7 Beers Not Perfect Nutrition!
Below Brendon
asks:
"Would 7 beers knock you around that much? I would have thought they'd make you feel a little seedy, but not slow you down as much as he did."There is a big difference between riding a very difficult cimb like Springbrook and riding the flat roads.
On climbs like that, there is nowhere to hide and, if you do not feel well, you will just suffer all day long.
Drinking that amount of beer, is obviously not good for any sort of training.
The worst effect could be from
dehydration and with the
very high humidity and
temperatures at the moment, this could have been a major problem.
Also, the general hung over feeling would put a severe dampener on the enthusiasm for such a difficult ride.
Next Day He Felt A Lot BetterI would suggest he went better the next day due to the flat roads, and the simple fact that he felt a lot better and probably went to bed early and got a good nights sleep - vowing never to mix alcohol and serious training again!
Cheers
David
Labels: Case Study, Sports Nutrition
Carbo Loading With Beer
Hello David
I've been training pretty hard for the
Sydney to Surfers ride with some decent 120 km + rides on the weekends and 60-70 km rides during the week.
I did a 105 km ride to the top of 'Best of all Lookout' at the top of
Springbrook - that's the elevation profile below. It's a rather large hill!
I actually did it okay, but my brother who came with me really struggled. I dropped him on the hills really early and he drafted pretty much the entire ride.
We both had
HEED and the
gels during the ride.
We did another long ride the next day (but a lot flatter) and he was back to his usual self. About as good (or should that be "as bad") a rider as me.
7 Beers The Night Before - Is That Carbo Loading?!
Turns out he'd had 7 stubbies of beer the night before the
Springbrook ride.
Would 7 beers knock you around that much? I would have thought they'd make you feel a little seedy, but not slow you down as much as he did.
Cheers
Brendon
Labels: Case Study
Training Needs To Change For Ultra Marathon Ride
From Brendon's Questions Below:
"I assume my heart rate went up because I had no fuel?"This is not necessarily the case, if you run out of energy you normally feel light headed and you will slow right down "
i.e hit the wall".
I would suggest that the hills would have taken a lot of effort, and you
spent a lot of time near your anaerobic threshold, or above.
Your heart rate increased because you are
not fit enough to maintain efforts at or near your threshold for the period of time you did.
You will need to increase the intensity and amount of time at this level. This is a key sign of your fitness level.
It's
ok to go out and pedal around for a few hours at a low heart rate, when you first start training for such an event.
As you develop a base fitness, it become necessary to start doing harder session using heart rates closer to your Threshold.
Fitness gains are improved significantly doing this.
Pay Attention To Heart Rate In Final WeeksThis is something you are going to have to pay attention to over the final few weeks, to ensure that you are able to cope with elevated heart rate levels for longer periods.
Another factor could have been the heat.
As the days gets hotter, your body increase its core temperature - which can elevate your heart rate.
Bananas As Fuel
"Was the banana the right choice?" Bananas are
ok, but far from ideal.
Bananas
contain approximately 60 Calories, which is not enough.
Being a solid food digestion is also slow and can cause some
gastro upset, if you are going hard.
It would have been better to maintain the use of gels and HEED to ensure greater caloric intake and electrolyte profile.
"Why is the sky blue?"It got the "blue disease" off the sea!
Cheers
David
Labels: Case Study
Heart Rate Up To 153 On The Flat
Hello again David
As part of my training for the
Sydney to Surfers ride (
check out the web site here), I went for a 110 km bike ride on Saturday morning.
As usual, I took 3
bidons of
HEED with me.
But when I went to grab some
gels I found I only had 1. So I tossed a banana into my pocket and off I set.
- I had the first gel about an hour into the ride (quite a hilly ride).
- I had the banana 2 hours into the ride.
- I kept up with the HEED (but ran out about 20 km from home).
Heart Rate Went From 126 to 153When I'm riding on the flat my heart rate stays constant at around 126. I noticed that in the last hour of this ride, even when I was on the flat, my
heart rate went to 153 and stayed there.
I wasn't this fast at the end!- I assume my heart rate went up because I had no fuel?
- Was the banana the right choice?
- What else could I have eaten?
- Why is the sky blue?
Cheers
Brendon
Labels: Case Study
The Biggest Mistake Athletes Make
You know what I'm going to say here, but I'll say it anyway because I believe it so passionately.
The biggest mistake athletes make is
not paying enough attention to their nutrition.Not knowing what and when to eat during a race can, quite simply,
toss away 6 months of hard training. And no athlete wants that.
Athletes, in my experience, simply don't treat training and race nutrition as seriously as they should. Every athlete must spend as much time and effort on their nutrition as they do on the other critical parts of their physical training.
Free eBookIf you haven't downloaded the
free The Endurance Athlete's Guide To Success, then
you can here.
Hope that helps.
David
Labels: Case Study, Sports Nutrition
The Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes Make
Hello David
What are the biggest mistakes you see endurance athletes make?
(I won't tell you more on what I've been doing - much prefer to hold back, nod my head at these mistakes and say "Yes, aren't those other athletes silly!")
Brendon
Labels: Case Study
Should Brendon Be Banned For 2 Years?
Brendon, so we've been using you as our
Case Study/Guinea Pig and you've been asking the questions.
Now the tables have turned my friend.
"Do you do much riding?"
I have it from a very reliable source that during a ride on the Gold Coast you got chatting to Olympic Gold Medalist and Australian cycling legend
Sara Carrigan.
Is it true that, after 10 minutes of chatting, you had no idea who she was and actually asked:
"So Sara, do you do much riding?"
That is a disgrace!
Say it ain't so!If it's true this should lead to at least a 2 year ban from all forms of riding. It's worse than taking
EPO!
David
Labels: Case Study
Nutrition Was Far From Ideal - You Simply Didn't Have Enough
This post is in response to
Brendon's post below. Brendon is doing a 1,000 (or so) km bike ride - from Sydney to Surfers Paradise in late March.
We're documenting his training and nutrition as a way to give some solid, concrete examples on sports nutrition.
================================
Firstly, Very impressed that you made it!
From the questions below:
".....what improvements would you suggest to the ride nutrition?"
In regards to the first 1 hour and 10 minutes, this is quiet often the case with endurance athletes, who are trying to put down a solid base for training.
Due to the effects of cumulative fatigue, they are usually fairly sluggish to start with and provide that they have not over done their previous training sessions, they usually take a while to get into the next training session.
General rule of thumb, is that if this feeling of early fatigue increases or stays around, go home - you are too tired.
The other possible cause could be simply you are going out too fast with other riders at their pace, so just slow down and go at your own pace, which you know you can make it.
So, don't worry about feeling lethargic after an hour - a few possibilities there.
"Would the Gel really be helping that much or will you, as Darryl Kerrigan would say, "Tell 'im he's dreaming"?"Yes, gels usually get into the system within 5-10 minutes.
"How would you rate my post ride nutrition?"Your ride nutrition was far from ideal.
This is an extremely challenging ride with numerous large climbs with the heat likely to be a significant factor.
It was a good idea to start off with the HEED, and using gels, but
an extremely
bad idea to run out.
Rides of over 4 hours are ideally suited to one of our products called "
Perpetuem"(pictured right).
This product has a balance of
Carbs, Protein and Fats. This provides a very stable blood sugar level over a long period of time.
Increases Ability To Burn Fats As A Fuel Source
It also increases the bodies ability to burn fats as a fuel source, with the added protein decreasing the bodies break down of muscle tissue.
It also can be used as a paste, which will allow up to 6-8 hours of fuel to be carried.
Or you can simply take some and mix it on the way, increasing the time significantly, not that you want to be out there all day.
Replacing Electrolytes
Another product you should have been using is "
Endurolytes" an electrolyte capsule which will help with the heat.
"What else should I be doing?"When you get home, it's great that you ate something, but it could have been a lot better.
Most athletes need to be
thinking about the next training session, and recovery straight after the last. I actually recommend that they start thinking about it in the last 1/4 of their previous training session.
Recovery Is Critical
One of the most important and neglected areas is "recovery", you always have to get up and do it again the next day.
If you have not recovered properly things can get very ugly at 7 am the next morning.
The Secrets Of A Great Recovery
1.
Get fluid and nutrition into you within 30 minutes of finishing.
2. Make sure its the right nutrition not just what you have in the fridge and
definitely no alcohol.We have a product called "
Recoverite", which has all the right ingredients to help you recover better, and it easy to use.
3. Also take the time to
cool down properly and stretch those tired muscles.
It's the last thing you feel like doing, but it's amazing how much it makes a difference the next day.
Cheers
David
Labels: Case Study
After An Hour I Was Dying - Then I Had A Gel
Hello, Brendon here.
Yesterday I rode 143 km (from the Gold Coast to Springbrook to Murwillumbah to Tweed Heads to the Gold Coast) -
click here for the map.
We started at 6 am and set off. During the ride the temperature got to 34 degrees.
The day before I rode 70 km.
Today's ride took 5 hours, 34 minutes at an average speed on 25.7 km/h.
After An Hour I Was Dying
After an hour, 10 mins I was really struggling. I was drinking
HEED at the rate David suggested - 1 bidon an hour.
I could hardly keep up with the other guys I was riding with.
Had A Hammer Gel
I then ripped open a
Hammer Gel and had that, thinking it might help.
10 minutes later I was feeling great and continued up the rather large hill that is
Springbrook.
I continued on with drinking HEED (I had 3 bidons) and had another Gel 2 hours into the ride.
By the time we got to the 80 km mark I was out of HEED. We stopped at a shop and I bought:
- 2 bottles of water
- a health bar and
- a mug of coffee.
I drank the coffee and some water at the store and put the rest of the water in the bidons.
I drank the water over the last 60 km - finished it about 5 km from home.
I Raided The Fridge And Had......When I got home I had:
- 1 glass of orange juice,
- 400 mls of HEED,
- 2 bananas and
- 1 apple.
How I Felt:Aside from feeling terrible at the 1 hour, 10 minute mark
I felt great. I really feel like the Gel gives me a huge boost (used Gels a few times now).
My previous long ride was 90 km 3 weeks ago and I felt terrible from about halfway through to about 5 hours after the ride.
After the ride today I felt fine - like I'd hardly done a ride.
So fine that I went for a 6 km job a few hours later.
Is The Gel Really Helping - Or Is That All In My Head?My questions:- Based on the above, what improvements would you suggest to the ride nutrition?
- Would the Gel really be helping that much or will you, as Darryl Kerrigan would say, "Tell 'im he's dreaming"?
- How would you rate my post ride nutrition?
- What else should I be doing?
Thanks
Brendon
Labels: Case Study
Case Study - We've Met The Man, Now Let's See The Bike
Okay, for the bike ride case study we've met Brendon. Now let's take a look at the bike.
Brendon tells me he bought the bike - an Avanti Sprint - in Hobart back in 1994. To be as kind as I can be, it's probably not that well suited for what he's doing.
Don't get me wrong,
Avanti make terrific bikes. But this old girl is heading for retirement.
He would benefit greatly from a newer, more flexible bike.
We did a simple weight test and my guess is the Avanti is probably
3 kilos heavier than today's bikes. And that's a lot of extra weight to be pushing along for 1,000 km.
With the gear levers on the frame he would also be losing a lot of time changing gear, as well as moving into uncomfortable positions.
An Absolute Must When Buying A New BikeThe absolute must when buying a new bike is to get measured by a professional and get the right sized bike based on that. Your bike needs to fit properly.
Pedals Are GoodBrendon's pedals and clip-ons are top class. No problem there.
He uses a
Cateye Odometer that gives the usual:
- Distance
- Trip
- Time
- Top Speed
- Average Speed
It also provides Cadence (speed at which the pedals turn) - measured in RPM. Cadence measurement is especially importance as on longer rides you can tend to lose sight of what RPMs you are doing - with a subsequent loss of power.
Safer Without Aero BarsFor the group riding he'll be doing I've also suggested he'll be better off, and a lot safer, without the aero bars. Sure, they might save a bit of time downhills but when things go wrong you want your hands near the brakes.
For riding in groups this is a must.
Good Fuel Carrying Capacity
The bike has a dual bidon off the saddle and one on the frame - that's good. That can let Brendon carry enough fuel to keep up his energy.
If you're riding for longer than 2 hours you need to be able to carry at least 2 bidons. The double bidons for off the saddle retail at around $40.
Get Thee To A Bike ShopI was talking with Brendon's wife (Mel) today and found out he has broached the subject of buying a new bike. Mel's so lovely she has probably already bought him a new one (you owe me one Brendon!).
If you're on the Gold Coast and looking for a new bike, here are some places to go:
John's Cycles at Nobby Beach. John has a great range of quality bikes and gear.
Ph: 07 5575 4177
Palm Beach Super Cycle - Roger's your man there. Knows bikes inside out.
Ph: 07 5598 3372
Mike's Bikes at Miami on the highway.
Ph: 07 5535 8799
The above 3 are within about 10 km of each other on the Gold Coast Highway.
Here is Bicycle Queensland's full list of Gold Coast bike shops.Cheers
David
Labels: Case Study
Brendon's First 2 Questions
Brendon had a couple of questions at the end of our first case study post. Here are the answers.
1. I often ride first thing in the morning. What should I eat before going for a 2-hour bike ride and how long should I wait before riding?
The best thing to do is to eat nothing.
This will sound strange to a lot of people, but eating can't improve your bike ride!
It will only kick start the carbohydrates (
CHO) into your blood stream straight away, which can lead to depletion of energy sooner over longer rides.
The
ideal situation is to take a
CHO drink with you (like HEED) and to start drinking this throughout the ride.
2. What should I eat when I finish a 2-hour ride? And how quickly after the ride should I eat it?Ideally you should be taking something as soon as possible after the ride.
There is a window of opportunity, when your body is most receptive to the uptake of
CHO within 30-40
mins after exercise.
Following this period, the body closes down and does not absorb nutrients as effectively, which affects its ability to be ready for the next session.
Ideally take
CHO and a whey protein, along with some
Glutamine.
Hammer makes an ideal product called
Recoverite which has the perfect ratio of all these ingredients.
Cheers
David
Labels: Case Study, Cycling training
Riding From Sydney To Surfers - The Case Study
As mentioned earlier, the guy who helps with this web site is riding the
Sydney To Surfers Bike Tour (approximately 1,000 km) organised by the Rotary Club of
Engadine. The ride starts on March 24, 2007 and takes a week.
We thought it might be of some interest to use
Brendon Sinclair as our Guinea Pig. So to get started we'll look at Brendon and his background first.
I asked him the hard questions:
All About Our Guinea Pig!Name: Brendon Sinclair
Age: 40 (but I look 50)
Height: 6 feet/183 cm
Weight: 86 kg
Occupation: Web developer
Marital status: Married with 3 kids (15 yo, 14 yo & 12 yo)
Bike: A 12 year old (at least)
Avanti.
Weighs a ton, has gear levers on the frame and doesn't go that great. But I love the old girl! That's her and I on the left during a triathlon in 1996.
Years riding bikes: On and off (mostly off) for 13 years.
Previous endurance experience: I've done tons of endurance stuff before -
Ironman Triathlons (12 hours+), Marathons (3 hours 15
mins), Marathon swimming, etc.
I'm pretty slow with what I do, but always get there in the end.
After an
Ironman Triathlon in 1996 I had a rest. It was about 10 years before I moved off the couch again. I ate lots of donuts.
Last July 2006 I did the
Gold Coast Half Marathon (2 hours 11
mins), and did part of the
Noosa Tri (I did the 1.5 km swim in 30 minutes, and the bike in 1 hour, 24
mins. My son did the run leg.).
Fitness level: At the moment I'm getting fit. Here's what I've done since Saturday.
Saturday: 40 minute easy run, 2 km swim, 30 km bike ride
Sunday: 42 km run, 2 km swim
Monday: 30 km bike ride, 2 km swim
Tuesday: 2 km swim, 8.5 km run
Wednesday: 2 km swim, 44 km bike ride
Motivation for doing the ride: I need a challenge to keep fit, otherwise I just sit and watch TV and eat stuff. I'm scared I might accidently eat one of my children.
Bike Riding Skill: On a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being great), I'd rate myself a 2 at best (and that's downhill with a huge tailwind).
Although I've ridden thousands of
kms over the years I have never ridden with anyone before and have never had any sort of lesson or advice.
I learnt more from
David (Dave's the guy who distributes the Hammer products) in a 40 km bike ride last Sunday than I have in 12 years.
Training Planned:I intend to just keep rolling out the
kms, with a long ride (100 km) once a week, along with 4-5 rides a week of between 40-60 km. Some on the flat, some with hills.
And apparently there is beer being drunk each evening after the riding. So I suppose I'll have to keep up with solid beer drinking practice.
I can see it now -
"I need to keep drinking beer, my darling wife. It's part of my training regime."Nutritional Knowledge:For a guy who has done a lot of endurance stuff and has a bit of a medical background (I was a Nursing 'Sister' for 12 years) you'd think I would know stuff about sports nutrition.
But I haven't got a clue about sports nutrition.
I'd take 1
bidon of water on a 2 hour ride and wonder why I'd be exhausted at the end.
I'm not that smart!
Have you used Hammer products before?
Last week I went into a bike shop and bought a couple of
Hammer Gels.
I was very impressed when the salesman said "Have you used these before? Don't take too many or you'll have too much energy - they work great."
That was the first nutritional supplement product I've ever purchased or used.
Okay, now you're boring us. Anything relevant to finish off with?Nope. But I have some questions:
- Do you think my bum looks fat in my bike pants?
- Now that you've given me some free HEED can I tell all my mates I'm a "sponsored athlete"?
Answers: Yes, it does. And it's not free
HEED - I'll be invoicing you!
What Every Cyclist Must Do - Step 1 For BrendonOkay, the first step to successful bike riding is ensuring you have adequate hydration during a ride.
Because Brendon is doing 1-2 hour rides at present, he would be best be served by simply adding a couple of
scoops of
HEED to each 500
mls/
bidon of water.
I'd recommend he takes 2
bidons of water with 2 scoops of
HEED in each one on his 40-60 km rides.
Brendon has a double
bidon cage off the back of his bike seat (and a single on the frame), so he can
easily carry 2.2 litres of water with
HEED.
Whatever he doesn't drink during the ride should be drunk at the end to aid recovery.
What's So Good About HEED?HEED is a high energy electrolyte drink that provides:
- complex carbohydrates (gives your body energy)
- a complete electrolyte profile (supports optimal cardiac and muscle performance and prevents cramping)
- supplemental nutrients (these buffer lactic acid, stabilise blood glucose and help the efficient use of carbohydrate metabolism)
Drinking water is simply not enough. You need an electrolyte replacement drink because you lose the all important electrolyte in your sweat.
And you need energy to replace the energy you've used up during your ride.
Drink 500-750 mls Per Hour of HEEDBy drinking 500-750
mls of
HEED per hour, Brendon will notice a huge difference in his:
- energy levels,
- hydration level (remember that water doesn't hydrate as such because it doesn't have electrolytes) and his
- strength.
Brendon's Questions1. I often ride first thing in the morning.
What should I eat before going for a 2-hour bike ride and how long should I wait before riding?
2.
What should I eat when I finish a 2-hour ride? And how quickly after the ride should I eat it?
That'll DoThat will do for our first Case Study post. Apologies for the length, but we've gotten rid of the (long) background stuff you might like to know.
If you have any questions as we go
please shoot them through here.
Cheers
David
Labels: Case Study, Cycling training
Sydney To Surfers Bike Ride - A Case Study
If you're looking for some ideas about sports nutrition for endurance events (and missed our brilliant Steve Born seminars) then this might be of interest.
Brendon Sinclair is the fellow who helps me manage this web site. Many moons ago Brendon was pretty fit - doing Ironman triathlons and marathons - but for the past 9 years or so he hasn't really done anything.
Except eat pies!
He just got reasonably fit to do the
Noosa Triathlon with his son Jack (that's them on the left). To give you an idea of how fit Brendon is, he did the
1.5 km swim in 30 minutes and the 40 km bike ride in 1 hour 25 minutes.
Cycling From Sydney To SurfersAnyhoo, Brendon has just entered the
10th Annual Sydney to Surfers Cycle starting on March 24. It's a charity ride with proceeds going to
Youth off the Streets -click here for more information.I'm not sure of the exact distances as yet, but it's
about 1,000 km in a week.Over the next few weeks we'll do a bit of a
case study as Brendon trains and uses the great
Hammer Nutrition products in an effort to prepare for 1,000 km on the bike over 7 days.
Hope you can join us as we provide a real-life example of our products in action.
Cheers
David
Labels: Case Study
