When we look back to the last 30 years, there has been a huge development in sport nutrition industry. In the 1970’s there was no energy bar, there was no sports drink, there was just natural food. Athletes fueled themselves with bananas, pasta, bread, sausages, steaks, milk and fruit juice. Some maybe had a cereal or chocolate bar during training.

Although there has been an increase in available sport foods since then, athletes look for natural alternatives. Reasons include money, taste, preferences, others want to be sure to know what goes into their body. Sport foods are often high in additives, some experience side effects. When you make your own sport foods, it’s often better for the stomach.

Our muscles need energy to work well. While we can fill up our stores with the meals preceding our workout, we need to provide additional energy if our workout lasts more than 90 minutes and or we train twice a day. Since our muscles prefer carbohydrate as fuel during intense exercise, our energy sources should be mostly made of carbohydrates.

The training roll is a simple way to prepare enough for a week. Sugar, flour and fruit provide enough carbs to fuel a workout while fat content is low. It’s also a good snack for a coffee with friends.

Training Rolls

Ingredients

20 servings

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1.5 cups rye flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • ¼ yeast
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar, honey or syrup
  • 2 cups warm milk
  • 2.5 tbsp canola oil
  • 1.5 cups raisins
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp bread spice

Directions

Mix flours and spice in a big bowl. Add the salt.

Add yeast to milk and stir. Once it’s dissolved, add the oil. Add that to the flour mix. Mix well to get a tender dough.

Mix raisins in and leave to sit for about 60 minutes.

Mould dough into a rectangle- Divide it in half and then cut into 10 portions each. Put them on a baking sheet. Brush the rolls with the egg wash.

Bake at 190°C for 15-20 minutes.

Hint: Substitute apples or banana for raisins. Add nuts or seeds to your dough (slows digestion, increases calories).

Nutrition (per serving)

179 kcal

3.1 g fat

32.2 g carbohydrates

1.7 g fibre

4.6 g protein

716 mg sodium

Training rolls