portions of breads, potatoes, pasta, rice, energy bars and cereals. It can be hard to achieve such high carb intakes from food alone and it is useful to consume drinks containing carbohydrates to further increase your intake. In recent years, dietary

simple mesh pocket for the extras. But it can expand to something with multiple bottles and pouches that could even rival the smaller bladder-based drinks carriers for load-lugging capacity. High 5 Energy Belt – £10 This is the must-have accessory

compounds in coffee appear to counteract caffeine's ability to impact your exercise session," says Graham. So to achieve these positive effects you're better off using caffeine pills or a caffeinated energy drink. Shame, the latte protein shake sounded

. Further studies have discovered that as a sporting fuel, honey performs on a par with glucose (the sugar in most commercial energy gels).Honey and commercial energy drinks and gels offer very similar amounts of carbohydrate. However, energy drinks and gels

consumptionCarb content Isotonic sports drink (eg Lucozade, Powerade, Gatorade)32g per 500ml 350ml unsweetened fruit juice + 350ml water + 0.8g salt35g Energy gel (eg SIS, High 5, Power Bar)23-26g Breakfast/cereal bar25-32g Large

, and gently beforehand as well.Drink plenty of fluids, especially when exercising in hot temperatures. (Energy drinks that contain both carbohydrates and electro-lytes are ideal).Make sure that you’re consuming the recommended dietary allowances of potassium

for you on race day. So I would say that the more time you have to try different sports bars, gels, energy drinks and timings, the better. As well as thinking about which carbohydrate you'll take on board during the race this is also a good time to plan

Drop a dress size. Double your energy. Two weeks to a better body. Or bad breath and gallons of cabbage soup… diets tend to promise one thing and deliver another. With new programmes being introduced all the time, sometimes it's difficult to sort

lead to low blood sodium levels," says Ingleby. "This makes it difficult to regulate the nervous system." That's why energy drinks contain sodium. Stay hydrated, and give the shaker a miss - but don't obsess about salt.In practice: Beans on toast

start. Sip on an energy drink leading up to and during the session (not too cold, just at room temperature).Warm-up: 10 minutes easy spinning at 100rpm, then increase your heart rate progressively during the next 5 minutes to reach your threshold heart