Irrespective of your endurance discipline, whether you’re a cyclist, runner, triathlete or adventure racer, the TORQ Fuelling System will work for you. Disciplines like cycling allow you to carry a wide variety of nutrition with you, whereas running can be a little more restrictive. Read on to learn how the TORQ Fuelling System works and as you are all runners, take a look at the Fuelling Running section a little further down this article and consider which approach and mix of TORQ fuelling products will work best for you.
Our guidelines are simple. For optimal endurance performances, take 2-3 TORQ units per hour. 1 TORQ unit equals 30g of multiple-transportable carbohydrate and we have made consuming your TORQ units extremely easy by creating uniformity across our product range.
If the weather is hot and/or perspiration rates are high, it makes sense to consume more 500ml TORQ Energy drink units, because you’ll be simultaneously taking on board both fluid and electrolytes with your carbohydrate to facilitate hydration.
In cooler weather, overconsumption of TORQ Energy will fill your bladder and your exercise will be interrupted by toilet stops! This is where drinking less, but gaining your TORQ units through the more concentrated TORQ fuel sources (Gels, Bars and Chews) makes more sense.
Essentially, irrespective of perspiration rates, your fuelling requirements remain constant, but the more you sweat, the greater the need to replace fluid and vital electrolytes. This is why the TORQ Fuelling System works so beautifully, adapting to your hydration needs whilst providing the constant supply of fuel essential for optimal endurance performances. In all of the examples displayed on this page, we have used a cyclist for consistency, but whether you’re a runner, open water swimmer or triathlete, the fuelling principles remain the same.
If you haven’t watched the video headlining this page, please take the time to watch either one of the short animations below, because it covers all the TORQ Fuelling System essentials in just over 2 minutes.
If you’re a cyclist, watch this video:
If you’re a runner, watch this video (please note that TORQ Hypotonic has been renamed TORQ Hydration since this animation was produced – they are the same product):
So effectively, your carbohydrate intake should always be 60-90 grams per hour (2-3 TORQ units per hour), irrespective of the weather conditions and perspiration rates, but the method by which you choose to fuel yourself will vary. We’re recommending that newcomers and smaller individuals begin with a strategy of 2 TORQ units per hour and experiment with 3 TORQ units per hour as they become more comfortable with a structured fuelling regimen. Individuals over 65kg in weight and experienced sports people should be able to move onto 3 TORQ units per hour fairly easily and without any cause for concern, but we would always advise fuelling at 60 grams per hour (2 TORQ units) if in any doubt.
The TORQ Fuelling System essentially provides the tools to experiment with different fuelling textures and as long as you stick to the 2-3 TORQ units per hour rule and listen to your thirst reflex, there really isn’t anything that can go wrong. From a texture perspective, the TORQ Fuelling System also provides the perfect variety with fuelling products ranging from ‘Wet’ to ‘Smooth’ to ‘Soft’ to ‘Chewy’ – TORQ Energy, TORQ Gel, TORQ Bar and TORQ Chew respectively. The choice of texture is all yours.
The infographic below sums up the simplicity of the TORQ Fuelling System perfectly:
Fuelling Running section
The key TORQ Fuelling System products have already been discussed:
TORQ Energy Drink
TORQ Energy Gel
TORQ Energy Bar
TORQ Energy Chew
Each of these products represents 1 TORQ Unit or 30g of fast-delivery carbohydrate, making the maths very easy. So, is it possible to follow the TORQ Fuelling System whilst using our TORQ Hydration Drink even though it only contains 15g of carbohydrate (0.5 TORQ Units)? The answer is yes and it’s actually very easy.
Although 500ml of TORQ Hydration represents half a TORQ Unit, it contains exactly the same amount of electrolytes as 500ml of TORQ Energy. It’s also formulated with 2:1 Glucose-Derivitives:Fructose, so is optimised for energy delivery, consistent with TORQ’s fuelling range. It can therefore be seamlessly introduced into the TORQ Fuelling System.
We accept that some of our customers may prefer the lighter flavours that TORQ Hydration has to offer over TORQ Energy and may want to simplify the TORQ Fuelling System further by effectively keeping their fuelling and hydration separate – and this is the key difference/benefit to using TORQ Hydration as part of the TORQ Fuelling System instead of our energy drink.
As TORQ Hydration has a very low carbohydrate content, it is literally impossible to over-fuel with it. In order to achieve an intake of 90g of carbohydrate per hour through TORQ Hydration alone, you would need to drink an enormous 3 litres! It would be rare to need to consume more than a litre of fluid per hour in most endurance environments and since we know that a litre of TORQ Hydration will deliver 30g of carbohydrate, a valid approach to fuelling would be to consume 2 further concentrated TORQ Units per hour (either gels bars or chews). In other words, you could set a reminder on your watch or phone to beep every 30 minutes, at which point you would consume a gel, bar or chew. Your hydration would then be a separate entity and you would simply drink to thirst with TORQ Hydration. Consuming 1 litre of TORQ Hydration along with a concentrated fuelling unit every 30 minutes would provide you with the optimal 90g of carbohydrate per hour.
If you were only to drink 500ml of TORQ Hydration in an hour, with this approach you would only take on board 75g of carbohydrate per hour, but this is still a very good level of fuelling. It would still sit within the 2-3 TORQ Units per hour range and would put you somewhere between Intermediate and Advanced on the ‘Easy as 1 2 3’ scale.
In particularly hot conditions, if you were consuming as much as 1.5 litres of fluid per hour, you could simply throttle back your concentrated fuel ingestion to 1 TORQ Unit every 45 minutes. This would give you around 70g of carbohydrate per hour, again putting you into the 2-3 TORQ Units per hour range.
With runners, we recommend adapting the TORQ Fuelling System in this way and using either TORQ Hydration or plain water in combination with a regular intake of concentrated fuelling units (usually gels), because this will allow you to take on water at feed stations during events to satisfy your hydration needs, whilst ensuring you take on board the correct amount of fuel. TORQ Hydration is available in sachet form and can be added to a 500ml bottle of water at a feed station if perspiration rates are particularly high and the need for electrolyte intake becomes significant. The video below explains this concept clearly, although please note that any references to TORQ Hypotonic refer to TORQ Hydration as we recently had a re-brand – the product is the same.
Article from TORQ LTD – All imagery and videos are the property of TORQ LTD.