|
|
HEALTH AND FITNESS: ASK THE COACH
Katharine McCoy
October 24, 2008
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Doesn’t everybody wish that they had access to a personal coach for their questions about training and fitness? Road Bike Action recently caught up with Johnathan Edwards MD. Dr. Edwards is a practicing sports doctor and anesthesiologist in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has been a sports doctor for American cyclists as well as in Europe, including the Tour de France. He also worked with athletes during the Paris Dakar rally. As a former professional motocross racers and current Cat 2 road racer he understand health and training needs of cyclists of all levels.
Some weeks I only have time for two rides a week what kind of rides should they be to maintain or increase my fitness? Long easy rides, shorter higher intensity rides? What if all I can do is a Saturday and a Sunday ride?
Coach Edwards: The short answer is generally high intensity rides are better for those with less time to train. The long answer is it depends on what level of rider you are, how much base you have in your legs and if you are healthy.
High intensity intervals and variations are one way to make shorter workouts productive. By giving it all you have for 20 minutes, the benefits can be greater than if you just spin for 2 hours. The Wingate study showed that sprints at 80% VO2 max for 30 seconds were successful in improving the VO2 peak and extending the time to exhaustion of relatively untrained subjects.
If you only have weekends to ride, first consider riding with a group to help with motivation. Second, go with a group that is going to push your limits. Even if you do not complete the full ride, you will have performed some intervals just trying to hold on to the pace.
What do racers really eat and drink in the 24-48 hours leading up to a race?
Coach Edwards: The goal in eating 24 – 48 hours before a race is go into the race optimized, refill body glycogen stores, ensure your stomach is settled, and give yourself a psychological edge come race time.
When I am at the 4 days of Dunkirk race in France, I see how the professionals refuel first hand. Toyota United rider Ben Day often eats granola, yogurt, and chopped banana with a bit of honey as well as a glass of orange juice along with pancakes. However if it is a big day, he eats plain pasta about three hours before race time. I know pro racers who swear by eating cottage cheese, peanut butter, protein power and pudding all mixed together after dinner the 2 or 3 days leading up to an event. I observe the guys eating up to 5 or 6 times per day to attain the adequate number of carbohydrates (one has to eat more carbohydrates than they think). At night, they eat a lot of pasta (especially the Italians), potatoes, sports bars, carbohydrate drinks; they drink cokes once in a while, but they also drink a ton of fluids. One reason for this is that water actually “sticks” to the carbohydrates that you take in to your body (one reason your water weight increases). A good pre-event fuel is the combination of food and fluid choices, timed specifically for your start time. In general, eat 3 to 5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight (6.5-10 g/kg) for the day. Finally, try to avoid high fiber during carbohydrate loading, as this can lead to decreased absorption of in the intestines.
If you have your own question about health or training that you would like to ask a coach please send them to fitness@roadbikeaction.
Johnathan Edwards M.D. is a practicing sports
medicine doctor and anesthesiologist in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the medical doctor
for professional cycling races in Europe and America and has
authored numerous magazine articles and the book, Chasing Dakar. Dr.
Edwards is an avid cyclist and holds a USA cycling Category 2 road
license.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|