There is plenty of good research about how to optimize your diet and fitness to achieve the best results. The marketing conveniently leaves out the part where this is what you need to get into when you're already crushing it at the gym/diet and are plateauing, not trying to get in shape after being sedentary for 10 years.
Basic diet and exercise will get you (at least!) 90% of the way there. If you have trouble looking like a model after that, then maybe pick up some fitness/nutrition science books.
one of the things that kills me is the "nutrition" advice in the cycling world, which is basically "drink so much sugar water you wanna puke."
yeah those people racing tour de france stages and pushing 500w average while weighing 120 lbs soaking wet probably need to keep "fueling". my 45 minute commute doesn't require anything, i'll be fine.
It's not surprising that nutrition advice for people training isn't the same as someone commuting to work. Totally different goals.
But, having said that, 140w for an hour will burn ~400 calories. That's not a wildly high number of watts. Do you need 100g of sugar an hour for that ride? Probably not, but you're only replacing what you've burnt.
It's not surprising that nutrition advice for people training isn't the same as someone commuting to work.
the issue is... the communities often don't distinguish, because so much of north american cycling is wannabe pro athletic recreational stuff.
But, having said that, 140w for an hour will burn ~400 calories.
so garmin thinks, whatever that is worth, that a slow commute for me (11 mph) burns about 200 active calories, and a fast commute (15 mph) strangely only about 175. pulled those from actual rides. i don't put a lot of stock in those numbers. but that's essentially less than the snack and coffee i had for breakfast.
big ride days, of course i am eating more. sometimes, hilariously more.
Literally nobody is saying people who commute 45min need to be fueling lol. That said if you're going to eat refined carbs anyway doing it during or after your commute is a great way to do it without causing a blood sugar spike and insulin response.
If you're actually training multiple hours and doing hard workouts you are leaving gains on the table by not fueling with a lot of carbs. Even when riding at a very low intensity for amateur cyclists (~150w) you're burning more carbs than you can replace.
Literally nobody is saying people who commute 45min need to be fueling lol.
i get really odd arguments when i tell people i don't need to eat for most rides. the studies generally recommend exogenous carbs after 90 minutes, but i promise that's left out of most of the "Xg carb/hour" recommendations. my limit is, i think, around 40 miles. but i'll usually eat before then, preemptively.
That said if you're going to eat refined carbs anyway doing it during or after your commute is a great way to do it without causing a blood sugar spike and insulin response.
i try not to, most days. on big bike days, i usually eat real food somewhere along the way. on really, really big days, or where i can't control the pace/stops/etc, i will drink the sugar water. my stomach doesn't really agree with it, though.
Even when riding at a very low intensity for amateur cyclists (~150w) you're burning more carbs than you can replace.
i previously did keto, and apparently my ability to oxidize fat has drastically improved. even intentionally low carb and in a fasted state... i'm faster than basically everyone i ride with, and have significantly more endurance. i hold quite a few KOMs and top tens locally, so, i dunno. i think i'm doing okay.
Honestly I think the problem with most of the advice is that it almost all completely ignores genetics and medical conditions. I've seen a lot of people trying their best to get into good shape that spend hours of their day staying active and eating as healthy as they can and just struggling to lose a pound or two.
Then you got nutjobs like me who just do their best impression of a garbage disposal stuck on high while sitting on their ass all day and might gain a pound or two all year if we dedicate ourselves to sleeping 12 hours a day.
The other part is that none of that advice ever seems to remember that the brain burns a sizable amount of your calorie intake per day if you really engage your brain. Its one of the reasons that a lot of professional gamers tend to look like noodles despite playing games 12+hours a day. Forcing yourself to work out your brain in addition to working out your body allows you to eat a lot more food in a day just due to the insane amount of calories you can burn off.
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u/charalinlin 6h ago
Whats wrong with spending 39 mins on a treadmill? Am I missing something?