Cycling On An Empty Stomach



Carrera

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Feb 2, 2004
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Due to extreme time limitations, there have been occasions when I literally fell out of bed, consumed a go-ahead bar and hopped straight on the bike for a 30 mile ride.
The other day I was riding with a small group and riding quite well. However, after about the half-way mark I could feel my body was out of energy. My legs were feeling weaker and I could feel fatigue. I knew I had to stop in a shop and get some lucozade. By the time I stepped into the shop I could feel a touch wobbly and weak.
I drank the lucozade and was feeling better after 15 minutes.
Paula Radcliffe says that sometimes it's a good thing to train with not much fuel inside you. She says it makes you draw on your reserves and burn up fat. I don't do this as a particular strategy but it's more down to severe lack of time to ride. There are times I'm so busy I may have forgotten to buy some glucose to drink or maybe I set out on the ride on an impulse.
Is what I did the other day harmful? I didn't have outright energy bonk but I could certainly feel the beginnings of one which is why I stopped off. Even then, lucozade is hardly a replacement for meals during the day, prior to riding. I sometimes have to fuel up in haste before night sets in when I get up around 16.00 p.m.
 
Carrera said:
Due to extreme time limitations, there have been occasions when I literally fell out of bed, consumed a go-ahead bar and hopped straight on the bike for a 30 mile ride.
The other day I was riding with a small group and riding quite well. However, after about the half-way mark I could feel my body was out of energy. My legs were feeling weaker and I could feel fatigue. I knew I had to stop in a shop and get some lucozade. By the time I stepped into the shop I could feel a touch wobbly and weak.
I drank the lucozade and was feeling better after 15 minutes.
Paula Radcliffe says that sometimes it's a good thing to train with not much fuel inside you. She says it makes you draw on your reserves and burn up fat. I don't do this as a particular strategy but it's more down to severe lack of time to ride. There are times I'm so busy I may have forgotten to buy some glucose to drink or maybe I set out on the ride on an impulse.
Is what I did the other day harmful? I didn't have outright energy bonk but I could certainly feel the beginnings of one which is why I stopped off. Even then, lucozade is hardly a replacement for meals during the day, prior to riding. I sometimes have to fuel up in haste before night sets in when I get up around 16.00 p.m.
Carrera,
When you first wake up in the morning, you muscles will have an adequate supply of glycogen available if have been eating a relatively high carbohydrate diet. Your liver, responsible for maintaining blood glucose levels, is another story entirely. Even after a large dinner, your liver is going to have very low levels of glycogen by the time you wake. Like skeletal muscles, liver glycogen is broken down quickly during exercise, even during very moderate intensity exercise; unlike skeletal muslces, liver glycogen also helps to fuel functions of the entire body (overall liver glycogen capacity is much lower too). This is why, when no carbohydrate is coming in from your degestive track, you can feel fine one minute (blood glucose is normal; muscle glycogen is still abundent) and the next minute you feel like passing out (liver glycogen and blood glucose are low; muscle glycogen is still adequately abundent). Once blood glucose levels drop, it's you brain that shuts down your body, presumably to save what's left of your blood glucose for itself.
I don't know what "not training with *much* fuel inside you" really means, but depriving yourself of carbohydrate and hydration is the quickest way to limiting your ability to maintain the quality of your workout; *unless* your goal is to ride at a low intensity only. This is not a training style issue, it is basic physiology - you need carbohydrate to perform moderate to high intensity exercise.
 
Carrera said:
Due to extreme time limitations, there have been occasions when I literally fell out of bed, consumed a go-ahead bar and hopped straight on the bike for a 30 mile ride.
The other day I was riding with a small group and riding quite well. However, after about the half-way mark I could feel my body was out of energy. My legs were feeling weaker and I could feel fatigue. I knew I had to stop in a shop and get some lucozade. By the time I stepped into the shop I could feel a touch wobbly and weak.
I drank the lucozade and was feeling better after 15 minutes.
Paula Radcliffe says that sometimes it's a good thing to train with not much fuel inside you. She says it makes you draw on your reserves and burn up fat. I don't do this as a particular strategy but it's more down to severe lack of time to ride. There are times I'm so busy I may have forgotten to buy some glucose to drink or maybe I set out on the ride on an impulse.
Is what I did the other day harmful? I didn't have outright energy bonk but I could certainly feel the beginnings of one which is why I stopped off. Even then, lucozade is hardly a replacement for meals during the day, prior to riding. I sometimes have to fuel up in haste before night sets in when I get up around 16.00 p.m.
I can not see that Paula Radcliffe has any fat reserves to draw on.
You should always eat breakfast. If time is short, then spend less of it arguing political issues on forum sites. Hard training will do more harm than good if you are not consolidating with adequate nutrition and recovery periods.
With winter coming on, you need a fully functional immune system, otherwise you are likely to end up seriously ill.
 
I thought something had to be not quite right. What happened was I worked all Friday night and went to bed at 8.00 a.m. in a blackened room. I rose at about 15.00 p.m., ate a go-ahead bar and then hit the bike. I only had about 2 hours or so till darkness fell and I also had to be at work again.
In the group ride I led all the way on a pretty hard climb and did most of the work for the others. On the descent I was also moving pretty fast but fatigue set in at the bottom of the descent when I had more climbing ahead.
That was when I stopped off for lucozade which took some 20 minutes to revive me. It wasn't classic bonk but I could feel the need for fuel.
To be honest it's a tough problem to crack. The other riders in the group would have had several meals throughout the day by the time I'd only just got out of bed. There is certainly time for me to take a snack bar or two and some glucose but that's about all I can manage. I tend to eat actual meals after the ride when I'm at work.
But I can tell you folks for sure that keeping in shape on a bike when you work 12 hour night stints is tough. It's equally tough to get on the bike soon as you're up when you just feel like watching TV or going on the net. But this is the only way I can train during working days and it isn't ideal.
Then only positive side is I have money to buy a carbon frame and high tech cycling kit. I have the money tom invest but not the time to train as I would wish - well fueled and having had time to psyche up.

Smartt/RST said:
Carrera,
When you first wake up in the morning, you muscles will have an adequate supply of glycogen available if have been eating a relatively high carbohydrate diet. Your liver, responsible for maintaining blood glucose levels, is another story entirely. Even after a large dinner, your liver is going to have very low levels of glycogen by the time you wake. Like skeletal muscles, liver glycogen is broken down quickly during exercise, even during very moderate intensity exercise; unlike skeletal muslces, liver glycogen also helps to fuel functions of the entire body (overall liver glycogen capacity is much lower too). This is why, when no carbohydrate is coming in from your degestive track, you can feel fine one minute (blood glucose is normal; muscle glycogen is still abundent) and the next minute you feel like passing out (liver glycogen and blood glucose are low; muscle glycogen is still adequately abundent). Once blood glucose levels drop, it's you brain that shuts down your body, presumably to save what's left of your blood glucose for itself.
I don't know what "not training with *much* fuel inside you" really means, but depriving yourself of carbohydrate and hydration is the quickest way to limiting your ability to maintain the quality of your workout; *unless* your goal is to ride at a low intensity only. This is not a training style issue, it is basic physiology - you need carbohydrate to perform moderate to high intensity exercise.
 
There was one renowned Roman emperor who was described in this way:

"Transegit et dierum actus noctibus et nocturnos diebus, aestimans hoc inter instrumenta luxuriae, ita ut sero de somno surgeret."

"He carried out daily activities by night and nightly activity by day, considering this to be the essence of luxury. Therefore, he would rise very late."

The reason you see me on the internet at 3.00 a.m. is logical to explain. Today I rose at 15.30 p.m. since I finished work at 8.00 a.m. It's a day off (a rare ocasion). I have to do my bike rides before it gets dark but I'll usually be up till 4.00 a.m. in the morning regardless. This is because of the time defecit since my body clock is several hours in front of your own at this specific time.
I have ridden my bike at night before in pitch black but this can be tricky. You have to make use of cars flashing their lights to illumninate the ruts that may be ahead or hope the road is lit by lamps.
Once I was riding at 12.00 midnight climbing a hill and a dog jumped up at me from the pavement.
I'm afraid that, as a shift worker, my life is upside down.



Don Shipp said:
I can not see that Paula Radcliffe has any fat reserves to draw on.
You should always eat breakfast. If time is short, then spend less of it arguing political issues on forum sites. Hard training will do more harm than good if you are not consolidating with adequate nutrition and recovery periods.
With winter coming on, you need a fully functional immune system, otherwise you are likely to end up seriously ill.
 
Carrera said:
There was one renowned Roman emperor who was described in this way:

"Transegit et dierum actus noctibus et nocturnos diebus, aestimans hoc inter instrumenta luxuriae, ita ut sero de somno surgeret."

"He carried out daily activities by night and nightly activity by day, considering this to be the essence of luxury. Therefore, he would rise very late."

The reason you see me on the internet at 3.00 a.m. is logical to explain. Today I rose at 15.30 p.m. since I finished work at 8.00 a.m. It's a day off (a rare ocasion). I have to do my bike rides before it gets dark but I'll usually be up till 4.00 a.m. in the morning regardless. This is because of the time defecit since my body clock is several hours in front of your own at this specific time.
I have ridden my bike at night before in pitch black but this can be tricky. You have to make use of cars flashing their lights to illumninate the ruts that may be ahead or hope the road is lit by lamps.
Once I was riding at 12.00 midnight climbing a hill and a dog jumped up at me from the pavement.
I'm afraid that, as a shift worker, my life is upside down.
I realise that, but the amount of time that you spend here and on those other forum sites deprives you of sleep and, it would seem, time even to eat.
So turn the bloody thing off!
 
I guess I'll be online a lot today. I actually have a night off so I decided to ride tomorrow by day and just do some gym tonight when it's dark.
After the gym, I'll have plenty to eat and, more than likely, some guiness.
I'm likely to be up late, though, due to the fact I rose in the late afternoon. Even then, I have to take mild sleeping tablet to sleep due to the sudden change in sleeping patterns.
It's all a bit compliocated and maybe not so healthy. Eventually I'll go back to daytime work and stop being such a vampire.

Don Shipp said:
I realise that, but the amount of time that you spend here and on those other forum sites deprives you of sleep and, it would seem, time even to eat.
So turn the bloody thing off!
 
Carrera said:
I guess I'll be online a lot today. I actually have a night off so I decided to ride tomorrow by day and just do some gym tonight when it's dark.
After the gym, I'll have plenty to eat and, more than likely, some guiness.
I'm likely to be up late, though, due to the fact I rose in the late afternoon. Even then, I have to take mild sleeping tablet to sleep due to the sudden change in sleeping patterns.
It's all a bit compliocated and maybe not so healthy. Eventually I'll go back to daytime work and stop being such a vampire.
Staring at a computer screen a few inches away from your face for several hours keeps you awake. Even with your erratic daily rhythm, you could make more of the free time that you have to rest properly. Anyway, I know that you won't.
 
It is kind of addictive I suppose (here I am back online). But to be honest with you, my internet time is fairly limited too. Tonight I can actually browse the internet from home but I can't do this if I'm working nights.
However, one of the main reasons I still haven't purchased a laptop is out of fear I could get totally addicted to internet sites. There was a time I used to be 6 hours on the computer but these days I'm not online so often.
Well, tonight I will finally get a decent sleep ready for tomorrow.


Don Shipp said:
Staring at a computer screen a few inches away from your face for several hours keeps you awake. Even with your erratic daily rhythm, you could make more of the free time that you have to rest properly. Anyway, I know that you won't.
 
Carrera said:
It is kind of addictive I suppose (here I am back online). But to be honest with you, my internet time is fairly limited too. Tonight I can actually browse the internet from home but I can't do this if I'm working nights.
However, one of the main reasons I still haven't purchased a laptop is out of fear I could get totally addicted to internet sites. There was a time I used to be 6 hours on the computer but these days I'm not online so often.
Well, tonight I will finally get a decent sleep ready for tomorrow.
In the words of Pavel Tatsouline:

"Eat - Sleep - Excersise - Work"

You cannot pick 3 out of 4
 
Well, what can I say? I appreciate you guys are doing your best to help and advise me so I don't drop with exhaustion.
One thing I guess I learned is you need to get fuel into your body prior to getting on the bike. Obviously just having a snack bar puts me at a disadvantage.
I'll try and follow the advice all you folks are giving me and, yes, I appreciate all your efforts to give sound advice.
 
Carrera said:
Well, what can I say? I appreciate you guys are doing your best to help and advise me so I don't drop with exhaustion.
One thing I guess I learned is you need to get fuel into your body prior to getting on the bike. Obviously just having a snack bar puts me at a disadvantage.
I'll try and follow the advice all you folks are giving me and, yes, I appreciate all your efforts to give sound advice.
DS is right, Carrera. Wake up and smell the roses. Shift work is no excuse for buggering up your life. I worked shift work for years - Taking sleeping pills? What's going on in that head of yours, Carrera?
All you do is take a look at your 12 hour work day, pretend it's in the daytime and organise your non-work life around those hours. If you are using sleeping pills, it suggests that you haven't organised your sleeping patterns. Get off the internet for a while (it's really not the end of the World), eat proper meals, ride your bike, sleep, do magic tricks for girls at the Bank...
I work from 05:00 to usually around 19:00 / 20:00, ride my bike, drink beer, teach a friend how to swim, do housework, eat well, sleep well - but I still can't do any magic tricks!
 
I use the non-prescription sleeping pills that are basically a strong anti-histamine. The reason behind this is linked to sudden changes in shift patterns. For example, last night I was able to go to bed and sleep by night for the first time in 6 days. That is, I wasn't working nights so instead of going to bed at 8.00 a.m. I could go to bed at night.
Of course, when the body gets used to sleeping by day, it's difficult to suddenly change and that's where the pills come in.
So, last night I was able to sleep in darkness without noise, roadworks and barking dogs. Later today I'll be doing a hard ride and I'm sure it will be so much easier since I can eat plenty of carbs prior to the ride.

EoinC said:
DS is right, Carrera. Wake up and smell the roses. Shift work is no excuse for buggering up your life. I worked shift work for years - Taking sleeping pills? What's going on in that head of yours, Carrera?
All you do is take a look at your 12 hour work day, pretend it's in the daytime and organise your non-work life around those hours. If you are using sleeping pills, it suggests that you haven't organised your sleeping patterns. Get off the internet for a while (it's really not the end of the World), eat proper meals, ride your bike, sleep, do magic tricks for girls at the Bank...
I work from 05:00 to usually around 19:00 / 20:00, ride my bike, drink beer, teach a friend how to swim, do housework, eat well, sleep well - but I still can't do any magic tricks!
 
Carrera

Is it possible you can commute to work via your bicycle ?

If so.. maybe not doing it 5 days a week... but maybe 1-2 days per week, and using that commute time strickly as a "recovery ride" commute ride ;)

Kill two birds w/ one stone
 
Adam-from-SLO said:
Carrera

Is it possible you can commute to work via your bicycle ?

If so.. maybe not doing it 5 days a week... but maybe 1-2 days per week, and using that commute time strickly as a "recovery ride" commute ride ;)

Kill two birds w/ one stone
I think that he cycles to work and goes on training rides as well.
And goes to the gym.
 
This week I've been practically forced off my bike. I have to travel by bus a long distance to do a training course related to my employment. I would have loved to cycle instead of travelling on a slow, inefficient bus but there are so many lorries and roundabouts on this particular road, I fear for my life.
So, I'm off the road this week and it's a pain. Work keeps getting in the way and limiting my time on the bike. This is a pity as my cycling has improved so much this year despite the odd hitch.

Don Shipp said:
I think that he cycles to work and goes on training rides as well.
And goes to the gym.
 
Carrera said:
This week I've been practically forced off my bike. I have to travel by bus a long distance to do a training course related to my employment. I would have loved to cycle instead of travelling on a slow, inefficient bus but there are so many lorries and roundabouts on this particular road, I fear for my life.
So, I'm off the road this week and it's a pain. Work keeps getting in the way and limiting my time on the bike. This is a pity as my cycling has improved so much this year despite the odd hitch.


Maybe you can take up being a Bicycle Messanger for a job ;)
 

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