Coffee, Cycling, Glycogen and You

The benefits post ride coffee have been obvious to anyone who been riding for a while. Now we have the scientific proof which helps us all justify ending any ride at a cafe. Studies have shown that adding large quantities of caffeine to your post ride meal will improve your glycogen stores by around 66% against just eating a carbo meal post exercise. If your training or racing a lot your recovery is a vital part of maximising your efforts. However there is evidence to show that a coffee before riding won’t do you much good.

Take with carbs post ride for more muscle glycogen

In recent studies it was found that while caffiene delivered in capsules resulted in a marked improvement in endurance ( up to ten times), taking your caffiene in liquid form at your favourite cafe won’t have the same effect. There are many other compounds in a coffee and it appears that some of these block the performance effects of the caffiene.

Also if you’re in to creatine it seems a pre-ride caffiene  hit will essentially blunt or completely counteract the effects on any creatine supplimentation. It is wise to remember that caffeine is also a diuretic and causes a loss of fluid, which then leads to a dehydrating effect - so be aware if your heading out for a long one that any caffiene pre-ride may need to be offset with more hydration along the way.

Nutrition For Sport E-book_

Nutrition for Sport is a comprehensive review of sports nutrition with an eye to the aerobic-endurance athlete. Cyclists, runners, triathletes, and walkers will appreciate the down-to-earth practical advice, the debunking of advertising, as well as the detailed explanations and comprehensive reference material provided about every vitamin and mineral. Learn about: Sport foods–before, during, and after exercise. Foods for energy. Performance-enhancing and performance-robbing substances. Quick, nutritious fast food. Nutritional quackery. Losing weight. How rapid weight changes don’t reflect fat losses. Who, what, where, and how: About every vitamin and mineral. Did you know? Few athletes drink more than 16 ounces an hour; sweat losses can exceed 100 ounces an hour. Just like the glycogen window, there is a fat window. Although sodium is the electrolyte priority for aerobic endurance athlete, calcium and iron loss in sweat ca contribute to deficiency. Many supplements marketed to improve muscle mass are contaminated with anabolic steroids.

About The Author 19.95 USD eBook - (155 pages, estimated.) This is an electronic book in PDF format. There are no shipping or handling costs. You will be sent a download link after purchase.

Smart Cycle Training - Beware of Over Training

One of the most common mistakes cyclists make when taking up the sport is to do too much to soon.
It is natural to be enthusiastic about a new pursuit that you enjoy and wish to excel in but it’s important to remember one simple fact. Your fitness and physical ability does not improve while your cycling - it improves while your resting and in recovery. If you don’t allow enough recovery time regeneration cannot occur and your performance and development will plateau. Training for cycling necessarily puts stress on More on Smart Cycling Training

Resting Heart Rate

‘Resting heart rate’ refers to your heart rate in beats per minute when you are completely at rest.Your resting heart rate is often a good determination as to how fit you are, as well as indicating if you’re either over training or unwell - showing up as unxplained increases in resting heart rate.

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Body Fat Percentage

If you’re serious about your cycling you probably care about your body fat percentage for the simple reason that the less fat you’re carrying around, the greater your power to weight ratio will be.

Body fat percentage is an estimate of the fraction of the total body mass that is adipose tissue (or referred to as Fat Mass), as opposed to lean body mass (muscle, bone, organ tissue, blood, and everything else) or referred to as Fat Free Mass. This index is often used as a means to monitor progress during a diet or as a measure of physical fitness for certain sports. It is more accurate as a measure of excess body weight than body mass index (BMI) since it differentiates between the weight of muscle mass and that of the fat mass while BMI lump all masses into one figure. However, its popularity is less than BMI because equipment required to perform the body fat percentage is not readily available and skills are required to perform the measurement. Even when measured by a skillful person, there are factors that contribute to a significant margin of error.

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