Upset Stomach Cycling? Fix it!

October 9, 2013 by Lee Agur

Upset Stomach Cycling? Fix it!

Painful stomach cramps and bloating can make it very difficult to continue cycling. Adjustments in nutrition, effort and position are the key to changing your enraged gut to a settled tummy.

The Stomach

The stomach is able to process approximately one gram of carbohydrate a minute or 60 an hour. If you eat more than this, it will not make the process go any faster, you will just get an upset stomach cycling.

If you mix sugars it is said that you can increase the carbohydrate intake to around 90 grams per hour. (Ie. mix glucose and fructose – I am still looking for this study)

So, per hour plan on having 45-60 grams of carbs if just from glucose and 55-75 grams if from glucose and fructose. (another reason I like honey stingers so much – glucose:fructose ratio of 1:1)

Note: Gels are approximately 23 grams of carbohydrate, energy bars are approximately 47 grams of carbohydrate and sports drinks are approximately 50 grams of carbohydrate.

Effort

At high levels of exertion most of your blood will be in your legs in order to maintain your effort… this means that your stomach is competing with your legs as your stomach needs the blood in order to digest food. Unfortunately, your stomach is going to lose the competition and it will slow digestion considerably.

As you continue to eat your belly is going to get full. Now you have three problems you:

Have not been getting enough food digested into usable fuel
Likely are starting to get dehydrated
Are starting to get full AND feel like making a mess on the pavement is inevitable. (vomiting)

I used to think that this is just the way it is in cycling. You cram power bars and gatorade down until you feel like vomiting, and then you continue to eat and drink as much as you can until the ride is over and that is how you knew you did nutrition properly. Oops.

If you start to feel this way switch to water immediately… and if you can convince yourself to slow down to about 70-75% of your aerobic capacity that would be a great idea as well. The water is to decrease the sugar content as it is too high and difficult to process. Going forward you may need a mixture of sports drink and water. Slowing down will allow the blood to return to the stomach and help to digest.

Position

Perhaps the easiest thing to quickly look at is your position. If you continually get an upset stomach cycling it could be because your position is too aggressive (leaning over too much with a rounded back, or your hips are not open) and that can put undue pressure on your abdomen making it difficult to digest food.

I have tried all of this and still have an upset stomach cycling

If you have tried this already and still are having stomach/vomiting issues then it is time to look at what you are doing off the bike. Your esophagus has muscles that help push the food down and at the bottom is a sphincter that keeps the food from coming back up!

Now some of you may not want to acknowledge this part… but… caffeine, alcohol and smoking all relax the ever important esophagus muscles and sphincter. So if you continue to have problems look to cut these items out. Also, only eat 2 hours or longer before cycling, longer is better if you have a sensitive tummy.

Catch an upset stomach cycling early!

An upset Stomach cycling can destroy a ride, but if you know the signs and catch it early enough you can fix it without it slowing you down.

Hill Climbing Technique – Get Fast!

October 7, 2013 by Lee Agur

Hill Climbing Technique – Get Fast!

Hill climbs make cycling challenging… and worth it! Some people love them, some people hate them. I choose to love them, or at least that is what I tell myself and so should you!

Effort

The most important aspect of hill climbing is maintaining a steady effort from the bottom all the way to the top. [Read more…]

How to Beat Indoor Trainer Boredom

October 4, 2013 by Lee Agur

Indoor trainer - sometimes you are forced to cycle indoors — Indoor trainer – sometimes you are forced to cycle indoors

How I Beat the Indoor Trainer!

Watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the 10th time is fun and all, but you have to switch it up on an indoor trainer to keep it fresh and “exciting”.

The Commercial Break Game

It is simple and free, every time a commercial break comes on… you sprint! Commercials last about 2 to 3 minutes so plan an effort that you can sustain for that period of time. I generally watch 1 or 2 shows while playing. This will build strength and ability up short climbs. You can also play this in reverse! Hard efforts during your show and easy efforts during the commercials. If you play this way you may even learn to love commercials.

Intensity

I mix in as many intervals as I possibly can so I do not have to be on the indoor trainer more than an hour. Lots of 2-5 minute max efforts. (All out sprint 15 second sprints don’t work well on a trainer)

Test Yourself

Every few weeks I test myself with a 10 minute warm up, 20 minute max sustainable effort, 5 minute easy, 20 minute max sustainable effort, 5 minute cool down. I have a power meter on my bike so I can see if I can hold a certain power for each 20 minute segment; however, if you put a cycling computer on (non GPS) you can see what speed you can hold or how far you can go in each 20 minute segment. Remember to set up your indoor bike trainer the same way every time and inflate tires to similar pressure.

Secret weapons

Ok… so I mentioned what I do at the start of the winter season above, but when I start getting bored of that I turn to cycling videos. There are so many out there, a few I recommend are Charmichael Training Systems indoor trainer workout, ERock Rocks! Indoor trainer workout, and I have heard great things about sufferfest videos (my next purchase). Ask friends which cycling videos worked for them and why or read reviews on different videos before purchasing. Everyone is looking for something different.

Outdoors

Truthfully, I can’t survive the whole winter indoor training, I get on my mountain bike and bike to the ski hill.

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Importance of Salt Sticks

October 3, 2013 by Lee Agur

Have You Ever Seen This On Your Jersey?

Two weeks before my 112 mile race I went out for a training ride and I tried something new! People have been telling me for years about this and I simply ignored them. So what is it?

Salt Sticks

Salt sticks! I do not know if you have tried them or not… but it might change your life! I generally faded after about 60 miles. I took one of these every half an hour and I swear that these salt capsules allowed me to push over 10% harder (I have a power meter so I can tell).

To be honest I do sweat quite a bit. I am not an ogre, or a hairy monster I am actually just a little guy… 160lbs, but the more I talk to people, the more I realize people are taking them quite often. Maybe this was common sense to everyone, but it was not to me.

If you ever get cramps, or have a jersey that looks like the picture above I can nearly guarantee that these electrolyte caps will change your life as well.

The salt caps replace the important sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium that you lost and contrary to what you might think, they allow you to rehydrate and absorb nutrients faster.

Post Ride Massage – Selfie

October 2, 2013 by Lee Agur

If you can spend an hour or two riding a bike, you can spend 5 to 10 minutes stretching and giving yourself a post ride massage. Unfortunately, I did not always believe this and it resulted in lower back pain and a few knee injuries. It all could have been prevented!

Post ride massages help you: recover faster, reduce/prevent injury, relax/elongate your muscles, improve circulation, flush metabolic cellular waste byproducts, calm your nervous system, relieve pain and feel better.

Now I do not know about you, but not many people are lining up to give me a massage. Weird. I use a foam roller, a lacrosse ball and a hand held massage device. I have a quick little ritual I do.

I start rolling on my lower back which usually cracks a few times and it instantly makes me feel better. Then I move to my IT band (source of my knee injuries) and I pretend my leg is on a rotisserie, rolling up and down… moving from the IT band to the quads, to the inner thigh and finally the hamstring. After my legs are done I massage my glutes, and most of the time I forget the calves… but I recommend hitting them up as well. 5 minutes down 5 to go.

After rolling it is likely you found some “awesome” spots (read as: “sore” spots). I try and spend a few minutes concentrated on them with the lacrosse ball. If they were “awesome” with the roller they are going to be really “awesome” with the lacrosse ball. Sometimes these areas just hurt too much and I remember that I need to focus on them later.

In the evenings I generally come back to the “awesome” spots and use the handheld massage device to focus on these areas while laying down and watching a TV-show or a movie.

5 Healthy Tips for Cycling

October 1, 2013 by Lee Agur

Cut Out Excess

Thursday is doughnut day at my office. Now I don’t know about you, but I like a good doughnut! I used to sneak three! Who needs three doughnuts before noon? As I got a little more serious about cycling I decided to reason with myself, I decided that one doughnut should suffice. I did not cut them out all together, and I think that is important.

Eat Breakfast

Why did I want three doughnuts? Well, it is likely that I ran out the door on the way to work because I valued sleep more than food. I am not a morning person. I recently heard a phrase that goes something like, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” Although I do not necessarily think they had the cyclist in mind, because of hard workouts, I do believe in the theory. Unless you just returned from a long bike ride, then your body likely does not need all the calories in the evening as it is shutting down for bed; on the other hand, in the morning, it is just getting fired up!

Swap

Swap unhealthy snacks for healthier snacks. Even swapping Potato chips for popcorn is a win. Cake for dark chocolate. Ice cream for frozen fruit. I used to get hangry (hungry angry) between 4 and 5 o’clock, I would wait until Mary (the receptionist at work) left her desk so I could steal the candy that was meant for the clients. Now I go to the grocery store and buy a veggie plate and stick it in the lunch room. Simple.

Plan Your Meals

Here is definitely one of my weak points. Thank God for my Fiancée! She loves cooking! I buy her a cookbook and she thinks I am wonderful. Go figure. It has nothing to do with my hidden agenda of having delicious and healthy food cooked for me. Variety is the spice of life, your body needs different nutrients in order to stay healthy; otherwise, we could just eat power bars and honey stingers all the time.

Fuel Properly During and After Rides

I used to get on a bike, go for a rip, have a few swigs of water, then take a shower and eventually get around to eating. I would wake up sore and tired and it would undoubtedly turn into a couch day. Now when I ride i make sure to fuel properly. That in itself allows me to ride harder and get in a better workout. Then I eat within 30 minutes after a workout, and this allows me to recover more quickly. The faster you recover the better cyclist you will become. If you eat within 30 – 60 minutes after a workout your body will fast-track those nutrients to muscle repair and glycogen replacement. Cycling is really about fast recovery.

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