Fasted rides and taking in protein.

homers_double

The following is taken from the British Cycling newsletter on an article related to fasted rides and their benefit towards weight loss.

You can also include some fat adaptation training into your longer rides. Begin the rides fasted and use protein for your first bottle to see you through the first 60-90 minutes of the ride. After this time is up, begin fuelling as normal.

Full article here - https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowl ... 9Z,I2B49,1

My typical pre work route is 35km and takes around 90 minutes, slightly less on a good day so this seems the ideal ride to do this however I'm not a great fan of energy drinks/electrolites etc.

MrsHD has protein recovery milkshake drinks for after which are OK but probably not what I'd want to ride with.

Has anyone any reccomendations on a fairly innocuous drink I could use which may be of benefit?

mrfpb

Is it saying that you must take a protein drink, or is it saying that you should have a protein drink if you normally use a carb drink. I would normally have electrolytes or water on a fasted ride up to 2 hrs, then have a protien based snack as my breakfast. I've never used a protein drink on a ride, the nearest I get is a glass of milk when I get home.

fat daddy

yeah I ride fasted 2 hrs in the morning on water and a caffine pill ..... protein for breakfast afterwards

to be realistic I doubt it makes much difference unless you are at the top 1% of your game with all the other pro atheletes

slowbike

Hmm - might give that a go on my commute - it's only 30 minutes - but I have black tea/coffee anyway and could do breakfast at work...

TBH - I don't even bother with a bottle on my ride - it's only 30 minutes! But I can see what they are saying - fasted rides affect your recovery - hence protien drinks to aid recovery.
They also say keep it low intensity - HRzone 1&2 only ... might be tricky on a couple of the rises I have to do...

homers_double

mrfpb wrote:

Is it saying that you must take a protein drink, or is it saying that you should have a protein drink if you normally use a carb drink.

Neither really, but I was interested in the fat adaptation part after a winter of excess and wondered if a smarter aproach would give better results than just getting up at 5.30 and mashing out 35km.

homers_double

fat daddy wrote:

yeah I ride fasted 2 hrs in the morning on water and a caffine pill ..... protein for breakfast afterwards

to be realistic I doubt it makes much difference unless you are at the top 1% of your game with all the other pro atheletes

Same here and no, I'm probably in the bottom 1% if that!

Cardinal-Red

Fasted training is common in many disciplines, and one of the common pieces of advice is to take some BCAA before you begin; I think it helps prevent early muscle breakdown.

Some HMB might help too.

homers_double

Some what?

keef66

Hole Meal Bread? Her majesty's Breakfast?

Googling leads me to hydroxymethylbutyrate, and also to a load of bodybuilding websites, so for that reason, I'm out.

I only do food.

homers_double

Same here on the BCAA search, can't be bothered with that as the last thing I need is bulk.

keef66

I knew BCAA without Googling, but when people start venturing into supplements I just switch off. Maybe if you're an elite athlete then they could conceivably make a difference, but an ordinary Joe can get everything he needs from a varied, balanced diet.

Eldest son was at Loughborough Uni and shared houses with sports science students. He's always been a bit of a gym bunny, but he became more obsessed about building muscle and started buying stuff off the internet. The whey protein didn't worry me but some of the other stuff was more dubious. Thankfully he's now happier in his own skin, lost some of the bulk, taken an interest in cycling and he's doing more cardio / endurance type exercise. And eating proper food.

Cardinal-Red

Sorry, forget that acronyms are not always helpful.

BCAA = Branched Chain Amino Acids, which are meant to help with muscular protein synthesis. Studies done on people doing fasted training found that the use of BCAA led to overall increased lean tissue mass at the end of a programme, it was believed to stop instant muscle catabolism during fasted training and help with post exercise repair.

HMB is as Keef found - I guess you would end up on bodybuilding websites but they have wider uses too - they have been shown to slow down the body's catabolic response to breakdown lean muscle tissue when in calorie deficits.

Supplements for sure, but in the form of a Vitamin tablet etc. but I fully understand why people would shy away from them.

PS the idea that you would develop significant bulk from taking BCAA and riding a bike is quite funny.

Cardinal-Red

keef66 wrote:

I knew BCAA without Googling, but when people start venturing into supplements I just switch off. Maybe if you're an elite athlete then they could conceivably make a difference, but an ordinary Joe can get everything he needs from a varied, balanced diet.

Agreed but as the topic is specifically about fasted rides and consuming protein in relation to them, they're relevant here.

diy

I'd say caffeine, so long as you are already an addict is fine (a high5 zero for example). You only need to worry about protein intake if you are very lean and at risk of converting too much lmm to fuel. The best time to consume protein is within 30 mins of your training.