Toxic Waste stops cyclists from reaching their potential
Text: Mark Robinson. Article from the April 2014 issue of Ride Magazine.
Life would be boring without a few guilty pleasures, adrenaline from work and the odd late night, wouldn’t it? But if you’re overindulging, you’re damaging your health and won’t fulfil your potential in the saddle.
World funride Champs are done and dusted, so it’s time to reevaluate our habits and pledge to make tweaks to our lifestyles that can benefit our everyday lives and our cycling. All of us at Ride have had mixed fortunes when it comes to making and sticking to New Year resolutions, with me, admittedly, struggling more than most to keep to a straight course and stay disciplined in and out of the saddle.
When deciding on your big riding targets for 2014, there is always room for improvement in how you train for them. There’s also room for daily improvement away from the bike in terms of what you consume and how you take care of your body. With the slate about to be wiped clean, and with the help of a panel of experts, we take a close look at five common lifestyle and health hazards, and how cutting them out or drastically reducing them can improve your general health and especially your cycling.
Junk Food
It seems you can’t look at the news these days without reading about how people are fatter than ever. Alcohol can be a factor but globally we are consuming more fatty and processed foods than ever.
Convenience foods may make our lives easier, but they are making them harder in other ways. Cutting out the takeaways and microwave meals can certainly help make that hill-climb easier.
“The key thing relating to processed food is its lack of nutritional bioavailability,” comments Dr Simon Jobson, a physiologist at the UK’s University of Winchester. “This means it’s difficult to get the goodness and nutrients that we need out of those foods. Processed foods have toxins and rubbish in them and are worse for you than foods that are fatty but natural.”
“Cyclists need high-quality carbohydrate and protein, and you’re not going to receive them from processed foods,” says Dr Carl Hulston of Loughborough University. “Frozen pizzas, canned food and takeaways are some of the worst offenders. These have been shown to make people lethargic. I recently completed a study that gave the subjects a diet consisting of high-fat processed foods, and we found that physical activity was reduced, and insulin resistance and vulnerability to Type 2 diabetes rose. These were healthy students, and after a few days we found they were less likely to go to the gym, and if they did, they would do less work. One thing active people say is that they can eat what they want because they burn it off, and the threats from these unhealthy foods can be negated by that. There is some protective element involved.
“You certainly shouldn’t think you have carte blanche to eat burgers and kebabs every day after your ride”
If you are burning a lot of glucose, then you can eat it because it has somewhere to go. But this doesn’t mean other cells and tissues aren’t affected, and you certainly shouldn’t think that you have carte blanche to eat burgers and kebabs every day after your ride.”
Ride says Manage your time better – if you have a busy week ahead, make a large nutritious bolognese, stew or curry on Sunday and reheat it during the week instead of buying junk food.
Smoking
In a century or so’s time, smoking will surely be looked back on by our descendants as one of the human race’s most ridiculous habits. Thankfully the backlash is already well under way with smoking levels among young people lower than they’ve ever been and the prevalence of cigarettes and tobacco in our shops significantly reduced along with the number of places where people are allowed to smoke publicly.
Despite all the warnings, though, there are millions in the UK who still do it – even people who exercise to a high level, cyclists included. Remember the photo of Bradley Wiggins celebrating his Tour de France and Olympic victories on holiday in Majorca with a crafty fag?
“Where do we start?” says GP Dr Andy Ward when asked about smoking’s harmful effects. “First of all, carbon monoxide binds to your haemoglobin more strongly than oxygen does and severely limits the oxygen-carrying capacity in your blood. The result is that you get tired a lot quicker.
“Carbon monoxide binds to your haemoglobin more strongly than oxygen does and this severely limits the oxygen-carrying capacity in your blood”
“Smoking also clogs up your blood vessels over time and increases your resting heart rate. You’ll have an older lung age than is natural, and the longer you smoke, the older your lungs become and the airway resistance is increased. On a bike, this will hold you back significantly.”
“The good news is that quite quickly after quitting, oxygen levels in the blood will return towards normal values,” says Jobson. “The amount of oxygen in the blood has a huge impact on your endurance ability. We can see how much of an impact it has by looking at the improvements by convicted blood dopers.
“After giving up smoking, oxygen saturation improves in days and hours. With lung capacity, which is compromised by smoking, you can measure the changes in months and feel the benefits quite quickly.
“Aside from this your general immune function improves, meaning you are better able to fight off colds because tissues recover more quickly. Toxins get into the body in various ways, including through smoking, and the body has to get rid of them. If it’s not having to do that, then it can be doing something else like improving the body’s performance and recovery instead of the need for removing toxins.”
Off yer bike
Are you addicted to cycling? It could be doing you more harm than good.
“In psychology there is something we refer to as an ‘addictive personality’,” says psychologist Peter Hudson, founder of Cyclotherapy (www.cyclotherapy.org).
“People who suffer from it have to do something to excess. It becomes all-consuming. If someone suddenly becomes interested in cycling they can become obsessed with training routines, the number of miles they are riding or Strava, to the exclusion of other interests and to the detriment of relationships. Their focus narrows to the point of their rarely thinking about anything else. People conclude because exercise keeps you fit, it’s a healthy obsession. This isn’t true-all obsessions are potentially harmful. It can lead to burnout, a lack of enjoyment and people giving up. Our relationship with cycling has to be healthy and balanced.
To live a healthy life from a psychological point of view, we need to be mindful of our jobs, families, other interests and life as a whole.”
Alcohol
The chances are that most of the adults reading this have at some point overindulged with alcohol and suffered from the resultant hangover: lethargy, a rasping thirst, stomach problems and headaches. But even sticking to the legal alcohol limit and not bingeing will have an adverse effect on the body and, consequently, your cycling. There are long-term general health problems to consider too.
“The first and most obvious point to make about alcohol is that it dehydrates you, and you’re more likely to overheat on the bike if you are dehydrated,” says Ward. “You’ll find that less oxygen can get pumped into your muscles because alcohol compromises your circulation. And since your liver is working so hard to remove the toxins, it is less able to receive and process glycogen, which means you will be largely relying on your fat stores for energy.
“Finally, when you have a hangover, your liver can’t clear lactic acid, which means you are much more likely to suffer from cramp. The reason the liver can’t clear that lactic acid is that it’s being overworked by processing the alcohol.”
Jobson, who works with professional and amateur riders, says that reducing your alcohol intake will improve your riding. Having completely alcohol-free days, regardless of whether you are within the weekly limits, is a key factor for Jobson, as are others.
“Cutting down on alcohol has a host of benefits from a health perspective and for your cycling,” Jobson says. “From a general point of view, reduced blood pressure, the avoidance of stomach ulcers, heart disease and some cancers are the most significant. A big one is also losing weight, as alcohol is very calorific.
“By reducing your alcohol intake you’ll also recover better from scrapes, bruises and road rash, because the liver can focus on aiding the healing process”
“I’ve tested loads of cyclists in my lab – people who have paid hundreds of pounds for lab tests and expensive, lighter bikes. But it’s immediately clear from looking at them that they are overweight and their money would be better spent shedding the extra pounds and seeing improvements in their power-to-weight ratio.
“By reducing your alcohol intake you’ll recover better from scrapes, bruises and road rash, because the liver can focus on aiding healing rather than flushing out toxins. Clotting, for instance, will be much more effective.
“Alcohol has a huge effect on post-ride recovery. Your body will try to metabolise alcohol before it deals with carbs, proteins and fats. After a ride we should be trying to replenish energy stores and there’s a very short window for that. If that window is taken up by clearing away alcohol instead of replenishing fuels, your recovery from exertion will take far longer.”
Ride says if you do drink alcohol, ensure that you have completely alcohol-free days. Drive to nights out and parties occasionally to take away the temptation to drink.
Sleep deprivation
“Poor sleep means that you won’t produce ample levels of growth hormone, and testosterone levels drop, which means that your muscles can’t grow properly,” says Ward. “The following day your attention span will drop and so will your reaction times, which can be lethal if you are cycling on a road with other vehicles.”
Not getting a healthy seven or eight hours’ sleep a night could be one of the reasons why you’ve had periods when you fall out of love with riding
“There was some research in the press recently when they were talking about the brain being able to wash away toxins, that sleep reduced swelling in the brain and opened up space to wash them away,” says Jobson. “Sleep, in a sense, allows the brain to carry out housework. Reducing alcohol will reduce sleep disruption. People drink before bed, as they think it will help them fall asleep. It may get people to sleep quicker, but they miss out on key phases such as REM sleep.
“A lot of the tissue-repair processes happen when you are in REM sleep. Better sleep means you’ll get up fresher and more eager to get out on your bike. We mustn’t forget that most cycling events involve early-morning starts, so you need to be fresh and functioning at a high mental capacity.”
Sleep deprivation is on the rise, according to psychologist Peter Hudson, and not getting a healthy seven or eight hours’ sleep a night could be one of the reasons why you’ve had periods when you fall out of love with riding. “There’s evidence that sleep problems are increasing across the general population,” he says. “We now I’ve in a digital, screen-based age and people spend a lot of time late at night on their phones, tablets and laptops, and don’t get the shutdown time that they used to.
“It makes you fatigued in the daytime, and makes it easy to find excuses not to go and ride. You’ll also be drowsy and lack alertness, which is a key safety issue for a cyclist and for other road users. If you’re tired and groggy, it also makes it much harder to appreciate what’s going on around you on your bike, and being outdoors and in the fresh air is a huge part of cycling’s appeal for most people. If you’re tired and run down, you’re not taking in the good parts and it becomes a chore rather than something you love doing. And if you’re not enjoying it, then you’re more likely to stop doing it.”
Ride says Turn off your phone or your tablet at 9pm every night and leave it off until morning. Create a nightly routine in terms of winding-down time and ensure you stick to it.
Stress
Alcohol, cigarettes and the consumption of junk food can be a by-product of work-related stress but there are also other stress-related factors to consider that can hinder your cycling performance and progress. “Stress can be hard to give up – you can’t not work, for example,” says Hudson. “People often cope by using negative and damaging resources such as alcohol, cigarettes and junk food, but there are far better ways to cope with it.
“Exercise is a stress buster both physically and psychologically: it gives you more energy, releases mood-enhancing endorphins, and helps you to think more positively and manage stress more effectively. Stress can have a very detrimental effect on your cycling. You tend to sleep poorly if you are under stress you’ll be tired in the day, and lack energy and motivation. People are often aggressive and touchy if they’re under stress, and it’s difficult for that person to calm themselves for a long bike ride. Your cycling efficiency will be compromised if you’re not in the right frame of mind, and your muscles will be tense and your posture all wrong. There are lots of knock-on effects that will get in the way of your riding a bike properly.”
“The negative aspects of stress are easy to identify,” says Jobson. “You become more prone to illness, headaches, depression and rapid weight gain and/or loss. Gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers are also common side effects of stress. Individually these can be quite mild symptoms but cumulatively they can affect your overall cycling performance considerably, and if you can negate them, you will improve.
“People often cope by using negative and damaging resources such as alcohol, cigarettes and junk food, but there are far better ways to cope with it”
Your blood pressure will go down and it’s highly likely you’ll have better control of your weight as you won’t be comfort eating. People regularly use alcohol and cigarettes and food to combat stress. I’ve worked with plenty of cyclists who get nervous and have a drink to take the edge off the night before.”
Ride says No matter how hard you are working, make sure you get some exercise and fresh air every day – even walking around outside at lunchtime will de-stress you. If you can get out on your bike, even better…
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