Feeling weak on the bike

(ryancrawcour) #41

absolutely agree! the reason I want to lose weight is to be better on the bike, not worse. this sucks!
anyone found a good way to get power back?

(ryancrawcour) #42

really? just plain table salt? and that gives you an energy boost?!? :astonished:

(ryancrawcour) #43

Iā€™ve heard of athletes supplementing with exogenous ketones for energy boosts, not dissimilar to carb gels.
Any truth / science to this? Or more snake oil?

(What The Fast?!) #44

Yep

(Richard Morris) #45

None that I am aware of.

I suspect it makes sense if you are maxing out your energy use of both fat and glucose. Glucose will be limited by how much glycogen you can store and top up with goos given the limit of in race absorption of starch across the gut. Fat will be limited by how much body fat you have x the maximal rate you can draw down energy from it + how much is circulating in lipoproteins (LDL from yesterdays meal and Chylomicrons from todays).

This is a third source of energy that takes a different route to get into your cells (straight to the portal vein, and directly into circulation, into cells via the Monocarboxylate transports) and therefore may not compete with the other substrates (although it might compete with Lactic acid exciting the cell).

So yeah I think if I was doing an ultra-marathon or a TdF stage then I would max out all three.

Mind you the problems of left handed ketones would for me still be a problem with commercial exogenous sources. The folks at team sky who do use ketones get the TdeltaS stuff from Dr Clarkes labs which contains just the physiological isomer. From what I hear team Sky and the British Olympic rowers get almost all the production of that.

#47

I take carbs on mornings I do a group ride. Generally 2 packs of plain instant oatmeal with 2 tablespoons of Karo Syrup. Ride lots of hills and am anaerobic for alot of ride. Seem to ride a little better. After Sundays ride I did a test and Ketone level was 2.6 so I assume I burned off all the carbs I took in. I think once I get to weight I want I may increase carbs to see how my riding does. Wonā€™t go crazy maybe 100-150 grams a day. Go back to strict Keto in the winter months.

(Tina ) #48

Iā€™m so glad I found this thread. I have been cycling for years, but since keto my performance is lowā€¦ like 25%lower. And after my rides, I feel weak for hours. Iā€™m glad itā€™s not just me

(Karl L) #49

Just an update that Iā€™ve felt pretty stinking strong my last two rides, and have even gotten a PR on two tough climbs. This could be because a) Iā€™ve now been keto for 9 weeks or b) Iā€™ve consumed some carbs (oatmeal/honey) before these last two rides. Either way, Iā€™m enjoying the return to normal power (and maybe a little bit more). To be honest, I havenā€™t been riding much the last month, so this was a pleasant surprise.

I will say that both of these rides, while intense, were relatively short (90 minutes). Iā€™ve got a big ride planned for Saturday, Iā€™ll be riding ALL THE WAY ACROSS MY STATE AND BACK IN ONE DAY!! But itā€™s Delaware, soā€¦ a metric century. Will report back after that.

(ianrobo) #50

Simply put you are now fat adapted, it takes some time, it can be frustrating but once there it is fantastic !

(ryancrawcour) #51

I knew it, Team SKY are doping!, knew it! :smiley:

(ryancrawcour) #52

itā€™s sad, cause the (one of the) reasons I started keto was to be better on the bike, and elsewhere, not worse! :ā€™(

(ryancrawcour) #53

howā€™d it go!?

(ianrobo) #54

so how long have you been Ketonix adapted and later fat adapted ?

(What The Fast?!) #55

I felt that way at first, but then it got better and I was feeling strong on the bike, not tired after long rides, etcā€¦but now itā€™s back to feeling weak and being sore/tired after a ride. HOWEVER, now that I think of it, I think thatā€™s only when I do fully fasted rides. When I eat breakfast before, I think itā€™s better. Iā€™ll do some experimenting and get back to you!

(ryancrawcour) #56

what do you usually eat for breakfast before?

(What The Fast?!) #57

@ryancrawcour
On fasting days, I just have coffee with either 1T of heavy cream, or 1 tsp of coconut oil. (Thatā€™s what Iā€™ve been doing recently - fasting into the ride.) The last few weeks that Iā€™ve been doing this, my b/f has noted that my performance kind of sucks.
Previously (my first 2-3 months of keto), I was eating eggs with butter and/or bacon before a ride and I felt great on the ride and afterwards.

Pre-keto, I would have a slice of sprouted grain toast with almond butter and half a banana. This was my go-to pre-ride meal, about 150-200 cals, mostly carbs.

(Karl L) #58

Sorry for the delayā€¦ the Delaware Double Cross (flat metric century) went really well. I stayed back with friends for 3/4s of it; not slow, but not pushing it either, then hammered the final 17 miles and felt great.