Endurance – Are cyclists doing it wrong?
Being a lifetime athlete I have enjoyed playing various sports to a high level, and at the same time I enjoy watching the behaviour and methods different people take to perform at their sport. My speciality is endurance and by endurance I’m talking about cycling, triathlon, running, cross country skiing, walking, to name a few. For this article I’ll focus on cycling and recovery.
Why just recovery? Well the fun part is the training and I don’t know many people that can’t motivate themselves to go out on their bike in the sunshine with their mates to crank out some training miles. However, I do know a lot of people that don’t put the same amount of effort into their recovery and I’m not just talking about local club riders either, I see Pro’s doing strange things too. Look at it this way……….if you don’t recover from one session then you can’t do the next session which means the fun stops. I.E. the training. Get your recover right and the fun never stops.
You’ve been out for your Sunday club ride and done 3 hours in the saddle, excellent. Now you’re home the recovery process can begin. I’ve watched Pro’s on the TV cross the finish line and the first thing they reach for is a cold fizzy drink like Coca-Cola, have you asked the questions why? I have. The science behind it would be that the high sugar levels would force a spike in insulin which can increase protein synthesis. The reality of it is they want a cold drink with a sugar rush to make them feel happy. In this case you have been riding for 3 hours, probably consumed a decent amount of sugary carbs along the way and now you want to put more sugar in?…Crazy! I’m surprised cyclist aren’t all diabetic. Yes you want and need carbs for the recover process but you can choose a better option than a fizzy drink (I’ll come back to this). The sugar will give you another spike in energy which you don’t need, the ride is over and it’s time to wind down and relax. Which brings me nicely onto my next point, coffee. We cyclists love to finish our rides shooting the breeze with your mates and having a few laughs over a strong coffee, when in reality we should be drinking water and protein. Again the caffeine will give you an energy spike which you don’t need and will affect your recovery process.
What should you do? Any form of training is either breaking muscle fibres through intense exercise or pushing your lung and heart endurance or even both. Your heart is a muscle so treat it like one. What are muscles made up of? Amino acids and proteins. So if they are broken and/ or tired the best way to repair them is with amino acids and proteins. The fastest way to get this into your body is via liquids, as we can absorb liquid faster than solids, hence the reason for powdered shakes.
Now you’re home after your 3 hour club ride you can mix up your favourite flavoured protein shake with water and smash that down as soon as you walk through the door. Job done. My rule of thumb is 10% of your calories burnt needs to be replaced in that shake. EG- you burnt 2000calories on the ride means you need 200calories in the shake. You can take this further and look at the ingredients in the shake, after all what’s the point in re-fuelling a sports car which cheap petrol! You want whey protein, and that will come in various forms so let’s keep it simple with grass fed cows, which spend all day in the sunshine eating lush green grass. You want some carbs in there too; again lots of variations so keep it simple and look for low sugar. The cheap alternative is sugar, then maltodextrin and the better options are oat or barley flour. Carbs are not the enemy; you just need to choose the right ones and keep the sugar content low. There are newer, great carbs with zero sugar and give athletes amazing performance.
You can take this one step further again by taking a vitamin C supplement. A strong vitamin C tablet, 1000mg, after each training session will do. When you train your immune system takes a hammering and drops right down and now you are susceptible to illness if you don’t look after yourself. Vitamin
C is the king of all vitamins and will help with immune systems, inflammation, cell growth, repair and so on. Another great supplement for all of this and more is CBD oil, amazing stuff that has been shown to do all of the above and even cure cancer. Matt at Elite Nutrition is the expert on CBD oils so please find out more with him.
You’ve done the ride, drank your shake and now you have time to shower, change and get ready for a meal. About 60 to 90 minutes if you want to put a figure on it. This post ride meal is just as important as that shake. You have what is called the after bang effect where your body is still burning more calories than normal trying to repair and recover from the ride. This can go on for 24 hours after you’ve got off the bike, depending on the intensity of the session. So you need protein, carbs, fibre and fats. Always chose wholefood and nothing man made. Quality not quantity, this is not a free pass to stuff your face because you burnt 2000 calories. Little and often wins the race so don’t be shy to eat again later that day. White meat or fish are great for protein. The carbs need to be natural so sweet potato or rice. The fats need to be in moderation. The body doesn’t need a lot of fat to function so trickle in little and often throughout the day and this can be nuts, avocado or try Udo’s Choice flaxseed as it’s the athletes choice.
Water, water, water. The human body is made up of about 60% water and your blood is about 80% water so you need it, and lots of it. It will help with recovery and performance FACT! Start drinking in the morning first thing and keep drinking throughout the day. Start with a large glass of water with each meal. Move on to carrying a 2 litre bottle around with you everywhere, it’ll make the difference.
So now you’ve done the ride, drank your shake, taken a shower, eating a healthy meal and the only thing left to do it sleep. Sleep is King and trumps any supplement out there for recovery. 8 hours is the winning formula but a 20 minute siesta watching TV helps too. After a Sunday follows Monday and back to work and if you’ve haven’t recovered with a good 8 hours sleep you are on the back foot for the whole week. During those 8 hours you go through sleep cycles and the first 4 hours your body releases growth hormones to repair and the last 4 hours it releases testosterone (every wondered why you wake up with a boner, now you know). If you don’t get the sleep, you don’t get the goodies. You have more testosterone in the morning so I like to train in the morning when I can. My suggestion for sleep is a Zinc Magnesium supplement. Zinc promotes a deep sleep, or REM sleep, and helps release more hormones. Magnesium has a calming effect which helps you relax and drift off to sleep. Try it.
To be successful in fitness whatever your goal is it takes 60% diet, 30% training and 10% mental strength. What that means is you need to put double the amount of effort into your diet than your training. The training is the fun bit so you’re happy to train. Diet is all day, every day so it needs more effort but the rewards can be doubly good. If you put in the work then you will see the results. Work on your recovery routine and enjoy riding your bike.
About Haste: Founded by two ex- professional sportsman, a skier and a cyclist, to offer the public incredible sporting experiences to feel like the Pro’s do during the height of their careers.
Me, Andy Hastings, raced as semi-professional cyclist based in the UK since 2008. I held an Elite racing licence, racing the Premier Calendar, Elite National Crit Series, Kermesse races in Belgium and won the Master Tour of Majorca 2014. I have national medals on the track, road and time trial. In May 2015 I made it through to the final stages of the Channel 4 shows SAS Who Dares Wins Series 2 in the jungle of Ecuador.
In June 2019 we are launching Haste Coaching specialising in cycling and nutrition. With my experience and knowledge I can adapt my training methods to any sport and love people who have strong commitment and crazy challenges they are working towards. Please visit our website and see what we are all about and if you need a coach or mentor don’t be shy at getting in contact.
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