Using only Water when Training or Racing???

[pastapouch]

agree with Tombeej, may the guys who doesn't eat and drink must tell what level they ride at. pros shouldn't be on here anyway cause they must be out training.

[nochain]

he most likely ate a lot....

Must be, I can't see anybody going that hard for 6hours and not eat anything and drink only water...

 

On my short rides 1hour to 1hour 30 I normally don't take any water. Got use to not drinking that much and now I can comfortably race on 1 bottle(carbs) only.

 

Not using any carbs on a ride totally depends on the type of ride...If you want a good hard quality session you are wasting your time to try and do it on water alone because you just won't be able to do what is required, recovery also becomes a problem if you are totally depleted after a ride.

When you eat on the bike and take in carbs it's not always only about that ride but also about how hard you'll be able to go tomorrow.

[George Nel]

Started using only water lately on trianing rides lasting 2-3hrs.

My problem is that I get home at 21:00hr after rides and have to get up at 4:30.

If I take energy drinks during ride I cant sleep.Sometimes my head buzzes till 24:00hr.But with water I'm not that hyped and fall asleep quicker.

 

I never ate before a training ride,now I eat a bowl of pasta and drink 750ml of energy drink 30min before.

The result is I pedal like a machine and sleep rather well(glass of white wine also contributes nicely to the sleeping )

[RudoJ]

How has this strategy affected your LSD Rides? Or is it still in the planning?

I will start with it this weekend, and let you know. I must perhaps also add, that I train and race for the fun of it, and not to be in top ten every race, well maybe one day in the super masters class or sumtin like dat! But I make sure that after each ride, I had a good workout, so ja. Thats the way I think about it

[scotty]

Do a web search on Tim Noakes, there is quite a lot of scientific info on the subject.

[Robrider]

The Kenyans (Divid and Davidson) at JoBerg2c told us that they only use water ever becuase the sugar in the drink takes the blood away from your legs to digest the sugar. I'm not saying that I agree, but they were pretty hardcore, and came 2nd over all.... Just saying.

[DaLoCo]

I will start with it this weekend, and let you know. I must perhaps also add, that I train and race for the fun of it, and not to be in top ten every race, well maybe one day in the super masters class or sumtin like dat! But I make sure that after each ride, I had a good workout, so ja. Thats the way I think about it

 

Our approach is the same then...I have no delusions that I will ever finish in the top250 to 500 at a race, but I have fun doing it. I need to lose about 20 kgs though, so this is why I am interested in training in the fatburning zones.

 

I am trying to get my training to feel less like a torture session, but still know that I had a good workout. This morning I added about 4 km to my route, but it added another 65m of climbing bringing the total for my 41km route to 275m. One section of it, about 10km, is relatively flat, and I held about 75% of HRmax. I actually felt as if I was working in that bit....the hills were just hurt, but at the same time, necessary to build strength....

[Meezo]

I train and race for the fun of it, and not to be in top ten every race,

 

The exact same feeling/idea/mindset i have about racing and training, i do it to enjoy it!

Edited February 11, 2011 by Meezo

[George Nel]

The exact same feeling/idea/mindset i have about racing and training, i do it to enjoy it!

Do you know how enjoyable it gets when you get good results??

It's alot sweeter!

[Meezo]

Do you know how enjoyable it gets when you get good results??

It's alot sweeter!

 

I've only been riding for about 6 months... and pretty happy with my results!

but not a winner or close to one.

[MDW]

Ok, this is such a great topic, I needed to make a contribution.

 

Firstly guys, training and racing on water alone mmmmmm, quite a debate.

 

So let me say this, because there is so so so much to consider and most of how or what you do really depends on what your goals are. Firstly yes, it is correct, and I fully support the fact that as athletes or endurance athletes, they really need to learn how to use their fat stores far more efficiently, I am a big advocate of that, many cyclists are far far to dependent on high sugar based products and actually fail to see that they are not letting their bodies utilize what they were born with, readily available energy. How is it that a bushman or aborigine can run hundreds of kilometers across a desert on water, simple they are extremely efficient at using their fat stores. We are so used to filling up our systems with readily available glucose the brain wont for a second take the long route, it will go with whats there, and most athletes will not take it all up actually gaining weight in the end, and entering the emotional roller coaster ride of the feel good feel bad syndrome. OK, so let me get into a different aspect here. How do we really burn fat. I had someone writing to me the other day telling me that he likes to train on an empty stomach as fat burn is at its highest when he wakes up in the morning, YES, but metabolic rate is at its lowest. So firstly I would like to say this is actually NOT a great idea. Its a fallacy that you will lose more weight or burn more fat if you go and train on an empty stomach, actually the opposite if you start fuelling yourself properly before, through and after you will actually land up burning off more calories through the day then training on an empty stomach. Secondly, because your blood glucose levels will be more balanced you wont run the risk of a hypoglycemic stage and eating junk because u feel low or think u deserve it. Another thing you need to consider, is that training on empty which = water as well, will cause glycogen depletion, no doubt. By the way I would just like to point out that an energy drink or appropriate fuel is there to SPARE the glycogen. There are two ways to spare glycogen fat store tapping without a doubt the most efficient, and then there is the less efficient roller coaster ride of sugar overload. So yes training on water will obviously get you to tap some fat, and your glycogen stores alone could probably see you for 90 minutes of hard riding. However, after the ride, you wont feel great, you can go hypoglycemic and you run the risk of eating incorrectly the rest of the day. More so, if you are planning to do a back to back work out this is where you will suffer the most. Glycogen is your fuel source, when its depleted it needs to be replenished, but if you deplete it totally u aint going to replenish it very quickly either and if you had to cycle the following day believe me you are going to feel real flat, and if you have a little strength at the start then somewhere along the line u will run your glycogen empty.

I had a customer do a 4 day MTB stage race recently, day 1 he was leading, day to he was sitting in 4th postion, 2nd day he moved down 3rd day he suffered and 4th day he was finished. WHY?

Simple he never fuelled himself sufficiently after the event to replenish his glycogen.

OK so enough stories back to water fuelling:

Yes, its a fact when you train on water you will tap your fat stores for energy, BUT only and only if you ride at the correct intensity. You see lipolysis as its called can only work when the body has time to convert fat into muscle fuel, BUT up the intensity and the pace, and there is no ways this will work, your body will need readily available fuel as lipolysis is too long a process. This comes straight from your glycogen stores and you will need some real fast glucose to keep your brain from shutting off.

The other thing is that when you do this you deplete your glycogen totally and its why I told the story above, when is your next workout, you need to plan around this when you are going to do this.

I certainly believe that training your body to use its fat stores more efficiently is important but you can also do this if you eat low GI pre-training meals and fuel during the event with food that wont spike your insulin levels, ie: send you into a hyperglycemic space. You will spare your glycogen and you will feel far more stable for the day.

so my recommendation is Low GI pre-training meal definitely, and then water. If you are going on longer ride 3 hours up take some fuel make sure its appropriate and not an overkill.

You will be the better for it.

 

OK so on to calories burned in an hour I see some people say I burn off 1000 an hour and need to take in 1000 an hour, NO WAYS.

Firstly lets say an athlete burns off between 750 and 1200 calories and hour depending on intensity and some other factors. Its a fact and been proven that the most calories a Tour de France rider can absorb per an hour is 500, and that is huge. You see we all have a specific gastric emptying rate and you can only absorb so much during exercise. Dr Alan Limm of Team Radioshack will tell you his athletes will take in around 350 - 400 calories an hour but for some that is even too much. You glycogen stores alone hold in muscle glycogen 1800 - 2500 calories and liver glycogen 400-800 calories so when totally topped up of course around 3000 or so. Thats readily available fuel the key is to try and spare it with a combination of endogenous and exogenous sources, ie: fat burn to start, like a pro rider cruising in the peleton at 40km/h :-) at least until the attacks start and that is the time to take in the glucose, but really glycogen feed will be the key.

If you exceed the gastric emptying rate, you WILL suffer, cramps, nausea and more. Its a common cause of these issues.

As an endurance triathlete, I train mostly twice a day, if I trained on water only, I would deplete my glycogen stores, I would eat lovely sugar during the day because I would feel quite low and then have a shocking low quality workout later if I even feel like it.

 

OK one more thing to consider. Electrolytes, ie: proper hydration. If you go on water alone and do not have any electrolyte replenishment well that is simply plain ridiculous, because you will suffer terribly. Water alone dilutes your electrolyte levels, and you need to replenish, so remember time, distance and intensity are really key, a water session should be kept under 2 hours for sure, and if you do it then ensure to really eat correctly afterwards.

 

The basics of burning fat if you really want to:

Avoid high sugar foods

Complex Carbs should be eaten

Easily digestible proteins

Stimulant reduction

 

Good luck all :-)

 

later

Me

[cat-i]

Do you know how enjoyable it gets when you get good results??

It's alot sweeter!

 

this mostly depends on what your definition of sweet is. to me i's riding flowing singletrack, exploring new places, going back to favourites. a few giraffe or zebra in the mix won't hurt. and a breakfast afterwards. that's sweet.

[George Nel]

this mostly depends on what your definition of sweet is. to me i's riding flowing singletrack, exploring new places, going back to favourites. a few giraffe or zebra in the mix won't hurt. and a breakfast afterwards. that's sweet.

That is sweet man,I admit(the breakfast part)

[Guest Travis.]

@MDW

 

Thanks for the interesting read. I have to admit you explain very well (even I understand it and I have no clue when it comes to most of these nutritional topics).

 

I'm gonna send you a PM as I have a 32GI question for you and I don't want to hi-jack this one