Time trials are often called a “race of truth” because they reveal an athlete’s capabilities, highlighting both their strengths and weaknesses.
While skills like pacing and aerodynamics often get talked about most during time trials, they will also identify other aspects of an athlete’s preparedness, including nutrition.
Don’t let nutrition be one of your weaknesses. Here is advice from Dr. Tim Podlogar about how to optimize nutrition for time trials.
1. Adapt Your Carb Loading Protocol for Time Trials
Time trials are short events of maximum intensity. As a result, they rely heavily on glycogen, which is the stored form of glucose.
Endurance athletes use carb loading to increase their glycogen stores before events. The standard carb loading protocol for endurance involves consuming 10-12 grams of fast carbohydrates per kilogram of body mass in the 24-36 hours before an event.
However, time trials do not require a full-on glycogen loading. You still need to do loading, but 8 to 10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body mass is sufficient.
Why the Reduced Carb Intake for Time Trials?
While glycogen is crucial for fueling performance, storing it also increases water retention, which can lead to higher body weight.
In long events, this added weight is functional because it supports prolonged energy demands. However, in shorter events like time trials, the extra weight offers little benefit and may even hinder performance—especially in scenarios like uphill time trials.
By adjusting your carb loading protocol, you can optimize glycogen stores while avoiding unnecessary weight gain, ensuring you stay light and fast for the demands of a time trial.
2. Fuel during the Time Trial Warmup
Warmups aren’t just about getting your muscles ready for action. It’s also important for giving your body proper fuel so you have energy available when the time trial begins. Dr. Tim Podlogar recommends:
- Before Warmup: Have one Nrgy Gel 45, which provides 45 grams of fast carbohydrates.
- During Warmup: Continue to consume fuel as a sports drink, such as the Nrgy Drink 45.
- Before the Event: In the 5-10 minutes before your start time, consume one more Nrgy Gel 45.
3. You Don't Need to Fuel during the Time Trial
Because time trials are short, your glycogen stores should be adequate: you do not need to consume carbohydrates during the time trial.
However, you may still want to use mouth rinsing as this has been shown to have a neurological effect, which can improve exercise performance.
You may also want to take a few sips of a fuel drink during time trials that last longer than 20 minutes.
Sipping a fueling drink during a longer time trial may help sustain energy.
4. Consider Buffering Supplements
Sodium bicarbonate and beta alanine are two supplements which really shine for time trials. They likely work by buffering the blood to reduce acidity in muscles.
This translates into proven benefits such as:
- Prolonging time until fatigue
- Increasing muscle strength and explosiveness
- Pushing harder during short durations of high-intensity.
For these supplements to work, you must follow strict ingestion protocols.
Sodium bicarbonate can be taken before and during the event, but the dosage must be carefully controlled to avoid digestive side effects. By contrast, beta alanine must be taken regularly for weeks before the event to produce any benefits.
Learn more about how they work here:
5. Time Caffeine Wisely
Caffeine is another supplement that many athletes use during time trials. To get the most out of caffeine, you will need to ingest approximately 2-4 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body mass.
It takes approximately 15-30 minutes for caffeine to reach the bloodstream, so you’ll need to time the intake for when you want to feel its effect. If you want a strong start, for example, you might take it 20 minutes before your start time. If you want a strong finish, then you might take it right before your start time.
Bear in mind that caffeine sensitivity varies drastically between people. You may require more or less caffeine.
Learn more in our Caffeine Ingestion Protocol.
Pro Tip: Never use any new supplements right before an important event or race. Test them out beforehand so you know how your body will react.
6. Prioritize Recovery
If you’ve executed your time trial properly, your body will be drained of energy at the end. Proper recovery is crucial--especially when you have another event soon after a time trial.
While muscle repair often gets the spotlight, replenishing depleted glycogen stores is critical. After the time trial, your muscles will be primed to absorb glycogen, so aim to consume carbohydrates within 30 minutes of crossing the finish line. If you wait longer than this, you miss a key recovery window.
Read more in our Recovery Guide.