Most cyclists don’t think a lot about protein; that oversight is a mistake. Consuming adequate protein ensures the maintenance of lean muscle mass, might improve cognition and sleep, and potentially helps to keep you from getting sick [1-3].
Coffee Makes You Faster On The Bike: Here’s How
I love drinking coffee with my family at a lazy breakfast, on a cold day exploring San Francisco, or most of all at the end of a long winter ride. Coffee tastes amazing and smells glorious; it can also make you faster on the bike.
Fueling Better After Your Rides
We’ve already covered fueling before and during your rides; in today’s post, we’re focusing on after you cross the finish line.
How To Fuel Better During Your Rides
In our first article from our series on fueling for cycling we focused on the period of time before your ride or race begins. In today’s article we’re zeroing in on how to fuel better during your ride.
As we covered earlier, when ride intensity goes up, so does your reliance on carbohydrate [1].
Carb Loading For Cycling; Does It Matter?
For over a century, cyclists have known that stacking meals with carbohydrates is a requirement for riding fast [1, 2].
While lower cycling intensities draw on fat as an energy source, the harder you ride, the more your body taps into on-board carbohydrate (glycogen) to fuel your fastest efforts [1].
Drinking Coffee and Riding Fast
In today’s Journal Club we’ll check out a brand new paper examining caffeine, coffee, and riding a bike as fast as you can. Does coffee improve your cycling? Should you stop drinking coffee in the lead-up to an important event in order to boost your caffeine sensitivity and performance on race day? Let’s find out.
High Fat Low Carb Diets
Today I’m kicking off a new blog segment called the “Journal Club.”
In the Journal Club, we’ll examine a single research paper that holds significance to you as a cyclist. Whenever possible, I’ll select open-access research and include a downloadable link to a personally annotated PDF so you can dig into a full-text version and follow along.
In today’s Journal Club we’ll check out a brand new paper examining the performance implications of a Low Carb High Fat or “keto” diet. Is going “keto” likely to improve your cycling? Let’s find out.
Low Carb Training: Should you do it?
Most cyclists are familiar with eating a lot of carbs. In simple terms, “Carbohydrate is the most important nutrient in an athlete’s diet because it is the only fuel that can power intense exercise for prolonged periods…” [1], [2].
Does Beet Juice Really Make You Faster on the Bike?
Research into the performance boosting potential of beets goes back a decade [1, 8]. From effects on cardiovascular disease [15] to repeated-sprint performance [14], our knowledge of how beet juice impacts the body has continued to grow. Most of us are familiar with the decade old claim that beet juice improves cycling performance, but how exactly does it work?
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Staying Hydrated on the Bike: Does It Even Matter?
Hydration advice can be confusing. Over the last 20 years, strategies have ranged from “drink to maximum tolerance” to “ intentional strategic dehydration”. In this article we’ll take a closer look at the spectrum of hydration research then draw from science to create basic guidelines for your next race.
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