Coming from other fitness forums I was amazed at the food cyclists eat after a recovery ride.

Example: Bagel with Banna and honey on top of it. LOL....Pure carbohydrate.

I guess muscle building protein is out, huh?

EDIT: (post #25 pretty much sums up how I feel)

"I think I'm just opposed to purely carbohydrate recovery meals.

Protein is part of muscle recovery and if you are eating 3grams/kg of carbs might as well take advantage of all that insulin that is going to released and take some protein with it.

The insulin response to the ingested carbs is relatively short window (particularly if they are of a high glycemic index), the protein needs to be around at the time of the insulin release. Protein may also smooth out some of the insulin release by lowering the glycemic index at bit."

You get in from a ride, your carb stocks are low. the red light is on over the carb bin, so you scarf down a buketload of carbs. And a banana honey bagel is not poor eating: it's just carby. A McSlime and a fistful of Skittles is poor eating.

Proetin for recovery is well known but only if you're into technical nutrition. If you jus teat what you crave, you'll eat carbs and salt after a ride and protein the day after when the deficit catches up with you.

Protein with carbs was always a good recovery combo because we thought the carbohydrate was beneficial to help get the protein in the muscle.

Insulin released from the carbs drives amino acids into muscle cells.

because we can. :)

No doubt that if you ride 1000 miles a month you can pretty much eat whatever you want.

It just seems less than "ideal" coming from other forums(weightlifting) where they treated "diet" as so critical.

Part of me thinks that cyclists spend more time researching equipment ( I sure spend a lot of time doing that ) than they do diet. Weightlifters seem to be the opposite.

I've seen a lot of weight lifters who seem to have lower body fat% than cyclists (seriously)

Whoa whoa whoa, is there something wrong with a fistful of Skittles? :p


That could be because weightlifting isn't really a recreational sport, and bicycling is. I think a lot of the people who ride bikes do it because they enjoy it, and fitness is only a pleasant side benefit. I don't think there are many people out there who lift weights just for fun.

Imagine if cyclists took up weightlifting.
Ti vs Al, which is best for weights....

Hard to generalize but basically....BECAUSE WE CAN!

Where I come from the average weightlifter is not interested in total fitness, only getting bigger.

I really believe there are chemical components to alot of weightlifting these days that makes these guys body fat so low - only problem is the scrotum cancer 15 years later can hurt a bit, but hey if you're big for a few years it's worth it, right??

It would seem less than ideal if you would measure the diet of a cyclist against the goals of a weightlifter. A bodybuilder would like to be as massive as possible so his diet would be geared towards increasing muscle mass. An endurance athlete like a cyclist would prefer to be as light as possible. A cyclist would not really benefit from being on a bodybuilder's diet. Since he would be carrying a lot of unwanted weight even if it was lean muscle mass.

Competitive bodybuilders do have very low body fat percentages, but some of them use pretty extreme measures to achieve that. I have read in bodybuilding magazines the pros cut their calorie intake days before a contest. Some even don't drink water during that same time. On the contest day itself, they are pretty much dazed from the lack of food and water.

Whoa.....Hold on everybody.

You aren't going to have massive arms from eating protein with your carbs. Why? Because you are just riding a bike.

I do think the protein with the recovery meal might possibily help the leg muscles recover as well as provide some fat burning benefit.

Funny thing is that most cyclists are worrying about 100 grams on their wheelsets or 30 extra grams on the cassettes than are about their nutrition. It's exercise, but the focus is more on the machine than on the body.

With regards to the equipment used. In a weightlifting contest, all competitors would be using the same equipment. That is, when one contestant is finished lifting the weight, the next contestant would take his turn to use the exact same equipment. It would not be that useful for a weightlifter to worry about the equipment. But there are many, many ways to set up a bike. Some of the changes in the way a bike is set up may actually be useful, some may be just for the psychological benefit. :)

I agree with you on that. The bike does make a difference ( from a performance/comfort standpoint).

But it seems cyclists spend all their time thinking about the bike, but forget the engine. I mean I just don't think a gooey honey ladden banana bagel is the best recovery meal.

You may not crave protein, but it doesn't mean some cottage cheese wouldn't do you some good especially in the presence of all that carbohydrate.

Muscles break down from pedaling too (not just weights)

Just shoot me.... on the day I take nutritional advice from a body-builder.

They know a lot more about nutrition than your average cyclist who doesn't think about his body and is more focused on his bike.(That's the truth)

A bodybuilder knows about nutrition to fuel muscle mass gain and/or fat loss. Not fitness. Not health.

I am guilty of that too. :) But the thing is, diet and nutrition are confusing topics that are open to divergent opinions. Just take a look at all the different fad diets going around. Even the diet "experts" have different ideas about good nutrition. And changes in diet does not produce easily measured improvements in performance. Unlike the measureable changes when you modify the set up of the bike (change in gearing, tire inflation, etc).

What's wrong with having stronger legs and less fat?

One more thing. You can't go comparing Mr. Olympia to the average "in shape" guy lifting weights at the gym. Those average guys follow the same diet and still benefit from it.

All I know is that pure carbohydrate recovery meals seem like a such a waste when you could mix in some protein in there and make it better. Leg muscles are made of protein and they break down after/during a ride.

LOL.....Then there are all the guys who drink beer after they ride. :p

Do as the Italians do, drop the cottage cheese, drop the protein shakes, drop the "engineered foods" that look like chicken sh*t, and eat a big plate of pasta, like mamma said you should!

A lot of research and understanding went into that, huh?

There is tons of research on PubMed, but cyclists are so in the stone-age it's pathetic. Only the top athletes with trainers that understand this get any sort of guidance.

Focus is on the bike, not the engine in most cycling publications.

I admit I am being tounge-in-cheek, but really, cyclists are not eating poorly as a whole, and not all of us are interested in building mass and muscle definition.

The funny thing is Italians are less obese (in general) than Americans, and they live longer. Must be something to that Mediterannean diet. By the way, someone with great body definition--Sophia Loren--once said, "Everything I am I owe to pasta."

They don't just eat pasta.

Oh yeah, they aren't playing Xbox either :p

Carbs are all important in the 4-hour recovery window after exercise. The recommendations I've read say 3 grams of carbs per kg of body weight. Protein may increase glycogen storage, but the results are inconclusive.

But of course, protein is a necessary part of overall nutrition. The standard US diet has twice the necessary protein, so it's usually not a problem to get enough protein.

I think I'm just opposed to purely carbohydrate recovery meals.

Protein is part of muscle recovery and if you are eating 3grams/kg of carbs might as well take advantage of all that insulin that is going to released and take some protein with it.

The insulin response to the ingested carbs is relatively short window (particularly if they are of a high glycemic index), the protein needs to be around at the time of the insulin release. Protein may also smooth out some of the insulin release by lowering the glycemic index at bit.