Hitting the Wall, Bonking

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2

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  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    OP: to answer your original question - this hasn't happened to me that I can recall but it's true the human body does not run efficiently on pure fat.... not just the brain, but also the muscles. You can maintain low intensity cardio when you run out of carbs (though mental confusion can be an issue as you discovered) but anything moderate to high intensity is not possible. This is why I don't think low carb diets are a good idea for most people (there may be some exceptions) because you burn more calories and perform much better in workouts, sport, and all physical activity with carbs in your system, and exercise is very important for health. The amount of carbs people need should be adjusted according to their activity levels.
  • natalee8
    natalee8 Posts: 34
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    Oh well, that was not at all what I thought this thread was about! So disappointed :cry:

    Lol, bonking must mean something quite different in the uk



    Hehe I'm from the UK and it definitely means what you thought :p
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Oh well, that was not at all what I thought this thread was about! So disappointed :cry:

    Lol, bonking must mean something quite different in the uk

    i havent used the phrase 'bonking' since i was about 12!!!! :laugh:
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    I've never bonked before, but I have experienced muscle fatigue.

    I wanted to see how long it would take to cycle to and from work - about 50 km of rolling hills. About 5 km from home, my legs basically stopped producing any strength. It was such an odd feeling. I physically felt fine, I could still spin quickly and efficiently, but I had no strength whatsoever. The worst part was that my home was on top of the largest hill in the area and my legs started to give out before i reached the bottom of it.

    It took a very long time to get home, but after a days rest, I felt as if nothing had happened.

    ________________________________________________________________________________________________

    On a side note: To avoid bonking:

    If you are exercising for 1 or less hours, just drink 2, 500 mL bottles of water.

    If you are exercising for 1-2 hours, drink 1 500mL bottle of water and 1 500mL bottle of sports drink (Gatorade) every hour.

    If you are exercising for 2+ hours, drink the same as the 1-2 hours, but also eat 30g of carbs every hour in the form of a gel, candy, bread, fruit, whatever you can muster.

    If you are going for extreme lengths of time (4+ hours) you'll have to also add fat and protein to keep yourself sustained. I can't personally recommend anything specific. This is where every person works in different ways. They only way to find what works for you is trial and error (and maybe a coach/sports nutritionist).
  • StraubreyR
    StraubreyR Posts: 631 Member
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    I have had this happen while biking. My balance is off, and I start feeling like I'm riding the same section of trail over and over. I have gotten better about refueling before I need it, and it hasn't happened lately.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    Hot humid day, 40km cycle followed immediately by 15km run. Only took gatorade on the cycle, didn't take anything on the run, not even fluids. Dumb.

    10km into the run I stopped sweating and hit the wall HARD. Got confused. Took wrong turns on a run I know like the back of my hand.

    Thankfully i had just enough of my wits left about me to ultimately sit by the side of the road and call my wife to pick me up. The combination of bonking and dehydration is deadly.
  • hermann341
    hermann341 Posts: 443 Member
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    It looks like your description of hitting the wall is accurate. My understanding of it is that the disorientation you felt is your body making the switch from burning carbs to burning fat. I've read that there are long distance runners that train and fuel on all protein and fat, and rarely need fuel during a race.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    I've had it, but not from ultra long distance stuff but from working on a 37C, very humid poolside for too many hours. I'd only had water that day.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
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    I'm just bumping this for you. I think some people are confusing bonking and boinking. :wink:

    where I'm from bonking has a risque meaning. I've heard of boinking as well (same meaning), I think it may be a dialectual difference.

    I told one of my NZ friends that I was rooting for her. Apparently that also has a different meaning! :laugh:
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    I'm just bumping this for you. I think some people are confusing bonking and boinking. :wink:

    where I'm from bonking has a risque meaning. I've heard of boinking as well (same meaning), I think it may be a dialectual difference.

    I told one of my NZ friends that I was rooting for her. Apparently that also has a different meaning! :laugh:

    LOL

    best one I heard.... in southern UK "chuffed" means "very happy" and if you put well before an adjective, it means very, e.g. "he's well 'ard" = he's very hard (or "badass" to give a USA version of the term)......... but up north, "chuffed" means, well, "bonked" and well is used the normal way, as in standard English.

    Southern girl went to live up north and was chatting with new work colleagues..... "I was well chuffed last night!!"
  • Creiddylad
    Creiddylad Posts: 27
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    I'm just bumping this for you. I think some people are confusing bonking and boinking. :wink:

    where I'm from bonking has a risque meaning. I've heard of boinking as well (same meaning), I think it may be a dialectual difference.

    I told one of my NZ friends that I was rooting for her. Apparently that also has a different meaning! :laugh:

    LOL

    best one I heard.... in southern UK "chuffed" means "very happy" and if you put well before an adjective, it means very, e.g. "he's well 'ard" = he's very hard (or "badass" to give a USA version of the term)......... but up north, "chuffed" means, well, "bonked" and well is used the normal way, as in standard English.

    Southern girl went to live up north and was chatting with new work colleagues..... "I was well chuffed last night!!"

    'CHUFFER' is also part of the anatomy - as in 'up the chuffer'! :laugh:
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    Oh well, that was not at all what I thought this thread was about! So disappointed :cry:

    Lol, bonking must mean something quite different in the uk

    :blushing: here too.
  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
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    Another UK gal here so "bonking against a wall" is the first thing that sprung to mind when reading this lol.

    But in answer to the OP, I think I came pretty close to it once.

    I completed the Yorkshire 3 peaks which is a 26 mile hike, over 3 mountains and should be completed in under 12 hours (10hr 40min, yay me lol).

    Somewhere half way up the second mountain I started feeling pretty pants, disorientated, dizzy, completely worn out like my muscles felt like lead.

    I wasn't hungry at all as I seem to really lose my appetite during any kind of tough workout. I kept drinking water thinking I was dehydrated but it was only when my hubby made me eat jelly babies I realised what had happened as I started feeling much better, literally within 2 minutes.

    Regular jelly babies eaten after that!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Another UK gal here so "bonking against a wall" is the first thing that sprung to mind when reading this lol.

    But in answer to the OP, I think I came pretty close to it once.

    I completed the Yorkshire 3 peaks which is a 26 mile hike, over 3 mountains and should be completed in under 12 hours (10hr 40min, yay me lol).

    Somewhere half way up the second mountain I started feeling pretty pants, disorientated, dizzy, completely worn out like my muscles felt like lead.

    I wasn't hungry at all as I seem to really lose my appetite during any kind of tough workout. I kept drinking water thinking I was dehydrated but it was only when my hubby made me eat jelly babies I realised what had happened as I started feeling much better, literally within 2 minutes.

    Regular jelly babies eaten after that!
    Just to add to the confusion between bonking (in a fun way!) and bonking (as in the cyclist's term for glycogen depletion) you might now be confusing our American cousins with "feeling pants"!!!

    Isn't the English language wonderful? :smile:
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Options
    Another UK gal here so "bonking against a wall" is the first thing that sprung to mind when reading this lol.

    But in answer to the OP, I think I came pretty close to it once.

    I completed the Yorkshire 3 peaks which is a 26 mile hike, over 3 mountains and should be completed in under 12 hours (10hr 40min, yay me lol).

    Somewhere half way up the second mountain I started feeling pretty pants, disorientated, dizzy, completely worn out like my muscles felt like lead.

    I wasn't hungry at all as I seem to really lose my appetite during any kind of tough workout. I kept drinking water thinking I was dehydrated but it was only when my hubby made me eat jelly babies I realised what had happened as I started feeling much better, literally within 2 minutes.

    Regular jelly babies eaten after that!
    Just to add to the confusion between bonking (in a fun way!) and bonking (as in the cyclist's term for glycogen depletion) you might now be confusing our American cousins with "feeling pants"!!!

    Isn't the English language wonderful? :smile:

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    transatlantic communications can go wrong so easily!!
  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
    Options
    Another UK gal here so "bonking against a wall" is the first thing that sprung to mind when reading this lol.

    But in answer to the OP, I think I came pretty close to it once.

    I completed the Yorkshire 3 peaks which is a 26 mile hike, over 3 mountains and should be completed in under 12 hours (10hr 40min, yay me lol).

    Somewhere half way up the second mountain I started feeling pretty pants, disorientated, dizzy, completely worn out like my muscles felt like lead.

    I wasn't hungry at all as I seem to really lose my appetite during any kind of tough workout. I kept drinking water thinking I was dehydrated but it was only when my hubby made me eat jelly babies I realised what had happened as I started feeling much better, literally within 2 minutes.

    Regular jelly babies eaten after that!
    Just to add to the confusion between bonking (in a fun way!) and bonking (as in the cyclist's term for glycogen depletion) you might now be confusing our American cousins with "feeling pants"!!!

    Isn't the English language wonderful? :smile:

    Lol that never even occurred to me!!! The differences in language even within same country are so amusing :-)
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,717 Member
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    Apologies for slang confusion. Bumping for more stories about hitting the wall.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    I'm just bumping this for you. I think some people are confusing bonking and boinking. :wink:

    where I'm from bonking has a risque meaning. I've heard of boinking as well (same meaning), I think it may be a dialectual difference.

    I told one of my NZ friends that I was rooting for her. Apparently that also has a different meaning! :laugh:

    LOL

    best one I heard.... in southern UK "chuffed" means "very happy" and if you put well before an adjective, it means very, e.g. "he's well 'ard" = he's very hard (or "badass" to give a USA version of the term)......... but up north, "chuffed" means, well, "bonked" and well is used the normal way, as in standard English.

    Southern girl went to live up north and was chatting with new work colleagues..... "I was well chuffed last night!!"

    Haahaa another is "growled out". In the USA it means told off. In Australia it means... well... oral attention to the lady parts. I was sitting with an American girl at lunch one day at Uni when she told us all how embarrassed she was because her dad growled her out in public. Cue a group of horrified Australians!
  • nancytyc
    nancytyc Posts: 119 Member
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    This simply is not true, and I wish you would do your REAL research before you say that the body does not run efficiently on pure fat. I am on a low carb high fat diet. An astonishingly large amount of my calories come from fat and I try diligently to keep my net carbs right at 20 g. I just finished a 30.2 mile ride at good speeds and maxing out what I could do and still be able to breathe. It was a high intensity ride up some long pulls of mountains in Colorado. I ran just fine on the fat that I ate. I did not bonk and the fact that I had almost no carbs before I rode, did not make the difference. I have learned, through my 1000's of miles of riding, that bonking tends to happen more frequently when one lets themselves get passed a certain dehydration point (which is entirely different for each person on different given days). There is something about how your body can move energy into the muscles, even the brain, when there is a fundamental lack of water volume. Now, with that said, most people, if done correctly, can live very well and healthy on low carb diets. Especially when their carbs come from green leafy vegetables, and other low carb veggies, and some moderate amounts of fruit instead of nutrient deficient carbs. I have performed very well on a 75 mile ride, maintaining 14 - 16 mph, and having eaten nearly all fat before the ride. I just started my LCHF diet, per the endocrinologist, on May 1, 2014. I have been able to go off my injectable diabetes meds, have reduced my oral meds to half, have lowered my blood pressure from extremely high to normal, have stable and normal blood sugars, and feel better than I have felt in years. I have also lost 37 pounds in 68 days. I am not putting you down for your opinion, but there are newbies on here that might be swayed from a legitimate method of losing weight, when they read posts from people who think they know, but do not have the correct information. Please take some time to read the NEW studies about carbs and fat. Apparently, the trend is saying that the doctors may have had it all wrong when the suggested high carb low fat diets. The pendulum is swinging the other way, as Americans are getting FAT on their LOW FAT diets. As we have removed fat from foods, we have replaced it with sugar to make all the low fat items taste better.....and we have a nation suffering from massive diagnosis of diabetes.

    quote]
    OP: to answer your original question - this hasn't happened to me that I can recall but it's true the human body does not run efficiently on pure fat.... not just the brain, but also the muscles. You can maintain low intensity cardio when you run out of carbs (though mental confusion can be an issue as you discovered) but anything moderate to high intensity is not possible. This is why I don't think low carb diets are a good idea for most people (there may be some exceptions) because you burn more calories and perform much better in workouts, sport, and all physical activity with carbs in your system, and exercise is very important for health. The amount of carbs people need should be adjusted according to their activity levels.
    [/quote]
  • klumsykunoichi
    klumsykunoichi Posts: 10
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    Oh well, that was not at all what I thought this thread was about! So disappointed :cry:

    snap

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