[Special Interview] Cycling Part 1: You have to be tough to be a cyclist. "Nutrition is what completes your training"

[Interview]
Strength and conditioning coach: Hirofumi Kitami
Yuko Saito, Certified Sports Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian

Strengthen your cardiovascular system to increase your endurance

--It is said that in professional bicycle races, riders ride several hundred kilometers in a day's race, consuming about 1 to 6,000 kcal. For example, how much practice does a university student bicycle club member (7,000 cm, 175 kg, male) need?

Kitami:For example, one of the university students I coach wakes up at 4:70 and rides about 300km in the morning. After that, he eats breakfast and heads to school. On weekends, he rides about 2,000km. When coaching, I tell him to try to make time to ride his bike 3,000 to XNUMXkm a month if possible.

In Japan, there are 7km races such as the "Tour of Japan" which runs from Osaka to Tokyo over seven days (held for four days in 2022 due to the COVID-4 pandemic), the All Japan Championships, and the Intercollegiate Championships. In any case, it's a sport that requires a lot of toughness.

--When training is that hard, meals and snacks are important to maintain good condition every day. Are there any specific foods or nutrients that are good to eat in the morning, afternoon, and evening?

Saito:First of all, it's important to eat three meals a day. And then, eat snacks frequently. Cycling consumes a lot of energy, so it's impossible to get it all in three meals. You can't eat a lot in one go, and you don't want it to interfere with your movements afterwards, so it's important to increase your energy intake by taking advantage of snacks.

You should also consider the time of day you train. For example, if you train in the morning, you need to have enough carbohydrates in your breakfast, and if you train in the afternoon, you should also have protein and fat in the morning. It is also important to adjust the content of your meals to match the timing of your training.

--When it comes to cycling, endurance is an important theme. How do you improve it?

Kitami:Basically, to improve endurance, it is important to increase cardiac output. We call the heart's single beat the "heartbeat volume" (laughs), and cardiac output is determined by the ratio of this "heartbeat volume (stroke volume) x heart rate."

First, you want to increase your heart rate with aerobic exercise. This will not be effective unless you maintain a steady state for more than 90 minutes. In everyday life, the heart beats at about 60 to 70 beats per minute, but let's say you incorporate aerobic exercise that makes your heart beat at 1 beats per minute for 3 to 5 hours a day. Since your heart rate is higher than usual, your heart will try to adapt by increasing the amount of your heartbeat. In other words, it will strengthen your cardiopulmonary function.
Combining this with HIIT (high intensity interval training) will increase your endurance.

--If you're a university student, you have to adjust the amount of food you eat to accommodate differences in build and gender, right?

Saito:I think it's most effective to adjust your basic energy intake with carbohydrates. Women should reduce the volume of their food intake to 7-8% of what men consume.

Additionally, lipids are also important. Recent data has shown that EPA, a component found in oily fish, improves endurance cardiopulmonary capacity. It is said that consuming it in the morning is particularly beneficial, so if you have training in the afternoon, it would be even better to eat fish for breakfast. I recommend consuming quality lipids and increasing your overall carbohydrate and protein intake.

A good practice is a waste if you can't recover.

-- For cyclists, weight is an important factor. Some people say it's better not to build unnecessary muscle, but what do you think?

Kitami:In cycling, you don't push off the ground to move forward, you "roll" along the road. Therefore, your weight doesn't directly rest on your legs. However, the wind has a big effect, and when you're in a group, you can move forward with about 3% less force, so you could say that your weight has less of an effect on flat roads.

However, when going uphill, weight plays a big role even when rolling. On a slope, you have to lift your weight, so many athletes who are good at uphill are light and thin. Such athletes don't like to gain weight by eating too much nutrition. You need to think about what type of athlete you are and control your weight.

-Do you have any advice for improving performance in everyday life?

Saito:We place great importance on how well you get your nutrition after training. Even if you have a good practice, it will be a waste if you are not able to recover. "Nutrition is what completes the practice." We tell them that the key is how quickly you can replenish your nutrients after practice or training is over.

Kitami:How many minutes must pass before post-exercise nutrition becomes less effective?

Saito:It depends on the form. For example, is it amino acid or protein? The time it takes to digest and absorb changes depending on that. However, basically, the intake of nutrients into the muscles peaks 30 minutes after exercise, gradually decreases from about 45 minutes, and is almost zero at about 75 minutes. Therefore, it is best to aim for nutritional intake within 30 minutes.

Athletes who use the bicycle to their advantage perform better

--What do you particularly want to be aware of when doing muscle training and other training? If there are any muscles that cyclists should train, please tell us.

Kitami:The force required to pedal with your feet is limited by your body weight. However, if you pull the handlebars to push the pedals, the strength of your back muscles is added. In this example, the 65kg student can generate about 200kg of force by using his upper body. In other words, you need the muscles in your arms and back to generate force from your feet.

In addition, it is important to be able to stop without shaking your upper body. Because your upper body is more stable, you can transmit power to your legs more firmly. I believe that athletes who have mastered this way of using their bodies that is unique to cycling - in other words, athletes who use the bike to their advantage - will perform better.

--Is there proper nutrition to increase muscle strength and mass during training?

Saito:The way you take in your nutrition will also change depending on whether you are trying to strengthen your muscle endurance or build muscle. Increasing your protein intake or adjusting the amount is one way to do it. However, the most important thing is that you need carbohydrates, which are the basis of your energy, so you should focus on carbohydrates while also adjusting your intake by taking in protein and fats appropriately.

Since energy is needed during training, it is important to know how much carbohydrate you have before practice. You also need to change the content depending on how many hours before practice you eat. It depends on the nutritional ingredients, but personally, I think that "foods that take longer to digest and absorb will take longer to run out of energy." Rice balls and other foods provide more sustained energy than easy-to-eat jelly drinks, so if possible, eat them between classes. Then, after class, eat fruit, and during exercise, you can also digest and absorb less, so I recommend replenishment of carbohydrates in different forms, such as sports drinks and supplements. It would be good to be able to make good use of energy jellies and other foods according to the timing of intake.

In the first part, we introduced key points for daily life, diet, and things to be careful of when training that are suited to the characteristics of cycling.
In the second part, we will suggest conditioning methods, what to do before and after the race, and exemplary meal menus that provide the necessary energy and nutrients.

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