I Love Bicycling

I Love Bicycling is a website that is geared towards cycling for beginners with road cycling tips, training articles, nutrition tips, weight loss, how to’s and bike repair articles.

How to Treat & Avoid Shoulder Pain While Cycling

by

In cycling, the shoulder doesn’t get challenged in many ways, apart from the load we bear as a result of leaning on the handlebars. Many of us have experienced shoulder pain while cycling, and it can be largely due to a number of factors, including the inadequate stimulation of all the tissues that surround, support, and move this complex joint.

shoulder pain cycling

(Image credit: anut21ng/Adobe Stock)

Shoulder injuries are one of the most common gradual onset injuries in recreational cyclists. This means that they develop slowly over time, usually as a result of the overuse of some muscles to the neglect of others. It often starts as a dull, aching sensation that gets worse with further use, as opposed to a sharp, acute pain that we really only see as a result of falls and accidents.

It’s important to know that the most mobile joint in the human body is the shoulder joint. Several bones, muscles and other tissues have influence on its structural integrity and movement capacity, which can make the causes of non-specific shoulder pain from cycling hard to identify. However, there are some common issues cyclists face simply due to the nature of the sport.

Poor Bike Fit & Prolonged Riding

Making sure your bike is fitted properly to your body is always one of the first things you should check when addressing pain. This is because as cyclists we stay more or less in the same positions for long periods of time, making us incredibly susceptible to overuse injuries and muscle imbalances.

If your handlebars are too low or too far away from you, it will force you to lean more forward, and you’ll resultantly have to support more of your bodyweight over the handlebars than you would otherwise. Think of an incline pushup (where your hands are elevated on something), and how the pushup gets harder as you move your hands lower towards the floor.

The constant weight bearing on the arms has a significant effect on the shoulder, and can often result in something called shoulder impingement syndrome. Pain when lifting the arms, pain while trying to reach overhead or behind you, pain in the front/side of the shoulder, arm weakness and stiffness are all symptoms of shoulder impingement syndrome.

Two of your four rotator cuff muscles (infraspinatus, supraspinatus) have tissues that pass between the humerus (upper arm bone) and acromion (top outer part of the shoulder blade). Constant load bearing on the arms, like you see in cycling, can compress, rub against, pinch or otherwise impinge upon these tissues, resulting in the symptoms previously listed.

(Image credit: VectorMine/Adobe Stock)

How to Fix It

  1. Get a professional bike fitting: Find a local shop that can do it in person or use an AI app like MyVeloFit to do it yourself at home. Either way, ensuring your bike is fitted to your body will immediately reduce your likelihood of injury and increase comfort while riding.
  2. Reduce cycling intensity: If you are dealing with some sort of shoulder impingement syndrome, you can see, just by its nature, how it’s not a problem you can simply work through. The body needs time to let this irritating condition settle while you work on creating more balance throughout the joint (next step).
  3. Strengthen the rotator cuff muscles: Cycling doesn’t challenge the shoulder in many ways, which is a disaster for shoulder health. It needs complex stimulation from a variety of exercises. Having a well-balanced program that trains the shoulder from all angles and in all positions is key to avoiding shoulder pain from cycling.

Faulty Breathing, Tense Neck & Shoulders

These three things are all related, and commonly found in the average cyclist. Because of the intimate and complex relationship between the humerus (upper arm), clavicle (collarbone), scapula (shoulder blade) and all their attaching tissues (which collectively form the shoulder joint), compromising any one of them can negatively influence the others.

x-ray showing shoulder joint

This x-ray shows the complex arrangement of bones that meet to form the shoulder joint. (Image credit: Nut/Adobe Stock)

Cyclists are prone to inefficient breathing and excessive stress on the neck through their positioning on the bike. The head juts forward and back the more you bend over on the bike, this can place a load of 60+ pounds on your cervical (neck) spine, because the head’s weight gets multiplied every inch it moves forward in front of the body.

A forward folded position can also inhibit movement of the diaphragm, your primary respiratory muscle. This encourages you to breathe through the chest, which strains small secondary respiratory muscles in your neck responsible for lifting the ribs. Because cycling is such a cardio-intensive activity, this type of breathing can cause significant irritation.

Both of these things can carry over into daily life, and both can contribute to shoulder pain while cycling. By compromising the head, neck and upper back through poor breathing and positioning, the shoulder will have no choice but to try and compensate. This is one example of how shoulder pain is not always directly linked to the shoulder itself, but its surrounding parts.

How to Fix It

  1. Strengthen the neck extensors & upper back: The muscles that pull your head back, as well as extend (flatten) your upper back, tend to get very weak if all you do is cycle. This is because they are constantly being stretched out on the bike. This article will show you what exercises to do and why they work for less neck and shoulder pain while riding.
  2. Practice diaphragmatic breathing: This means breathing into your belly. Most neck and head pain in cyclists can be attributed to faulty chest/neck breathing patterns. A good exercise is lying back over an exercise ball and taking long deep breaths. This stretches the abdominals while stimulating the diaphragm and forcing it to be more active.
  3. Relax the neck: Stretching the neck muscles prior to and even during your ride can force them to relax while you focus on breathing more into your belly. Being conscious of how much tension you’re holding in your shoulders will also be beneficial. Try to catch yourself while riding if your shoulders get shrugged up close to the ears.

Note on Nutrition & Cycling Shoulder Pain

Many people fail to consider the role of the organs when it comes to shoulder pain in cyclists. The phrenic nerve is a major nerve that originates from the third to fifth cervical spine nerves (C3-C5) in the neck. It descends through the thorax (chest cavity) and travels between the lungs, in front of the heart and along the surface of the diaphragm. 

You have two phrenic nerves, one going down the left and right side of the body. If the stomach, which is on the left side of the body, gets too distended or inflamed, it can press on the diaphragm and irritate the left phrenic nerve. Similarly on the right side, if the liver becomes enlarged, it can press on the right phrenic nerve via the diaphragm.

When these tissues become irritated or inflamed, they can send pain signals to the spinal cord through the sensory fibers of the phrenic nerve. In the spinal cord, the incoming pain signals from the phrenic nerve can activate nerve cells (neurons) that also receive sensory input from other areas of the body, including the shoulder. This is called referred pain.

Attention should be paid to the diet of a cyclist who is experiencing shoulder pain, especially if physio/massage interventions are proving ineffective. Stomach problems can contribute to left shoulder pain/weakness, and liver problems can do the same for the right shoulder. Common irritants like dairy, gluten and alcohol should be looked at as initial culprits.

Phrenic nerve

Phrenic nerve, highlighted in yellow. This is a frontal view. The diaphragm is the large dome-shaped muscle at the bottom. Under the elevated right side would sit the liver, and under the left side would sit the stomach. (Image credit: vesalii/Adobe Stock)

Eliminate Cycling Shoulder Pain!

By incorporating a well-rounded strength, mobility, flexibility and injury-prevention plan into your training, you can greatly reduce the risk of injury to your shoulders and every other part of your body. That is exactly what the programming at Dynamic Cyclist is designed to do. Try us out for 7-days FREE by clicking here!

How to Lose Weight Cycling: The Essentials

by

Your bike, when put to good use, may just be the best tool you have to lose weight. Whether you’re just starting out and looking to cycling as a means to a healthier lifestyle, or are a veteran cyclist, there are a lot of reasons you may be looking to lose weight cycling.

Shaving off the pounds can make you faster, boost your confidence, and impact almost every part of life. Just make sure you are putting your well-being first. If you are working towards a weight goal, ensure that is it one that will actually improve your overall health and fitness.

Why Cycling?

So, why chose to lose weight cycling over other means? Running is known for being on of the more effective way to burn calories, but is also a high impact sport. Especially if you live in a city and are running on roads, each step sends impact through your feet, ankles, calves, knees, and onward. This can make it a difficult activity to start if you have previous injuries, and you can be at risk of overuse injuries (which increases the heavier you are).

Cycling, on the other hand, is a low impact activity that like running, you can do almost anywhere. It’s also a ton of fun! Biking is all about the legs, but it’s also a cardiovascular exercise that burns a ton of calories. Weight loss comes down to burning more calories than you are taking in, causing your body to use energy stores. Plus, as you strengthen your muscles cycling, you’ll also be building up oxygen delivering capillaries. With oxygen running through your body at a faster rate, your metabolism will speed up and start to eat away at fat cells, resulting in weight loss.

Lose Weight Cycling

Steps to get started

Make a plan not a goal

Goals can be a great motivating tool, but without the plan to get there, they will remain out of reach. You need to get specific and lay it out in a way that makes sense to you. This could be a simple as riding your bike to work three days out of the week or putting in a couple hundred miles.

Be realistic with yourself and your schedule. If your plan is too demanding in the start, you probably won’t stick with it, but if it’s too easy you won’t see results. Can’t find time to commute or ride in the evenings? Try a lunch hour spin class. For more information check out this article: The Benefits Of Having A Cycling Training Plan.

Find your moderate base pace

Starting out you will want spend most of your time on the bike at 68-79 percent of your max heart rate. If you don’t want to fuss about measuring it with a heart rate monitor, then aim for a pace that leaves you out of breath, but still able to carry on a conversation (no gasping). Great, now hang out there.

You shouldn’t be so drained at the end of the ride that you won’t want to head out again, enjoy it! Once you’ve established your base, then you’ll want to introduce some variety to your rides in the form of intervals or high intensity sessions.

Lose Weight CyclingDiet

Your diet is the sum of the food you consume, and as you probably already know it is a huge factor in weight loss. Ignore what the latest fad is, it all comes down to nutrition and fueling your body with the right amounts of the right things. Just because you are going for ride after work does not mean you should carb load.

Carbohydrates need to support your cycling routines, not hinder them. The reality is that too large a portion can lead to peaks and dips in energy that can actually leave you feeling lethargic. A good rule of thumb is to aim to eat a fist-sized portion of low-glycaemic carbohydrates to ensure that you get a steadier release of energy as you ride.

Weight loss is a simple concept: More calories out than in. So, keep your diet simple. Eat a balanced, healthy diet, control your portion size, and cut out unnecessary snacking and you will be well on your way.

Don’t fear the hills

Going up a hill takes a lot more energy than riding on a flat surface. This will cause you to use up extra calories in a shorter period of time. So, hills are actually your friend!

Embrace the cycling communityLose Weight Cycling

Accountability is important for everyone, but it’s not something you should dread. Finding a cycling partner or joining a weekly group ride not only ensures you show up, but it’s also a great way to meet people. So, head down to your local bike shop and find out how you can get involved.

Enjoy it!

Cycling is fun above all else, so make sure you keep it that way! Think of it as a part of your day you’re looking forward to, rather than something you have to do to lose weight. The more you enjoy it, the more likely you’ll be to stick with it for the long haul.

How to Train Smarter (Not Longer!)

by

Achieving better fitness with a limited schedule can be difficult. To get stronger within your time constraints, you must be exacting in your methods of both training and recovery. This is the best way to make the most of your time and effort. Here are some tips to help you train smarter and get faster.

Ride Hard

There is no sense in riding easy if you have only a few days per week to ride to improve your fitness. Three very hard days on the bike should get you passable fitness to get you through your local group rides. More than three very hard days on the bike could burn you out if you do not get a week of recovery every four weeks or so. A very hard day means blindingly hard, so hard that you probably want to quit, have tunnel vision or maybe even release your bowels in your chamois. If you have never tested this dark, dark place, now is the time to try it.

Interval TrainingHow To Improve Your Fitness Without Training More

Set out with a plan of specific intervals for your extra hard days. This way you cannot cheat or have the power fall off by the end of the ride, or if you do cheat, you will know it was blatant. High intensity interval training has proven to be quite effective in increasing fitness with short workouts. Remember the last paragraph; you must be prepared to really slay it on the bike to make the most of these workouts. Start with small sessions once or twice a week and build up.

Sleep

Without sleep, all of your hard training, all of the hours you suffered on the bike are for nought. Sleep is when you make your real gains. It is when your body compensates for the training stress you put it through and adapts to the load. It is always incredibly important, but if you are burning the candle at both ends with work, family and other obligations on top of training, quality (and large quantities) of sleep will keep you afloat in all aspects of life and let you make fitness gains.

Nutrition

Again, with the focused approach that is necessary when you are short on hours, your nutrition needs to be completely dialed too. You will not be doing huge volume, so you do not need large quantities of food, but you need to make sure you are getting the highest quality food. Good nutrition will fuel your workouts to the best of your ability along with fueling proper recovery.

When you are pulled in many directions, it is easy to fall into a routine of quick and dirty food. If you want those fitness gains bad enough, you will need to figure out a way to get the best nutrition possible. It will make every pedal stroke that much better and mean that much more in the long run.

Drink lots of water (with electrolytes, not purified water, whether it is distilled or reverse osmosis) to keep your blood viscous and flowing. It will deliver nutrients to your muscles more freely and keep your heart’s work to a minimum.

Cross TrainingHow To Improve Your Fitness Without Training More

With limited time, sometimes a full training ride is difficult to squeeze in. On those days, cross training may be a quick way to maintain fitness that you are trying to hold onto or increase. If you can keep it cycling specific, whether it is in the weight room, skating or nordic skiing, that is great. If you have other activities that fit into your schedule, like running, that is fine too, although it will not have as much of a positive impact on your cycling musculature.

Recover Hard

Recovery should be happening whenever you are not training, although that is probably a stretch when you have a busy life. When you are recovering, do it full on. Get your feet up, keep hydrated, eat well and keep the external stress down. An additional recovery tactic is compression gear. You can wear it when you are at work under your normal work clothes.

If your time is limited and you want to make fitness gains, everything you do has to be full-on: your riding, your sleep, your nutrition and your recovery. Make it a routine that works and you will make the most of your time.

5 Things Definitely Not To Eat On Ride

by

not-to-eat-on-a-ride

There are lots and lots of articles on what you should eat while riding. Some of those articles may even give you an idea of what not to eat on a ride, but with few specifics. Here is your chance to read about five things definitely not to eat on a ride and why they could ruin your day.

The 5 Things Not To Eat On A Ride

Meat

Most of the digestive issues from the foods on this list is about their basic digestibility. If it takes a long time to digest, a food will not provide much benefit during a ride; you will not have access to the macro nutrients by the time your ride is over (unless you are on an epic ride). Meat tops the list as slow to digest. It requires lots of mechanical digestion, hence energy that could be going to your legs, along with the blood powering your stomach. Low carbohydrate content means very little quickly available energy during your ride. Save your meat for post-ride recovery.

Ice Cream

Ice cream has a bit more accessible carbohydrates than meat, but suffers from the same lack of digestibility as meat. What ice cream (and dairy in general) has over meat is its ability to produce greater quantities of flatulence. You do not want that in your chamois. Most people have difficulty with lactose, whether they know it or not, and you may get a surprise grumble after a milky treat.

Gels and High Sugar Drinks

Surprise! Gels and other high sugar sports drinks only serve to dehydrate you, despite the claims on the packaging. Read the fine print on a gel and it says you should consume with a full bottle of water. How are you going to carry that many bottles on a long ride.

What happens is that the sugar in the gel or drink needs to have a lower concentration for your body to absorb it. That additional fluid to dilute the sugar solution comes from the fluid you already have in your body. Blood viscosity goes up and performance goes down.

Stick with solid food that is has a relatively high carbohydrate content. Solid food will rely on mechanical digestion versus dilution of a sugar solution. You will perform much better.

Spicy Food

Avoiding spicy food is pretty simple. You do not want it to repeat while you do your repeats. More powerful than a power meter or heart rate monitor to know if you are going hard enough is the old throw-up-in-your-mouth. It is bad enough to regurgitate; you do not want it to be spicy too.

And spicy food can cause a bit of stomach discomfort, but that is not the main point here.

Raw Veggies

A few carrots sticks or a small salad will be fine during the course of a ride, say on a lunch stop, but it is not going to give you a boost in energy levels. If you do find the most delicious broccoli on your ride, maybe when stopping at a farmers market?, try to avoid gorging on it. It is going to be tough to digest, along with probably giving you an extra blast out of the old jet exhaust. You may also find the blood draining from necessary parts of your body like your legs and head to power the digestion of all that fiber.

So What is Left to Eat?

There are still lots of great options to snack on while riding. Based on the above, you should be able to distill that your food should be solid, digestible and have a high carbohydrate to protein and fat ratio. Eat what you think is delicious and maybe error on the side of bland to avoid the reflux. You will be more likely to enjoy your snacks and stay fueled properly for your ride.

5 Great Muscle Recovery Foods

by

Post-workout recovery has different meanings for every individual. This could include activities such as ice baths, stretching, or just elevating your legs. One of the most important recovery aspects that tends to get neglected is proper nutrition after exercise. What you eat and when you eat can help your body recover quicker and replenish lost energy stores. Eating the closest thing available or what you’re craving is not always the best option but these muscle recovery foods will be sure to have you on the road to feeling great and having a stellar next ride. muscle recovery foods

5 Great Muscle Recovery Foods

Not sure what you should be eating post-workout? Here are 5 great muscle recovery foods to have you feeling great on your next ride.

#1 – Quinoa:

Image result for quinoa

One of the most important energy stores to replace after a ride are carbohydrates. As a general rule of thumb, you should try to begin to replace lost carbohydrates within twenty minutes of your ride. Quinoa is a great substitute to rice because it is highly nutrient dense. It has 6 grams of protein per cup and contains all 9 essential amino acids; something no other carb source can claim. The one amino acid that particularly helps sore muscles is lysine, which quinoa is high in. Quinoa provides carbohydrates, high amounts of protein, and even anti-inflammatory properties so it should be a regular “go-to” for your after workout meals.

#2 – Salmon:

Image result for salmon

In addition to replacing carbohydrate stores, you will want to consume protein. Salmon is a great choice as it contains bio-active peptides; a small protein that has anti-inflammatory properties and helps joint function. Another great benefit of salmon is the amount of omega-3’s found within it, which help with muscle soreness and reduce swelling. In addition, omega-3’s influence the metabolic response of muscles to nutrition as well as the functional response.

#3 – Avocados:

Image result for avocado

These small green fruits sure pack a punch! With twenty-two grams of fat in just one cup, it can be used as a healthy alternative to not-so-healthy traditional toppings like mayonnaise. The fat is also monounsaturated which means it’s the healthy kind that you want more of in your diet. These healthy fats support good heart health, immune system recovery, and vitamin absorption, particularly vitamin C,E,K, and B. With all of these qualities, avocados are also great for brain health and can help improve memory and learning capabilities.

#4 – Berries: Specifically Blueberries and Cherries (if you call them a berry):

Image result for blueberries

Berries in general are high in antioxidants but blueberries and cherries in particular have a high ORAC oxygen radical absorption capacity . This means that they neutralize free radicals which form as a result of exercising. The overall thing, in blueberries in particular, that can help muscle recovery is the phytochemical content which has been studied, albeit with loose benefits found, to see if it helped muscles after a strenuous exercise

#5 – Water:

Image result for glass of water

Drink water after riding is a no-brainer but drinking enough is often an overlooked challenge. Ideally you don’t finish a ride super dehydrated but it does happen. It’s important that the first thing that you start to get back into you is water, be it on its own or through a recovery drink to help get other quick nutrients right after. One of the reasons that being dehydrated can hinder muscle recovery is that it reduces blood plasma volume. This in-turn makes it difficult for energy and nutrients to reach the muscle.

There of course are more than 5 muscle recovery foods but if you include these foods in your diet on a regular basis after your rides, you should feel a difference later in the day as you won’t be exhausted. Additionally, you will have improved energy levels as well as less soreness the following day along with just how good you feel on your next ride. Eat right, feel great!

TORQ USA-Why Should I Fuel

by

torq3

*This Article was contributed by TORQ USA whose products are based around science and natural ingredients for optimal performance. You can find their products in our I Love Bicycling Shop.

To help you better understand the fueling process, we’ve strung together a series of short animations to demonstrate exactly what happens to your body when you exercise without ingesting any carbohydrate (0g per hour), compared with some carbohydrate (30g per hour), significant carbohydrate (60g per hour) and optimal carbohydrate consumption (90g per hour)…

torq4

After working through this short section, please take the time to read through the TORQ Fueling System background  where we explain how the optimal delivery of carbohydrate (90g per hour) is only possible if all of the carbohydrate you consume during exercise consists of 2:1 Glucose Derivatives:Fructose. That said, the animations below clearly demonstrate that ‘any’ carbohydrate consumed during exercise will benefit performance. The question is, how fast do you want to go, or how long do you want to last?

Firstly, it’s important to understand the differences between ‘Endogenous’ and ‘Exogenous’ carbohydrate:

torq5

Endogenous (ENDO) refers to carbohydrate that is stored in your liver and muscles – called ‘Glycogen’. Even on a diet rich in carbohydrate, the most you can expect to store is around 500g or 2,000 kCals (and that’s if you’re a well trained athlete – the less conditioned you are, the less you can store). When your stores are full, they’re full – so continuing to ingest high degrees of carbohydrate in the hours approaching exercise will have no effect on your stores if they’re already saturated. To clarify this point, it would be like leaving the tap running on the bath – once the water level reaches the overflow, the bath will get no fuller however much water you keep pouring in. This is a vital concept to understand and it’s where many people go wrong when it comes to fueling for optimal performance. One final and very important point to note about endogenous carbohydrate stores is that when they run out, your metabolism will grind to a halt and your pace will drop off dramatically. This is called ‘Bonking’ in cycling or ‘Hitting the wall’ in running.

torq6

Exogenous (EXO) refers to carbohydrate consumed during exercise and this can be in the form of energy drinks, gels, bars or chews if you consider the Fueling System items from the TORQ range. Any carbohydrate consumed during exercise, even if it’s a banana or a candy bar, is still considered exogenous carbohydrate. This carbohydrate enters the blood stream and is burnt preferentially over your endogenous stores. Exogenous carbohydrate isn’t stored, it’s used straight away and the more you can get into your blood, the less of your stored carbohydrate you need to use. It’s important to note that for high intensity endurance activities, it’s impossible to supply sufficient exogenous carbohydrate to halt the depletion of your endogenous stores, all it will do is slow down the regression. The TORQ Fueling System section of this website explains how all exogenous carbohydrate sources are NOT the same and how 2:1 Glucose Derivatives:Fructose formulations have been proven beyond doubt to deliver at a faster rate and higher volumes of carbohydrate than any other.

Play the short clip above. This demonstrates how a cyclist relying entirely on endogenous stored carbohydrate quickly drains his/her stores and becomes fully glycogen depleted after 1 hour and 20 minutes. Note that the exogenous needle doesn’t move at all, because the cyclist isn’t consuming anything whilst exercising. All of these animated clips assume a very high intensity effort, >70% VO2, (the effort is exactly the same in each example) and you may have to play each of them a few times to gain a clear understanding of what’s going on.

In the clip above, we demonstrate how every time 30g of carbohydrate is consumed, the use of exogenous carbohydrate slows the burn rate of the endogenous stores, the overall benefit being, the maintenance of pace/performance for a longer time period. In this example, the cyclist lasts another 10 minutes as a result of low level fueling.

The clip above demonstrates how consuming 60g of carbohydrate per hour extends time to exhaustion further still through the greater preservation of endogenous stores.

And finally, if you play the clip above, notice how much longer the cyclist can sustain his/her performance when consuming 90g of exogenous carbohydrate per hour.

The clip above summarizes the 4 different strategies of 0g, 30g, 60g and 90g exogenous carbohydrate consumption per hour and hopefully this makes our message crystal clear when you see all 4 cyclists exercising together.

As well as explaining why you should fuel, hopefully these examples have made it very clear that the greater the exogenous carbohydrate absorption per hour, the better your performance will be. Not all energy products are the same, because a number of factors can affect carbohydrate absorption/delivery rates. You will only be able to consume 90g carbohydrate per hour if you consume fuel that consists of 2:1 Glucose Derivatives:Fructose and this is backed extensively by a significant number of peer-reviewed published research studies.

Incidentally, just in case you’re wondering, if we were to run a series of animations showing what happens during lower intensity endurance exercise, the results would be exactly the same in relative terms. In each example, the cyclist would last longer, but the same principles would apply – the greater the exogenous fuel intake, the longer the cyclist would last.

In the final clip above, we pull all of these principles together and demonstrate how fueling ‘affords’ a higher pace over a given time. In order for the athlete consuming 0g of carbohydrate per hour to be able to sustain a consistent pace for a 2 hour effort, his/her pace needs to be moderated downwards to avoid bottoming-out the endogenous stores and bonking – this means riding slower. On the other hand, the athlete on 90g of carbohydrate per hour can afford to push on at a far stronger pace, cover a larger distance and still finish with fuel in the tank. In this example, the well fueled rider covers 10 more miles over the same time frame and still has 25 to 30% of his/her endogenous stores remaining at the end of the effort. The fact that the endogenous stores are less damaged despite a higher intensity effort is actually fundamental to understanding the principles of the TORQ Recovery System. If you fuel diligently, you will not only have performed better and created a bigger training stimulus, you will also have kick-started the recovery process.

It’s not just better fuel, it’s better fueling.

We have partnered with TORQ USA to offer you their high profile line of products to help you achieve your cycling goals and objectives.

torq-front

Gluten and Cycling– What Makes It Good Or Bad

by

It’s almost trendy to despise gluten. But looking at it historically, people have been chewing plant seeds for thousands of years. We even had those flat, cow-like teeth made for munching plants, not sharp, tearing teeth like carnivores. So why is gluten the enemy now? As cyclists, you not only require carbs, but crave them at times. The number of people who are eliminating gluten in their diet continues to rise. Can you do without it? Do you want to do without it? It’s your call.
gluten-and-cycling5

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is the biggest reason behind the gluten controversy. Celiac disease is a condition caused by an abnormal immune response to gluten; a disorder that makes the body attack gluten in the digestive system, damaging the lining of the small intestine. That, in turn, can prevent important nutrients from being absorbed. But here’s the kicker– experts estimate that only about 1 percent of Americans have celiac disease.
But how do you know if you have celiac disease? The symptoms include diarrhea, skin rash, and anemia. You may be tired, bloated and depressed. The only way to know is to be tested. The first test is typically a blood test to detect antibodies signaling an abnormal immune response. If your blood test comes back positive, a biopsy is performed to confirm inflammation in the lining of your gut.

Sensitivity Versus Celiac

In all fairness to gluten though, celiac disease may have few or no symptoms. For that reason, only about 5-to-10 percent of cases are diagnosed in the U.S.  So here’s the other part of the controversy; some individuals may be sensitive to gluten but don’t have outright celiac disease. This group may feel better on a diet with less gluten.
For the majority of cyclists who don’t have celiac disease, if you function better, can maintain your speed, climbing abilities, and endurance on a gluten free diet then by all means do it if you want to.

Health Reasons

People typically choose to go gluten-free for health reasons including less inflammation and better immune system response. If your immune system is weak or you feel tired and fatigued all the time, a gluten-free diet might make you feel better. There’s a tremendous upside and virtually no downside to doing a trial run. Worst case, you will eliminate a lot of processed foods from your diet.

Gluten and Inflammation

Inflammation frequently comes up in discussions about nutrition but is highly controversial among health professionals. It involves an adverse reaction to gluten in people who do not have celiac disease. Even without a diagnosis of celiac disease, a number of people feel better when gluten is eliminated from the diet. Science is still inconclusive on what’s been termed “gluten intolerance”, but some experts think sensitivity leading to bloating or digestion changes could be an inflammatory response to gluten. As a cyclist, gluten and cycling could be important for this reason alone.

Wheat Allergy

Wheat allergy is also frequently brought up in association with gluten. Estimates for allergies to plant products determined by the diagnostic standard are scarce. But some information indicates that a wheat allergy is relatively rare and estimates are that it probably affects under one percent of individuals. It’s more likely that a wheat allergy is a prevalent reaction to a perceived allergic reaction to plant food.

What is Gluten

So what’s wrong with trying a gluten-free diet? To begin with, gluten-free is saying no to nutritious foods — foods that power your cycling. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. It’s that stretchy stuff that makes baked food rise — it’s the glue that holds bread together. Gluten also shows up in many whole grain foods related to wheat — barley and rye, bulgur, farro, and spelt to name a few. Some celiac disease experts warn patients to steer clear of oats as well.

It’s a Protein, Not the Carb

So now that it’s established that grains can be terrible in some cases — hang on for a minute. The problem with grains is not the carbs — it’s due to a protein — not the carbohydrates. Gluten is just another name for protein. Gluten and cycling is not the same thing as carbs and cycling.

Don’t Give Up Carbs

You don’t have to give up your carbs. There are lots of alternatives to carbs with gluten. Here’s a few of them:

  • Rice
  • Corn
  • Oats (specifically if you get the gluten-free version to avoid contimaination by gluten)
  • Quinoa
  • Chia seeds
  • Beans and lentils
  • Potatoes
  • Sweet Potatoes

Alternatives to Gluten

It’s amazing what you can find in your local grocery store. For example corn pasta or brown rice pasta, is just an example of what you can find. Gluten-free bread isn’t hard to find either. You can find actual loaves of bread in your local stores or look online and you’ll see gluten-free flours which let you bake your own gluten free breads or pastries.

With all that being said, you might be considering a gluten-free diet, just to see how you feel, and if you feel better that’s fine. But at least one study says that there’s no benefit to your cycling performance. And that any perceived benefit is because you’re watching what you’re eating, including healthier foods like eating less processed foods, more fruits and vegetables. Another reason why you might feel better is the placebo effect, which can go a long way.

At least one professional cycling team is gluten free. “I was pleasantly surprised,’ says Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Transitions’s team leader, who was the first member of the team to experiment with going wheat-free during the racing season. ‘I just had all-around better digestion, and digestion is the biggest thing in utilizing the energy I consume.” So the gluten and cycling comparison in this example is somewhat evident.

Gluten and cycling are not mutually exclusive. If you feel better, fine, go ahead and go gluten-free.  Studies and testimony never really prove anything or that gluten has negative or positive effects on anything. All you can really do, is if you suspect that you might be suffering from celiac disease, gluten allergy or sensitivity, that you go gluten free and see how you feel, or alternatively, get tested by a health professional. Don’t follow national trends just because everyone else is talking about it. Decide for yourself.

How To Make Your Own Homemade Energy Gel

by

homemade energy gel

If you regularly read this site, you already know how great it is to make things on your own and hack otherwise pricey on-the-bike food and drink. Here you will learn how to make your own homemade energy gel. Outwardly, off-the-shelf gels in fancy foil packets seem like engineering marvels that can pick you up out of a bonk and back to pedaling efficiently. The reality is that they are easy to make bursts of easily accessible carbohydrates, both for your body to use and for you to find the ingredients.

The Ingredients

For simplicity’s sake, you could shove a honey bear in your pocket and be done. Honey is a great source of quick energy but one, it is very viscous, making it a bit hard to choke down when you are already having a rough time on the bike and two; a little work on your part will provide your homemade energy gel with a bit more nutritional value.

Along with honey, you will need brown rice syrup, which is thinner than honey and it will still provide carbohydrates, and blackstrap molasses, which is quite thick but has a lot of potassium to provide electrolytes. Along with the three sources of carbohydrates, you will need another source of electrolytes. You could put pure salt in, although it will not help the texture. Opting for something like Elete electrolyte drops will give you the electrolytes and reduce the viscosity of the gel. If the mixture is too thick, it will be difficult to choke down.

Take one tablespoon of each sweet ingredient (honey, rice syrup, and molasses) with an eighth of a teaspoon of salt or six drops of electrolyte concentrate. Blend together either by hand or in a blender. This homemade energy gel should be about equal to two gel packets. That was pretty easy, right? Now you can experiment with flavors and textures.

Get a Flask

You have to get that homemade energy gel in your pocket for your ride and then into your mouth without making a mess. Use a refillable gel flask. It will cut down on garbage, can hold more than one shot of gel, will not leave gel in your pocket from finished packets, and is overall less prone to making a mess at any stage.

A Note on Gels

If you have ever read the instructions on a gel packet, you have seen that it says to drink anywhere between sixteen and twenty four ounces of water with each gel. That is a full bottle of water. Over the course of a long ride, you would need six or seven, or more, full bottles to wash down each gel. It is not the most efficient way to get energy into your body. Gel should be the last resort energy, when you are on your way to bonking or need a final kick to get you to the end.

The reason gel needs so much water is that your body needs fluid to digest it. With solid food, your body uses mechanical digestion to break it down. With a gel, there are no solid elements but it is too thick to go directly to your bloodstream. Your body pushes fluid into your digestive system from your bloodstream to dilute the gel and then deliver it back to your bloodstream. This is why gels require large of amounts of water with them.

Homemade Wins Again

Homemade energy gels are great for the same reasons all the other homemade foods on this website are great; the satisfaction of making your own food, tailoring your nutritional needs and tastes, hacking the system, and being able to whip up what you need when you need it. Continue to impress your friends with your own homemade energy gel.

6 Extra Important Vitamins For Athletes

by

Vitamins are essential organic compounds that humans need to consume or produce to continue necessary life functions. They are micro-nutrients meaning that only very small amounts are necessary, although, sometimes even those small amounts are difficult to come by through diet only.

There are six vitamin groups, two of which humans can produce on their own, and four which they must ingest. Because of higher metabolic rates, getting enough vitamins for athletes is critical; there is potential to use up the reserves quicker than the average person. The processes that vitamins perform are extra important for athletes because they not only sustain normal body function, but if those body functions are performing at their peak, they will allow the to recover and perform better.

6 Extra Important Vitamins For Athletes

Vitamin A

The story most closely told about vitamin A is that it helps you see at night. This is true; one sign of a vitamin A deficiency is night blindness. The retina needs vitamin A to see color and in low light conditions. Along with ocular health, vitamin A is an antioxidant, promotes skin health, provides immune support and aids cellular health and multiplication.

Vitamin A is stored in the liver and is fat soluble. Eating the liver of other animals has some of the highest concentrations of vitamin A. It is also available in adequate concentrations in a lot of vegetables, most notably carrots. Because it is fat soluble, it takes a while to flush excess vitamin A from the body making overdosing a possibility if you eat too much liver or take too many supplements.

B Vitamin Group

B vitamins are generally found in large quantities in animal products. Vegans and vegetarians generally need to supplement B vitamins to have adequate supplies. There are a eight different vitamins in the water soluble B group:

  • B1 – Thiamine
  • B2 – Riboflavin
  • B3 – Niacin
  • B5 – Pantothetic Acid
  • B6 – Pyridoxine
  • B7 – Biotin
  • B9 – Folic Acid
  • B12 – Cyanocobalimin

B vitamins are critical for cell metabolism. They make energy production possible at the cellular level. In turn your body can function as a whole. Each B vitamin produces different coenzymes and has a different chemical structure which is why the group separates into eight different sub-vitamins.

Vitamin C6 Extra Important Vitamins For Athletes

Vitamin C is commonly known for its immune support functions. It also aids in energy production and is an antioxidant. Most animals synthesize vitamin C on their own; humans are one of the few animals that needs to ingest it however. It is available in many fruits and vegetables which is why its deficiency, scurvy, was so common on long sea voyages. Without access to fresh fruits and vegetables sailors became deficient. It is water soluble making it more difficult to overdose on. That’s why you will see products like Emergen-C with daily servings of over 1000%.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of two vitamins humans can synthesize; it requires exposure to the sun. This is a complicated balance. Too much ultraviolet exposure is linked to skin cancer, but not enough vitamin D is linked to osteoperosis in adults and rickets in children. Lots of foods are fortified with vitamin D because of limited sun exposure. It is fat soluable, although overdosing would require a lot of supplementation. You would likely have a nasty sunburn well before you would overdose from sun exposure.

Vitamin E

vitamins for athletes

Vitamin E is the last antioxidant and also plays a role in neurological function, muscle growth, and gene expression. It is fat soluable and found commonly in many oils, nuts, and seeds. Too much vitamin E can lead to suppression of vitamin K and clotting problems. Not enough vitamin E can lead to neurological breakdown, reduced immune function and cellular destruction.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is the other vitamin that humans can synthesize on their own. It is necessary for blood clotting and calcium absorption. Deficiency in vitamin K usually comes with other disorders that impair the body’s ability to produce it. In adults, supplementation is not necessary unless there is another disorder.

Vitamins for Athletes

Vitamins in the right amounts help athletes perform at their best. Finding the right balance is necessary so you don’t under or over dose on these compounds that make life and athletic performance possible.

What Is Carbo Loading? Good or Bad And How To Do It

by

carbo loading

Carbo loading is a dietary strategy to ensure that you have maximum glycogen in your body for an an endurance event, which in this case is cycling. Glycogen is the fuel that powers your muscles. There is an upper limit to how much glycogen a body can store. Carbo loading is an attempt to reach that limit prior to a top priority day on the bike.

What Carbo Loading is Not

Carbo loading is not eating as many carbohydrates at a meal the night before a key event despite what many people believe. That gigantic plate of pasta the night before your big ride is not carbo loading; it is only a really big dinner.

When the system was devised in the 1960’s it was a systematic reduction of carbohydrate intake in the days leading up to an event along with a boost in training load followed by three to four days of a lighter training load with high carbohydrate intake (ten to twelve grams of carbohydrate per kilogram). The idea is that the body will make additional storage for glycogen when it becomes available. The more modern take on carbo loading is that the depletion phase is not necessary. Easier training and higher carbohydrate intake are all that is required. Additionally, it is advisable to eat as many simple carbohydrates as possible for your body to break down and store. This is contrary to the advice of an every day diet.

More Energy

The promise of more energy, fatigue resistance, and more power from carbo loading requires work. You must be fully committed to eating the right balance of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. If you do not achieve close to seventy percent of your calories from carbohydrates, your body will react as if you are eating normally. It is a very difficult task.

Males vs. Females

Males and females do not respond to carbohydrates the same, especially for women during the high hormone phase. All of the early studies of carbo loading were on men, ignoring the fact that women have slightly different body chemistry. This study shows that there was no benefit to carbo loading in the high hormone phase. It is something for women to be aware of leading up to big events.

A Long Day on the Bike

Carbo loading does not replace proper on the bike nutrition, especially for longer days of riding. When a cyclist is riding for six hours at a hard pace they will burn approximately six hundred calories per hour. Average glycogen stores are up to 1800 calories for a seventy kilogram person. That leaves approximately two thousand calories to make up. Some of that will come from burning fat but a lot needs to come from eating during a ride. Do not make the mistake that carbo loading will keep you from needing to eat on a ride.

Problems with Carbo Loading

  • Weight Gain – It is possible to gain weight from carbo loading, even if done properly because of the higher caloric intake and water retention.
  • Stomach Ache – If the carbo loading diet is wildly different from your regular diet, it may cause gastric distress.
  • Carb Shortfall – It is difficult to get enough carbohydrates which makes the changed diet not worthwhile.

Sample Foods

Carbo loading requires a lot of simple carbohydrates. That means cereals, white flour, and rice while being light on the fat and protein which are there to keep everything palatable. A good guide is to think about what a picky kid would want to eat – peanut butter and jelly on white bread (easy on the peanut butter), pasta with a little butter melted on it or white rice with some vegetables with herbs. Nothing complex is necessary, although large quantities are. A sample menu is below to give you an idea of what a day can look like.

Sample carbohydrate-loading meal plan
Item (amount) Carbohydrates (grams) Total calories
Breakfast
Milk, fat-free (12 ounces) 18 125
1 plain bagel 52 260
Peanut butter, smooth (2 tablespoons) 7 191
Honey (2 tablespoons) 35 128
Banana (1) 27 105
Morning snack
Crunchy raisin and almond cereal (1 cup) 74 360
Grape juice (12 ounces) 55 225
Lunch
Milk, chocolate, reduced fat (12 ounces) 45 285
4 slices white bread (1 ounce per slice) 49 266
Chicken breast, roasted without skin (4 ounces or 1/2 breast) 0 187
Romaine lettuce, shredded (1/4 cup) 1 2
Red tomato slices (1/2) 2 11
Mayonnaise, light (2 tablespoons) 3 71
Tortilla chips, low-fat, baked (1 ounce) 23 118
Baby carrots (12) 10 42
Afternoon snack
Low-fat fruit yogurt (8 ounces) 47 249
Low-fat fruit granola (1/2 cup) 33 157
Blueberries (1 cup) 21 83
Cranberry juice, unsweetened (12 ounces) 42 157
Dinner
Wild Atlantic salmon, baked (3 ounces) 0 155
Dinner roll, whole wheat (2) 29 151
Milk, fat-free (12 ounces) 18 125
Salad, combine:
-Romaine lettuce, shredded (2 cups)		 3 16
-Bell or sweet green pepper (1/4 cup) 2 7
-Green apple, chopped (1 medium) 25 95
-Dried cranberries (1/3 cup) 33 130
-English walnuts, chopped (1/4 cup) 4 191
-Asiago cheese, shredded (1 ounce) 1 134
-Reduced-fat Ranch salad dressing (2 tablespoons) 6 55
Evening snack
Strawberry slices (1 cup) 11 46
Sherbet, any flavor (1 1/2 cups) 88 417
Total 764 4,544

Source: Nutritionist Pro, 2015

It Helps…If You Get it Right

Carbo loading can help get you through a big day on the bike with higher energy. It is imperative that you get your carbo loading system right to get any benefit. The science shows it works. Try experimenting with it well before your target day to see if you are able to get a high enough concentration of carbohydrates. Only then will you be carbo loading correctly.

Useful Info

Recent Posts

Connect with Us