Health

Sports nutrition for optimal muscle recovery, applied to typical long-distance events by Ed Burke, Ph.D. and John Hughes John Hughes is a former director of the WUCA, an NSCA certified personal trainer and a USA Cycling coach. Learn about Hughes’ coaching at coach-hughes.com See part 1 Introduction Long-distance cyclists place great demands on their bodies, by virtue of all the miles in the saddle. And we love it! But it comes with an "ouch factor" - fatigue and muscle soreness. One of the keys to our sport is effective recovery - getting over the ouch - whether we are participating [...]

Sports nutrition for optimal muscle recovery, applied to typical long-distance events by Ed Burke, Ph.D. and John Hughes John Hughes is a former director of the WUCA, an NSCA certified personal trainer and a USA Cycling coach. Learn about Hughes’ coaching at coach-hughes.com See part 2 Introduction Long-distance cyclists love to ride all day and then get up the next morning to ride many more miles. Ultra competitors may only get a few hours sleep between long days of riding. Long-distance cyclists, because of all the miles on the bike, place more stress on their bodies than most athletes. At [...]

How cold weather alters fluid and nutritional requirements during exercise. by Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D. Introduction When one studies the animal kingdom, he finds that humans may be described as warm-weather, tropical animals who neither adapt or tolerate cold weather. As we know, however, humans still must work and exercise in such environments. In order to cycle effectively outdoors in the winter and early spring, you need to know how cold affects you and whether it alters your fluid and nutritional requirements during exercise. While cycling, your body is generating 8 to 12 times the heat it would while at [...]

by Lulu Weschler Lulu Weschler is a physical therapist, ultra cyclist and regular contributor to UltraCycling Hyponatremia: How To Recognize, Treat And Prevent It As little as 2% dehydration adversely affects performance[1]. But as little as 2% overhydration can cause life-threatening hyponatremia[2]. Clearly, you need to get your hydration needs just right. Hydration must be coupled with adequate sodium intake; sodium losses can be significant during prolonged exercise[3,4]. Barr et al[3] observed an average loss of 12 g salt in six hours of cycling at 86 degrees F and 30% relative humidity (2 g more than the average US daily [...]

Bloating with low blood sodium is extremely dangerous by Lulu Wescher Lulu Weschler is physical therapist, ultra cyclist and regular contributor to UltraCycling. Introduction A potentially very dangerous situation in endurance athletes is low blood sodium. During an ultra event, an athlete may drink plenty of water, but not replace the sodium lost in sweat. If the athlete starts retaining water (bloating), then the decrease of sodium in the body and the increase in fluid will result in a too low concentration of sodium in the blood. Bloating with low blood sodium is extremely dangerous because it can lead to [...]