Does Fasted Training Make Sense?

Does Fasted Training Make Sense? Restructuring Muscle to Burn Fat by Robert Warren Hess There is an active discussion within the cycling community about training while fasting to train the body to use more fat as fuel. The result would be a leaner body [fat does do much more than go along for the ride] and a greater power to weight ratio. I’m very interested in this because at 5′ 10″ and 153 pounds, I’m still at 21% body fat according to my latest Body-spec scan.  That’s an astounding 30 pounds of me that isn’t doing anything? Well, not really true. I think we need about 9-10% body fat for normal body operation, so I’ve really got just about 10 pounds to lose to get to my optimal weight of 140 [which was my weight when I graduated from college]. Pez Cycling just published a great article on this subject. The bottom line: “More research is still required to establish a robust causal relationship between the metabolic mechanisms that are being stimulated and improved performance on the road. However, restricting or depleting carbohydrate before low-intensity sessions may be a potent stimulus to enhance fat metabolism.” Read the full article here: “Remodellng Muscle to Burn Fat.” […] read more

Road to Manchester – Sitrep April 26, 2015

Road to Manchester – Sitrep April 26, 2015 The Road to Manchester by Robert Warren Hess It’s just over 5 months to Manchester and I’m trying to get a training routine set for my event. Today was my weekend road ride, with a focus on preparation for riding Stage 7 of this year’s Amgen Tour of California, which ends at the ski lift parking lot on Mt. Baldy. The final 1/2 mile is 17%! The image on the right is from my Garmin computer: 41.1 miles and just over 3,7oo’ of vertical climb. It was a good ride. I’ve being playing around with fasted riding to train my body to use fat for fuel. So, I started this morning with a breakfast of coffee and 1 1/3 ounces of plain turkey.  I also had two waters bottles, each with one small scoop of Osmo sports concentrate.  The result was that I was officially “bonked” at 3 hours and 11 minutes into the ride, just 15 minutes from home.  I’ll check the scale tomorrow morning and see if I actually lost any weight, or if I just ate myself silly when I got home and replaced everything I lost. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day and a very fun […] read more