Are You Still Following Nutrition Advice From the 1980s?

Many masters cyclists—especially those aged 50 and above—are still using fuelling practices that originated in the 1980s and 1990s. To be clear, riders of that era were following the best available guidance at the time. Sports science simply had not evolved to where it is today.

Modern research now gives us a far more accurate understanding of how the body fuels endurance exercise, recovers, and regulates appetite. Updating fuelling strategies is one of the highest-impact, lowest-barrier improvements an older athlete can make.

Below is a precise explanation of what the old advice recommended, why it spread, and what current evidence shows.

1. Long fasted rides

Why it was recommended:It was believed that training without carbohydrate would improve fat burning and therefore endurance and weight loss.

What modern evidence shows:Louise Burke’s controlled research on elite race walkers (Journal of Physiology, 2017) demonstrated that although low-carb, high-fat diets substantially increase fat oxidation, they also reduce exercise economy—athletes require more oxygen to hold the same pace.

Performance did not improve.

The study is considered definitive due to its methodological control: Olympic athletes, standardised diets, controlled training camps, and repeated laboratory and field performance tests.

2. Low-carb or no-food training

Why it was recommended:Many believed that avoiding food during training enhanced adaptation, prevented weight gain, and promoted “discipline.”

What modern evidence shows:Burning more fat during a session does not improve endurance performance or long-term fat loss.

This is because body composition changes depend on overall energy balance:

Total energy consumed vs total energy expended over time—not which fuel you burned during a workout.

Under-fuelling does not provide adaptation benefits, and it sets up the body for significant physiological compensation later in the day.

3. Water-only rides

Why it was recommended:Carbohydrate intake during training was viewed as unnecessary unless racing. Sugar in drinks was discouraged.

Current evidence:Systematic reviews by Jeukendrup (2014) and Cermak & van Loon (2013) show that carbohydrate ingestion during sessions longer than 60–90 minutes consistently improves power output, pacing stability, cognitive function, and fatigue resistance. These findings integrate decades of randomised, controlled trials.

Water-only strategies reduce training quality and slow recovery.

The major consequence of these outdated practices: rebound hunger and post-ride cravings

Under-fuelling during rides—whether through fasted training, low-carb rides, or water-only riding—leads to a predictable and well-documented physiological response: strong rebound hunger, reduced appetite control, and a drive toward calorie-dense foods.

This is one of the most relatable experiences among older cyclists:

• intense evening cravings

• difficulty resisting ice cream, chocolate, biscuits

• eating far more than intended

• feeling fine after the ride but starving hours later

• cravings lasting up to 1–3 days after a deep depletion ride

This is not a discipline issue.It is a hormonal and neurological response to under-fuelling.

What happens physiologically when you severely under-fuel a ride:

• Ghrelin (hunger hormone) rises sharply post-exercise.

• Leptin (satiety hormone) drops, making fullness harder to achieve.

• PYY and GLP-1 (appetite-regulating peptides) are suppressed.

• Blood glucose becomes unstable, driving desire for quick calories.

• Dopamine reward pathways become more sensitive, increasing cravings for high-calorie foods.

  
  

Randomised crossover studies (Deighton et al., 2012; Gavrieli et al., 2013) consistently show that fasted or carbohydrate-depleted training results in greater total daily energy intake, even when participants attempt to restrict calories.

In short:Under-fuelling on the bike often leads to over-fuelling off the bike.

This hormonal disruption lasts 24–72 hours, explaining why cravings can persist for days.

Modern Fuelling: What We Now Know

Contemporary sports nutrition research clearly demonstrates that maintaining adequate carbohydrate availability during endurance exercise:

• preserves power output

• stabilises blood glucose

• reduces hormonal stress

• improves neuromuscular performance late in sessions

• accelerates recovery

• significantly reduces rebound hunger

Carbohydrate oxidation ceilings (~60 g/hr for single-source carbohydrates and ~90 g/hr for glucose+fructose combinations) and the ability to increase tolerance through gut training are now well established. Costa et al. (2017) and Rowlands et al. (2015) show that the gut adapts to higher carbohydrate intake, explaining why modern elite cyclists fuel so aggressively.

Conclusion

The fuelling practices of the 1980s and 1990s were based on early, limited science. Modern evidence is clear:

• Increased fat oxidation does not improve performance.

• Under-fuelling substantially increases hunger, cravings, and overeating.

• Adequate carbohydrate intake during training improves performance, pacing, recovery, and long-term health.

For older cyclists still following outdated guidance, updating fuelling habits is one of the fastest and most reliable ways to improve both training quality and day-to-day wellbeing.