cycle when your tank is on E?

[stough]

recently i read an article in Runner World's magazine about how 2 olympian marathoners trained for London by doing their runs when their "tank" was on E. after a 2 hour run they burned more fat and the body adapted to burning carbs in a more proficient manner thus giving both olympians the best marathon they ever ran at the olympic trials a while back. so i was wondering does cycling work the same way? if you go on a 2 hour ride with your tank on E will it help burn more fat while also giving you some of the best results in the long run??

 

[jhuskey]

I train like this some of the time but only for short intense rides of less than an hour. It no doubt burns fat but I also believe it trains your body to use fuel more effeciently.
I have no numbers, no studies and no proof other than my weight and form, which at this point is also being affected by age .

 

[jpr95]

I'm sure it's probably helpful if you're competing. For those of us who are recreational riders, though, it makes no sense. Why? We ride because we enjoy it. I've gone out riding after a hard, physical day at work--the result was that I didn't really enjoy it, so I now try to avoid that. If I'm tired when I get home, I don't ride. I do enjoy riding hard--maybe hit a straight, flat stretch and see what kind of speed I can maintain, or attack a hill to where my legs almost lock when I get to the top, or even try to burn all my matches by the time I get home, but to start at zero just isn't fun.

 

[danfoz]

Back in the day, Jim Och had the 7-11 Team riding long hours (5-6 hours) at lower intensities (<60%) to train the body to use fat more efficiently.

Since we metabolize fat AND stored glucose for fuel, and depending on the intensity more or less of either (almost primarily glucose at redline and beyond, and almost all fat in the Zone1 intensities and below) I would gather what we burn (and therefore becoming better at it) would be a result of the intensity of the ride and not how much fuel we had in the tank. Just my thoughts.

HOWEVER, there is some limited research to suggest that on long rides riding to, and finishing on "E", as opposed to starting on "E", has some benefit with regards to stimulating Interleukin6, what some call the endurance hormone. While it is found in high levels in cancer patients, it is also found in highly trained endurance athletes, where it funtions slighly differently (in healthy individuals) in the cell.

It's the old phenomenon of riding through an excrutiatingly difficult several hour ride, and then 10-12 days later, "riding like the wind"...

It also seems to lend credence as to how we are able to hold high levels of aerobic function throughout the season once a good base has been developed, on just one long ride every week or two. Take with a grain of salt, these are the rambling thoughts of someone with just enough information to be dangerous/img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif

Edit: A 2 hour run is probably more comprable to a 4 or 5 hour ride (coincidentally the recommended length of the ideal I6 ride I read about a short while back).