42 - answer to everything when hitch-hiking the galaxy.
Unless you are a diabetic, in which case your doctor will surely help with an authoritative answer (as opposed to ST).

Bonus question: How will you measure in a way you can read your "glucose level" when racing (no phones allowed)?

46.857956328 +/- 5E-10

5.5

I'm sure this is different from person to person. As far as I've know/seen there is no # that people are shooting above.

For instance I rarely eat when working out in the morning . I'd test my blood glucose and it would <80 in the morning. I had no issues running 90 min or going out for a 4h ride on zero calories for the first 2h. (Thanks Nana for letting me borrow some strips years back)

For others that might cause them to curl up in a little ball crying.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Thanks Brian,

Trying to dial nutrition in this year to keep me from bonking after the bike as i suspect I have always under fueled in past performances. So trying to be as scientific as possible

of course i can only measure during training so whatever i come up with will just be a guideline

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Yellowfin Endurance Coaching and Bike Fits
USAT Level 1, USAC Level 3

I doubt you can hurt yourself from trying more calories than you've been using. Maybe add in a gel or package of clif blocks or something like that every hr and see how it goes.

one of the biggest issues of under fueling is delaying recovery. I tell my athletes who are riding indoors a lot that they should make the bike the last workout of the day. Then they can have all the food and hydration they want over the last 20-25 min to get ahead of the recovery curve.

It's hard to do that if the run is the last workout of the day

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

People may have a lot less control on their Blood Glucose than they think. You can try to bump it, but your pancreas will automatically adjust it again. Then if it does overshoots and you start to drop, your liver will bump some glucose into your blood stream. I wouldnt worry about it, feed enough calories per hour and you are good.

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--
Vinnie Santana, Multisport Coach
http://www.ironguides.net
* * * Your best is our business. * * *

I don't believe there is any established standard yet, which makes the broad use of CGMs by non-scientists especially humorous to me.

I'd bet that keeping it over 100 is a good thing for virtually all folks in all training & racing scenarios. There's very very scant evidence in the literature on this.

CGM use and intra-exercise blood sugar monitoring barely makes the list of "horizons," let alone anything actionable at this point.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Agreed. As a parent of a child living with T1D I use a CGM on a daily basis. I can look at my phone right now and see what their blood sugar level is. I get alerted when it's going up too quickly, or going down too quickly. It's a godsend, and I can't imagine going back to finger pokes.

When I hard that they were being marketed to endurance athletes, I thought it was just that: marketing. Like they were sitting in a boardroom and brainstorming ideas on how to diversify revenue and came up with endurance sport.

I'm just grateful that my benefits plan covers it for her.

I’m type 1 myself and use a libre sensor…. I was always led to believe that providing u are fueled as such, blood sugar is normally kept within a tight range and self corrects in able pancreas folk. Perhaps there are larger spikes and dips with some nutrition I’m not aware of, hence the sensor 🤷‍♂️

I find it very hard to believe that a non DM1 athlete with a normal pancreas is going to do a better job regulating their blood sugar levels than their pancreas and liver already do. This reminds me of people who try to regulate their breathing when exercising. Minute ventilation is a dependent variable, your brainstem will sample the CO2 and O2 levels in your blood and trigger your respiratory drive all on its own. Your pancreas is going to keep your blood sugar within a physiologic range, you just need to eat assuming you have normal insulin and glucagon sensitivities. Eat things you enjoy and that give you enough calories to sustain your level of exertion.

Well put! Having to manage blood sugar levels make me realize how amazingly efficient the pancreas is. I'm not sure you can improve on that system.

I'd love to see what's happening as one progresses blood sugar level wise towards a good solid state of bonk. I know when the daydreams of food, especially sweet treats, intrude relentlessly into my thoughts above all else that I'm not too far from the dreaded state. It would be fun to see what was happening numerically to my blood sugar just before that state begins and as it progresses. Then again, I'm a numbers loving guy.

YMMV,

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

I was building for a couple 150mi-200mi Gravel Races and it sparked my curiosity after hearing Team Ineos was using them.
During exercise I never bottomed out below 80 mg/dl and never went over 135 mg/dl.
Conclusion for me was nothing usable or “wow” moments.
Another, when I thought I was bonking or was getting the cloudy head during a training session, my blood glucose levels were well within normal ranges (confirming with a finger prick) making me wonder if it was more mental fatigue.

What that means is you're depleting the glycogen stores in your liver. Your body is increasingly concerned it won't be able to keep blood sugar within appropriate levels to fuel your brain, so its trying to get you to either eat, stop exercising, or probably both.

As Wilfred Brimley once said "Check your blood sugar and check it often". Quaker oats are your friend.

Sub17Project wrote:

As Wilfred Brimley once said "Check your blood sugar and check it often". Quaker oats are your friend.

Do we know anything about how the body monitors glycogen levels?

There's that common phrase "my blood sugar is dropping" whenever someone is getting hungry or even light-headed, but that may not actually be accurate. More than likely their body is communicating something like low glycogen levels, not low blood sugar.

Good question

I went through almost 300 test strips and found what I was feeling had almost zero to do with what the test numbers were telling me.

Maybe there is a delay on the blood sugar level?

Maybe the glycogen level is more important as you are saying?

Supersapiens or fellow travellers are paying teams and some individual triathletes decent money to wear these things on an arm and make sure SM pictures show them.
Would welcome links to some decent science/papers and practical beneficial effects. Or even a shill on here 'splaining.
Eat more, before during and after, to the extent your gut copes with no distress.

Well, they're getting some media attention but probably not what they want:

Kristen Faulkner disqualified from Strade Bianche for wearing glucose monitor | Cyclingnews

Interestingly, because muscle glycogen is trapped within the muscle, this question does not apply to blood-glucose.

Now, there is some glycogen stored in the liver. When blood sugar is low, increasing levels of glucagon should begin liberating glucose from glycogen in the liver for distribution to the whole body via the blood stream.

When there is not a concurrent rise is blood glucose - then your body "knows" that liver glycogen is tapped.

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I talk a lot - Give it a listen: http://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/fast-talk
I also give Training Advice via http://www.ForeverEndurance.com

The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
http://www.AGNCYINNOVATION.com

And, what, 3 years after arriving, Supersapiens are slithering off, lubricated by their snake oil.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/...tes-all-memberships/
https://www.supersapiens.com/en-GB/

Say you get told an optimal number. Say, 65.

Imagine you're racing, you're feeling good, your guts are handling the gels so far.

You look down at your watch and see the number 50. Do you force another gel you weren't planning on taking?

I think it's telling we only saw blood glucose patches on professionals' arms when they were being paid to wear them.

Also makes me wonder about the honesty of those same athletes & coaches about the supposedly data-driven keys to their success