Ammonia

Sorry as I am sure this has cropped up before. I have been training fairly intensively on a fixed wheel, 4 times a week for the last 2 months. I go out and do a solid 3 hours, no breaks, at an average of 90% of LTHR. I have noticed latterly a very strong smell of ammonia from the back of my shirt where I sweat most. I have been used to riding the sort of distances (and substantially more) that I am doing presently without this smell. I understand that it can be caused by protein breakdown but do not see why it should be occuring now. Any ideas gratefully received

 

Could mean you're training in a carb-deprived state, forcing your body to convert protein to glycogen. Here's a link: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ammonia.htm

 

Is a bottle of Gatorade half way through a 2-hour ride enough to not be "carb deprived?"

 

It's actually more important to have the glycogen stores full before training.

Eating some carbs during the ride becomes more important as the training lasts longer.

I'm not sure but I think Gatorade may have 6-8% CHO. 500ml equals 120-160kcal. If you are riding at a high intensity, that amount CHO lasts no more than 15minutes.

PS: I have given approximate amounts, nothing certain..

 

I used to be worried about that ammonia smell, too, and did some research on it. To my knowledge (and maybe you want to research more on your own) there is nothing conclusive about the ammonia smell and correlated health problems (eg muscle breakdown). I'm pretty sure that to get rid of that smell you need to eat more before your rides, so that the products of your metabolism don't include NH3 (ammonia). Some people might say that nitrogen comes from burnt muscle or protein, but who knows for sure? Eat more and don't worry about it.

 

ask catabolic jones, it says "i smell ammonia" under his avatar!