Bicycling Miscellany: Health & Nutrition
Over the past few months, I’ve been re-reading my back catalog of cycling magazines, pulling out points that I thought were worth remembering and/or sharing. Installment number three contains all kinds of crazy health and nutrition advice.
The average person has a resting heart rate of 60-80 beats per minute, with the average at 72. Trained cyclists' are usually lower, due to the cardiac fitness that comes with training. It is not unusual for conditioned athletes to get below 50 BPM. Elite cyclists have the lowest resting heart rates ever observed. Although I've only just started this year's training, my RHR this morning was 57 BPM.
If you keep wounds somewhat moist, rather than letting them dry, they are less likely to scab over and develop scars.
Cyclists are at high risk of repetitive stress injuries to the knees, specifically chondromalacia, osteoarthritis, IT band syndrome, and patellofemoral pain syndrome. Most of these can be prevented by proper bike fitting, spinning rather than mashing, and having an adequate training base for the workload. Icing the knee is usually beneficial, but do not ice for more than 20 minutes.
Endurance cycling has been linked with bone loss tending toward osteopenia and osteoporosis, since it is non-weight bearing and copious amounts of calcium can be lost through sweat. A cyclist can lose 200mg of calcium (the amount in a cup of milk) in just one hour of riding. A 7-hour century can cost a rider 1400mg, which is more than the US daily recommended intake. A cyclist training 12 hours a week loses 2440mg per week, which can add up year after year. This is compounded because dietary calcium is not readily absorbed, and kidney stones can form on an intake of as little as 2500mg per day. Absorption is improved by vitamin D and by taking calcium in gradually throughout the day. Calcium citrate is a preferred supplement to calcium carbonate. Stay far away from carbonated sodas, because the phosphoric acid leaches calcium from the bloodstream and bones.
It is suggested that potatoes be stored in the refrigerator, and that root vegetables like carrots and beets can be stored in the pantry.
A cyclist can burn in excess of 4,500 kilocalories riding a century at 15 mph. That's the caloric equivalent of four pints of Haagen Dazs ice cream.
Frozen concentrated orange juice usually has significantly more vitamin C per cup than the not-from-concentrate "fresh" juices. Unfrozen, both types lose 2 percent of their vitamin C per day. If you like spicy food, note that hot peppers have 350 percent more vitamin C by weight than oranges.
Roasted peanuts have more antioxidants than strawberries, apples, and many other fruits.
Your body can only process about 60g of carbohydrate per hour, so ingesting more will only lead to digestive upset and delayed flushing of the stomach.
Some popular junk foods fuel the body just as well as sports bars and gels. Good examples include waffles, bagels, graham crackers, vanilla wafers, salted cashews, and Payday candy bars. A quarter cup of raisins has 31g of carbohydrate, plus potassium which assists in muscle contractions. Fig Newtons are particularly good, two of them providing 22g of carb, 1g of fiber, plus potassium, iron, and calcium. Animal crackers can provide 46g of carb plus calcium. Gummi bears are easy to carry and pack 34g of carb plus protein. Pop Tarts provide 39g of carb, and Twizzlers have more carb per calorie than energy gels. Rice Krispies Treats are a great energy bar you can make at home.
Similarly, for recovery, sugary kids' cereals are just as good as expensive sports recovery drinks, with the same balance of 70 percent carbs and 15 percent protein. Suggested brands: Cheerios, Froot Loops, Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries, and Frosted Flakes. Another optimal post-workout recovery drink is fat free chocolate milk.
The “pez” in Pez candies is short for the German word “pfefferminz”, or “peppermint”, their original flavor. Originally marketed as a health food and an aid to smoking cessation, the trademark Pez dispensers were designed to mimic cigarette lighters.