Focus on Cycling
Cycling is such a great sport because just about anyone can participate. Most everyone has learned to ride a bicycle and so throwing a leg over a fine machine and pedaling feels pretty good for many of us. It's easy on the joints (especially at the recreational level), it gets you around faster than walking, and while it does take some equipment (a bike; helmet) an entry level bike can be had pretty inexpensively. It's great exercise and even people who are a bit on the heavy side can get a bike that fits them properly and they can be on their way.
The range of ability of a cyclist can go all the way from the five year old learning to ride up to the professionals who race bikes worth a family's yearly income. Most of us are somewhere in the middle.
The sport of cycling can be deceptively simple. The first time a recreational rider decides to enter an endurance event (say, something like the Seattle to Portland (STP) that is just over 200 miles completed in one or two days) or enters a race, they find out there is more to it than just turning the pedals around. For racers, a great book is Joe Friel's Cyclist's Training Bible. This book goes into the evaluation of the prospective racer, including physiological and psychological components and then helps to design a training program for the year. There are equally well written books available for those who would like to train for more endurance oriented events (such as the STP).
When involved in a process of improving cycling ability it becomes important to have the nutritional support so that the body can respond to the increased output demands. By providing the body with an enhanced nutritional profile (without adding unnecessary calories) the gains can come sooner and the cyclist in training will see improvements sooner. Also, the quality of the training hours improves as, when necessary, the intensity level can be sustained at a higher level for a longer duration. Even during recovery or endurance phases of training, the nutrition taken on board will help to improve your capacity at holding reserves for higher intensity periods.
The foundational nutrition program (see related article) provides much of what a cyclist in training will want on a daily basis. In addition, during training periods, a well-balanced sports drink developed specifically for cyclists (see related article) will help keep the legs relatively fresh by the end of an aerobic level ride and help to provide energy during higher intensity efforts.
On longer rides it's a good idea to add some solid nutritional energy. If a ride is expected to go 2.5 hours or longer, start munching on a good quality, balanced carbohydrate bar. A good quality bar will be easily digestible and tolerable for possibly many hours, depending on the length of the ride. A great one is listed at the bottom of this article and comes in peanut butter as well as cocoa (I recommend the peanut butter).
The importance of having a high quality protein really cannot be overstated. The majority of us get our protein from meat sources, which is not all bad, but it becomes difficult to get the right kind of protein for muscle recovery from just meat sources or even vegetable sources. For proper recovery after a ride muscles need something that will help the body to produce more insulin (which helps muscles use carbohydrate and amino acids for rebuilding) as well as something to help the muscle cells become the most receptive to the insulin. The muscle recovery powder (see related article) recommended meets all of these criteria and is part of the nutritional support used by many olympic athletes.
For an additional tasty protein snack that can even replace a meal in a pinch, try the protein bar listed below.
Sports Nutrition Tips (will open new window)
Product Label - Muscle Recovery (PDF)
Product Label - Hydration (PDF)
Product Label - Energy Bar
Product Label - Protein Bar
Purchase Info - Muscle Recovery
Purchase Info - Hydration
Purchase Info - Energy Bar
Purchase Info - Protein Bar
All products have a 100% guarantee on purity, potency, and effectiveness. It's an "empty bottle" guarantee, which means that you can use all of the contents of anything you try and still get your money back if you are not happy with the results.