What to eat before and after a long bicycle workout

life-cycle
(Ryan) #1

hello, i’m returning to intermittent fasting of 18:6 as a beginning.
i have started to take a long rides on bicycle ( around 25-30 km each 2 days).
now, i don’t really remember what the method about eating before and after this long workout.

  1. is it the best to be on a fasten state at the workout or its better to eat some carbs before for maximum performance and fat burn.
  2. is it good for the recovery of the muscles to stay on a fasten state also after the workout for about 2-5 hours until the end of the fast?
    Thank you for your answers :slight_smile:
#2

The more knowledgeable ones surely will give you a detailed answer but there is obviously an individual factor. I can tell how I would do it.
For such small distances, no way I would even think about food before and during the ride. I have most energy in a fasted state and hated eating in the morning even before fat adaptation so it’s pretty obvious I do fasted rides, weightlifting, heavier work or any other serious activity on and off keto alike. But if someone feels the need to do differently, that’s fine too.
Carbs aren’t my friends and enervate me even more than eating before a workout so nope. If it would be some high activity for long, that would be different but a 20-30-60km bicycle riding with elevation (but not fast as I can’t do that) isn’t that thing for sure. Or a not too long, 8-10 hour hiking. I can power them without carbs.
I eat when I get hungry so that’s easy for me too.

There is no single right answer, maybe try out different things to see what works best for you.
Scientifically - this is what I leave for the others to answer.

(Ryan) #3

first, thank you for your answer and yes i remember that before workout it’s not necessary to eat before workout except weightlifting workout because it might harm your max weight records…
But i’m considering more whether to eat after a long cycle for… i know that in a long and hard workout ( cycling in my case) the fiber of the muscles break down and carbs and protein after workout replenish them… now, i want to know, if my goal is to lose some weight but keep my muscles on the same state roughly, is it necessary to eat after a workout for best recovery and muscles growth?
i know that while you are fasting the body produce more human growth hormone which build muscles faster… after a cycle if i’m eating i won’t burn fat after the workout because i’m replenishing glycogen storage and cause to insulin levels to spike up which blocks fat burning process.

You probably know this science of burning fat and muscles growth and hope you will able to answer this question based on the most reliable science you know about it.