• HRV4Training app
• Ep 178: Key Nutrients for Masters Triathletes
• Ep 179: the original release of this episode

READY TO STOP GUESSING WITH YOUR NUTRITION?

The Triathlete Fuel Kit brings together my Triathlon Nutrition Kickstart course, the Triathlete’s Kitchen recipe database and the Fuel Your Adventure recipe book, so you can get your everyday fuelling working for you, not against you. Get the Triathlete Fuel Kit

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is your triathlon nutrition strategy still not working when you already know what to do?

I asked the triathletes who just finished my Triathlon Fuel Camp what they had spent money on to improve their performance. 70% had paid for a bike fit, 66% had a coach and 50% had bought a power meter and faster wheels. Only 20% had ever invested in a dietitian or nutritionist, and 57% told me they were winging their nutrition. These are smart, driven athletes with more information at their fingertips than any triathlete in history. So why is it still not working?

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

• Why more information is not what is missing from your nutrition
• What a strategy specific to you is actually built on (and why generic advice never holds for long)
• The 3 ways triathletes try to build a nutrition strategy, and the only one that lasts your whole racing life
• The 3 questions that keep triathletes on the precipice of dialling in their nutrition for years
• How Kelly, Steve and Julia from the Triathlon Nutrition Academy finally got off the fence

TIMESTAMPS

02:02 Why your triathlon nutrition strategy isn't working
10:15 3 questions holding triathletes back

EPISODES MENTIONED

• Episode 235 with Julia
• Episode 237 on why DIY nutrition is not working
• Episode 259 with Kelly and the TNA crew at the 70.3 World Championship in Nice
• Episode 261 with Steve, Curt and Jade

READY FOR A STRATEGY THAT IS SPECIFIC TO YOU?

The Triathlon Nutrition Academy is my 9-month program where I teach you how to fuel your own training and racing, step by step, with an Advanced Sports Dietitian checking your work along the way. Find out more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy here.

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you have heard about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy and wondered what it actually is, this is your answer in under 10 minutes.

You already have a training system. You have a coach or a program, a week of sessions you love to turn green and the discipline to follow it. What most triathletes don't have is a nutrition system that is just as organised, and that is exactly what you walk out of TNA with. I take you through how my 9-month program works, the 4 things that change when your nutrition is dialled in and who it is genuinely for (and who it is not for).

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• How TNA is built so you actually put it into practice, rather than buying something and never using it
• Why being able to function like an adult after a long ride is one of my KPIs
• How Stephen went from nearly quitting triathlon over cramps to taking 64 minutes off his 70.3 time, and why magnesium was never the fix
• How the program fits into 1 to 2 hours a week, whatever your time zone and however full your life is
• What changes when you become the expert on you, from every gel to every supplement ad in your feed
• What Kelly Estes, 4 years in, says happens by the end
• Who TNA is for, from your very first season to your 30th, and who should not join right now

TIMESTAMPS

03:00 What changes when your nutrition is dialled in

07:16 Is this triathlon nutrition program right for you

ATHLETE STORIES MENTIONED

• Stephen Duquette and the TNA athletes who raced the 70.3 World Championship in Nice: Episode 259
• Jade, Curt and Steve, 9 months after joining TNA: Episode 261

If you want to see everything that is included, head to dietitianapproved.com/academy. When doors are open you can join the next cohort there, and when they are closed you can add your name to the waitlist so you are the first to know when they open again.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE

CONNECT WITH TARYN

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you eat 1,000 more calories a day? For Curt, a 54 year old triathlete from Texas, it meant losing 8kg, ditching the daily nap and finally making it through a training day without bonking. That is not a typo, and it is not a fluke.

Nine months ago, three brand new Triathlon Nutrition Academy athletes came on the show a few weeks into the program to share what it is really like on the inside. Now Curt, Jade and Steve have finished all three phases and they are back. Three different athletes, three different decades of life and three very different starting points: a 39 year old mum of three from WA in her second Ironman build, a scientist from Texas who watched from the sidelines for 4 years while his mate got faster and a 71 year old from San Diego with more than 300 races behind him and no formal nutrition education until now.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• Why Curt lost 8kg while going from around 2,000 to closer to 3,000 calories a day, and why underfuelling was the thing keeping the body fat on
• The one change that eliminated Curt's post-workout naps and gave him back at least an hour a day
• How Jade went from years of fasted sessions to fuelling every session, and what changed when she hit 90g of carbs an hour on the bike
• Why Steve calls nutrition free speed after 30 years of hand waving it, and how a race week plan changed 5 national championship races in 3 days
• What separating fluid from fuel does to a race day plan
• The benefits nobody expected outside triathlon, from a happier marriage to more beach days and a kid who packs his mum's long run fuel
• What all three would say to the version of themselves sitting on the fence 9 months ago

Nutrition is not something you fix in a week, and it is not something you fix for life by collecting free nuggets from AI, YouTube or podcasts. It is something you learn, practise and make your own. That is exactly what the Triathlon Nutrition Academy is built for: 9 months learning how to fuel your body for your own training, with me and a group of legends like Curt, Jade and Steve beside you.

Doors to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy are open right now. Join the October cohort here before doors close on Saturday 10 October.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction: Curt, Jade and Steve 9 months on

01:45 One word for their nutrition now versus then

03:20 Curt: no more bonking, no more naps, 8kg down while eating more

08:40 Jade: fitting TNA around 3 kids, work and an Ironman build

10:50 Jade: from fasted training to every session fuelled

12:20 Steve: the biggest mistake of a 30 year career and why nutrition is free speed

14:30 Steve: 5 national championship races in 3 days with a plan

16:10 Curt: race day now, and separating fluid from fuel

17:55 Jade: the Busselton build, 90g of carbs an hour and the scribbled paper plan

22:30 A year of listening to the podcast versus a year inside the program

24:30 What changed the most in how they fuel and race

27:05 What changed outside triathlon: smoothie bags, a happier wife and more beach days

30:40 Steve on strength training and getting bigger at 71

31:30 What they learnt about themselves that they did not expect

36:20 What they would tell themselves 9 months ago, and was it worth the investment

41:20 What is next: Busselton, Edmonton and a possible full distance

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.

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Can you gain muscle while losing body fat at the same time, or is body recomposition just a clickbait headline?

For years the advice has been that you have to pick one. Eat in a calorie deficit and lose body fat, or eat in a calorie surplus and build muscle. A brand new study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology in April 2026 says the picture is more interesting than that, and it is already being butchered all over social media. I break the whole paper down for you. What the researchers did, what they actually measured, and the bits the headlines have quietly skipped over. Then I do the part that matters most, which is translating a study done on young resistance trained lifters into what it means for someone swimming, biking and running six days a week.

IN THIS EPISODE

- What body recomposition actually is, and why it is not the same thing as losing weight

- What the 2026 study did, and what happened to all three groups over 10 weeks

- Why an increase in fat-free mass does not automatically mean a kilo of new muscle

- The training detail that did just as much work as the nutrition did

- Whether you really need 2.5 grams of protein per kilo of body weight a day

- Why the size of the calorie deficit matters far more than most triathletes think

- Where this study stops transferring the moment you apply it to endurance training

- Who is well placed to recomp right now, and who is better off picking one goal

- The 4 things I would start with if body recomposition is your goal

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Can you build muscle and lose fat at the same time
02:01 What body recomposition actually means
04:03 Inside the 2026 study
05:26 The results after 10 weeks
07:05 Why fat-free mass is not the same as muscle
08:43 The training that made it work
10:51 The big protein question
13:19 Why the deficit was only 250 calories
14:29 Where triathletes need a different approach
15:40 Who body recomposition actually suits
18:26 The 4 things I would focus on
21:07 The big takeaway

STUDIES MENTIONED

- Vargas-Molina, S., Garcia-Palumbo, A., Garcia-Sillero, M., Bonilla, D. A., Petro, J. L., Aragon, A. A., Schoenfeld, B. J., & Benitez-Porres, J. (2026). Comparison of two nutritional protocols in body re-composition of resistance-trained participants. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 126, 4019-4030. [doi.org/10.1007/s00421-026-06209-6](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-026-06209-6)

- Iraki, J., Fitschen, P., Espinar, S., & Helms, E. (2019). Nutrition recommendations for bodybuilders in the off-season: A narrative review. Sports, 7(7), 154. [doi.org/10.3390/sports7070154](https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7070154)

If body recomposition is one of your goals, this is a very good time to stop winging it and build a strategy around your training instead. The Triathlon Nutrition Academy is where I teach you how to work out your own numbers, against your own training program, in your own body, and then I am there every week while you actually do it. Doors only open a few times a year, so get your name on the list for the next cohort at [dietitianapproved.com/academy](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy).

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it take to fuel the hilliest 70.3 in the world?

Six Triathlon Nutrition Academy athletes lined up at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France on 12 and 13 September 2026. A 1.9km swim in the Mediterranean, 90km on the bike with around 1190m of climbing, a long grind up the Col de Vence, an 11km technical descent with both hands on the brakes, then a flat half marathon in the baking French sun along the Promenade des Anglais.

One day after the race, five of them sat down with me to talk through what they did, what they would change and what they would tell you if Nice is on your bucket list. Most of them are masters athletes racing in the 60 to 69 age groups. Not one of them raced on the same nutrition plan.

Joining me are Kathleen Gilton, Kelly Estes, Stephen Duquette, Stanford Skelton and Daniel Walker.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• Why the athlete who was most afraid of the bike had the best ride of her life
• How bike choice and gearing change what you can carry, and when you can actually drink it
• How to ride light on a long climb without under-fuelling the back half of your race
• What it takes to run a hot half marathon with no cramping, four years after cramping nearly ended a triathlon career
• The race week mistake that cost a well-prepared athlete 20 minutes on the run, and it had nothing to do with training
• Why six athletes on the same course, in the same heat, all fuelled differently and all got it right

TIMESTAMPS 

01:46 Meet the athletes who raced Nice
02:47 Kathleen on the bike leg she feared most
08:53 Road bike or TT bike, and gearing
11:36 Losing 8kg without losing bike power
15:24 Riding light on the climb without under-fuelling
17:53 A hot run and the cramps that never came
23:02 When race day does not go to plan
31:54 Saturday women, Sunday men: the split day
40:05 What each athlete is most proud of
49:40 Would they have got there without nutrition

If you want to be the athlete who gets off a plane in a foreign country and knows exactly what they are doing, come and join us inside the Triathlon Nutrition Academy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most triathletes are working their nutrition list backwards. They start at number eight and skip one through seven entirely.

In Episode 229 I walked you through the first four things I fix with every triathlete I work with. The big rocks. This is Part 2, and it picks up at number five. If you have not heard 229 yet, go and listen to that one first, because these next four do not work without the foundations underneath them.

Number five is your hydration and electrolytes, which most athletes think they have sorted and almost never do. Number six is the three micronutrients that quietly put a ceiling on everything else. Number seven is your race nutrition strategy, which is a lot more than deciding which gel you are taking. And number eight is the fun stuff, the sprinkles on the icing on your cake, which is exactly where nearly everybody wants to start.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• Why one standalone sweat test is not a number you can set and forget for life
• The three micronutrients that determine whether you can train and race well, and why supplementing blindly is the wrong first move
• What a race nutrition strategy actually involves, and why practising your fuel is not the same as practising it at race intensity
• The full roll call of supplements and gadgets triathletes ask me about, and where they genuinely belong in the order
• Why your recovery nutrition does not finish when you cross the finish line
• The order I would work through all eight in, so you get the best bang for your buck

TIMESTAMPS:

01:26 Hydration, sodium and sweat testing for triathletes
04:57 Iron, calcium and vitamin D for endurance athletes
08:59 Race nutrition strategy and recovery after racing
13:36 Performance supplements and what actually works
18:52 How to fix your triathlon nutrition in order

WANT ALL EIGHT BUILT OUT PROPERLY, IN THE RIGHT ORDER, FOR YOU?

That is exactly what the Triathlon Nutrition Academy is. It is not a meal plan and it is not one size fits all. It is me teaching you how to build your own nutrition strategy around your training, your race schedule and your actual life, so you walk out knowing how to do this for yourself for the rest of your racing life. We open the doors a few times a year. Get your name on the list at dietitianapproved.com/academy so you know the moment they open.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can get away with a fuelling gap over five hours. You cannot get away with it over 13.

Stepping up from 70.3 to Ironman is the exact moment most triathletes work out that their fuelling needs attention. Julie Whitton is 13 weeks out from Ironman Western Australia, her first full distance race after a decade of racing halves. She is a paramedic with New South Wales Ambulance, she has been a shift worker for 21 years, and she trains off a nine day roster that changes constantly. In this episode she takes Taryn through exactly what she has had to upgrade to get to that start line, and where the gaps showed up once the hours went up.

This is not a first Ironman story. This is the step up story, for the triathlete who already races 70.3 well and assumes that skill carries over.

IN THIS EPISODE

• What changes in your bike and run fuelling numbers when a race goes from five hours to 13 hours
• Why a small hourly shortfall you got away with at 70.3 compounds into a walk at full distance
• The shift from liquid fuel to solid food on long rides, and the trap of swapping over too fast
• How to gut train on gels without hitting flavour fatigue weeks before race day
• What Julie was doing at 70.3 that stopped working the moment the volume climbed
• Why she moved her recovery from 90 percent to 100 percent, and what that changed in her week
• Fuelling your body for what you want it to do rather than for how you want it to look

TIMESTAMPS

04:37  Training for Ironman around shift work
07:12  Bike fuelling from 70 to 80 grams
13:25  Run fuelling and flavour fatigue
17:35  What stopped working at full distance
23:35  Fuelling for performance not appearance

ABOUT JULIE WHITTON

Julie (Jules) Whitton is an age group triathlete and a paramedic with New South Wales Ambulance, where she has worked shift work for 21 years. She has been a Triathlon Nutrition Academy athlete since January 2023 and is now part of the Supercharged Squad. After a decade racing 70.3, she is stepping up to full distance at Ironman Western Australia on 6 December 2026. Julie was last on the show in Episode 119, Juggling Shift Work and Triathlon.

If you have a couple of halves behind you and a full quietly sitting on your list, the athletes who come unstuck are almost always the ones trying to learn how to fuel and how to train for 226 kilometres at the same time. Do one of those things first. Get your name on the list for our next cohort of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy at [dietitianapproved.com/academy](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy) and you will be the first to know when we open doors.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST [HERE](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/legend)

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The Triathlon Nutrition Academy® is a podcast by Dietitian Approved®. All rights reserved.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you paying up to $5.20 a gel because that is what they hand out on course?

Maurten, Precision Fuel and Hydration and SIS Beta Fuel are the three gels I get asked about more than any others. So I put them side by side and worked out what is actually in the packet, what each one costs you per 100 grams of carbohydrate, and whether that price gap buys you anything at all. No brand has paid me a cent to talk about them. I am Switzerland when it comes to sports nutrition products.

One of these gels costs roughly two thirds more than another for the exact same gram of carbohydrate. Whether that is money well spent comes down to three things most triathletes have never been taught to look for.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• What is actually inside each gel: carbohydrate, sodium, calories, caffeine and the main ingredients
• What it costs to fuel at 90 grams of carbohydrate an hour on each brand, in both Aussie and US dollars
• What the glucose to fructose ratio means in plain English, and the carbohydrate rate you need to be hitting before it matters to you
• Whether the hydrogel does what the marketing implies it does
• Which gel makes sense for Sprint, Olympic, 70.3 and full distance racing
• How to read a sports nutrition label so you are not at the mercy of whoever has the biggest marketing budget

STUDIES MENTIONED

• Currell, K., & Jeukendrup, A. E. (2008). Superior endurance performance with ingestion of multiple transportable carbohydrates. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 40(2), 275 to 281. [https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31815adf19](https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31815adf19)
• O’Brien, W. J., & Rowlands, D. S. (2011). Fructose-maltodextrin ratio in a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution differentially affects exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rate, gut comfort, and performance. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 300(1), G181 to G189. [https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00419.2010](https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00419.2010)

ALSO MENTIONED

• Episode 47: What is a Hydrogel? Does it improve endurance performance, with Andy King. [Listen here](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/podcast/episode-47)

The exact gel you use is the last 5% of your race nutrition strategy. If you want the other 95%, the Triathlon Nutrition Academy is my nine month education program that teaches you how to fuel your training week, train your gut and build a race plan that is uniquely yours. Doors open again soon, so register your interest at [dietitianapproved.com/academy](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy).

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