Any cyclists in here?

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joeaustin
joeaustin Posts: 6 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Afternoon all.

Is there any keen cyclists in here? I’m looking for advice on what macro ratio to have for my cycling. It was 60/20/20 but thinking of going 40/30/30 but I don’t want it to affect my performance
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Replies

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited December 2018
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    Yea, there are some.

    I've never seen a meaningful impact on my training/racing based strictly on macro ratios. But I guess some of that could depend on your goals and the level of performance you are expecting.
  • joeaustin
    joeaustin Posts: 6 Member
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Yea, there are some.

    I've never seen a meaningful impact on my training/racing based strictly on macro ratios. But I guess some of that could depend on your goals and the level of performance you are expecting.

    Hello. So what sort of diet plan are you doing? Seeing as it’s winter season, I’d like to use this time to up my FTP and general health/fitness
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    No real plan for me, personally... I just don't think it matters that much, especially during the off-season. I tend to be a bit more protein heavy in the off season because I have strength and/or body comp goals.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited December 2018
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    Just clocked up 5,200 miles for the year so far so guess you could call me keen - I love it. :)


    IMHO fixed macro percentages are needlessly restrictive and really poor way for endurance athletes to manage them.
    If I set a percentage for protein on a non exercise day (2200'ish cals) to hit my desired daily goal (143g) I definitely wouldn't want or need treble the amount when I have an all day ride day with a 6500 calorie allowance.

    When I tracked calories and macros I set minimums for protein (1g per 1lb of estimated lean body mass) and fat (0.4g per lb of bodyweight) and rest of calorie allowance came from whatever macros I fancied but mostly carbs.
    Didn't take long to realise I met my fat minimum goal naturally so just ensured I met or exceeded my protein minimum and hit my calorie goal.

    On big ride days then I would take care to maximise my carb intake, up to the maximum you can utilise when exercising hard. Training rides are a mixture of unfuelled rides, partly fuelled and fully fuelled rides depending on the particular training goal and distance.

    I've been maintaining for a few years and don't have a diet plan beyond eating an overall healthy and enjoyable diet in the right quantities over an extended period of time. I tend to drift up a few pounds in winter when my mileage plummets and lose it again in Spring when my training volume comes back up.

    FTP improvements are a big target for my winter training but for me at least that type of training doesn't require any special eating regime, just fits in my day and I hydrate with plain water.
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
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    I’m a long time cyclist. I took a sabatical of a few years while I was fat, but have ridden for a number of years. I mainly try to eat enough protein. On long rides I eat carb heavy food as I ride. I’ll load up a bit more on carbs before that, but I don’t stress over it.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,840 Member
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    Yes ... I've been a cyclist for decades. :)

    And you can join us over here on the December cycling thread:
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10709640/december-2018-biking-cycling-bicycling-bike-bicycle-unicycle-tricycle-challenge

    As for food, I tend to count calories (to make sure I get enough but not too much) rather than worry about macros.
  • jlklem
    jlklem Posts: 259 Member
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    I ride between 10-15000 miles a year. My year goal is 800 hours of pedaling per year...at 778 today for the year. I eat a lot of carbs. A lot of carbs. But I ride almost twice a day every day. Carbs are you best friend, ratios are silly if you ride a ton. Now most people overestimate the calories they are burning so you need to be careful not to over eat. I struggled with that about 11 years ago. I also drink a ton of sugar, in fact I am having 42 grams of sugar in sweet tea as I type this. But I just finished my second ride of the day (intervals and tempo riding) and burned 1200 calories. I am riding again at 6AM so in 40 minutes I’ll probably have another sweet tea...and I will still be in a glycogen deficit in the morning. I do try to shoot for 2 grams of protein per kilo but I only weigh 130...59 kilos so that’s easy to hit. Fat is something I do not track or really care about. I got enough...probably 7% at the moment. Which is about that same as always. With the poeple I ride with extra pounds get me dropped.

    Sijomial post is almost exactly how I think about it...other than I love my sugar.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Eat more carbs (mostly complex ones) than fat. Get some protein too. Ride it like you stole it.

    I've been a cyclist most of my life. Mostly road and "gravel" lately.
  • joeaustin
    joeaustin Posts: 6 Member
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    Sorry for the delay and thanks for the replies. I think I’m possibly being a little too strict with my intake but I just want to lose weight and get gains on the bike. I’m starting a high and low carb day next week to assist. I train every other day so it helps out with switching to high/low carbs. I’m 86kg and hitting 130g of protein, that’s what I mainly concentrating on right now but as of next week I’m going to have 2g of protein per kg of body weight. Non training days I’ll probably do a Keto diet and training days I’ll have low intake of fat but high carbs
  • jlklem
    jlklem Posts: 259 Member
    edited December 2018
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    If you do a Keto day and then drain your glycogen stores you needed 24 hours to fill them up...so 2 days after your Keto day you can train hard...I do Keto/recovery day, then an endurance/refill eat carbs day....then interval/deplete my glycogen day...and then I start over. It worked for me.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    If you want to perform on the bike, don't go low carb. :unamused:
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    If you want to perform on the bike, don't go low carb. :unamused:
    One needs look no further than the ranks of the top pro cyclists for proof of that. Not a single one of them does keto.
  • Ardael
    Ardael Posts: 245 Member
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    “Normal people diet and exercise. Athletes eat and train”

    That was told to me a good while back and I use it like a mantra.
    The right amount of food, not too much but definitely enough and actually working out on the bike rather than just pushing pedals is what is going to make someone a better cyclist.

    I eat a bit of everything, slightly pushing the protein.
    Though I drink coffee/tea and a lot of it, but life is too short to be miserable and that’s my guilty pleasure X)
  • joeaustin
    joeaustin Posts: 6 Member
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    jlklem wrote: »
    If you do a Keto day and then drain your glycogen stores you needed 24 hours to fill them up...so 2 days after your Keto day you can train hard...I do Keto/recovery day, then an endurance/refill eat carbs day....then interval/deplete my glycogen day...and then I start over. It worked for me.

    What sort of results were you getting from this?

    AnvilHead wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    If you want to perform on the bike, don't go low carb. :unamused:
    One needs look no further than the ranks of the top pro cyclists for proof of that. Not a single one of them does keto.

    Granted, but them guys are under a heavy schedule and cycle many many miles. I just thought I’d try something different, maybe I’ll go down the route of having a very high carb day once a week because as it stands I’ve hit 13st 9 and not getting any lower. My body has gotten used to my 16-8 IF and diet it seems. I need a shake up

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    joeaustin wrote: »
    Granted, but them guys are under a heavy schedule and cycle many many miles. I just thought I’d try something different, maybe I’ll go down the route of having a very high carb day once a week because as it stands I’ve hit 13st 9 and not getting any lower. My body has gotten used to my 16-8 IF and diet it seems. I need a shake up
    Every possible reason you're not losing weight, and what to do about it:
    https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    You seem to be going all over the place with your diet and making something complicated out of something simple.

    Alternating very low carb days are an awful idea if you are serious about cycling performance, IF is fine most of the time but may not fit into your training schedule if you are doing long rides (remember you can gain, maintain or lose weight on IF) - your weight loss results depend on your calorie balance not when you eat or messing about with carb cycling.

    You need to reduce your calories, the problem isn't carbs or eating patterns or your body "getting used" to something - you just need to reduce your calories in a sustainable way.
    If you are stuck start by reviewing your food logging accuracy. If you make your diary public people can help you.


  • joeaustin
    joeaustin Posts: 6 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    You seem to be going all over the place with your diet and making something complicated out of something simple.

    Alternating very low carb days are an awful idea if you are serious about cycling performance, IF is fine most of the time but may not fit into your training schedule if you are doing long rides (remember you can gain, maintain or lose weight on IF) - your weight loss results depend on your calorie balance not when you eat or messing about with carb cycling.

    You need to reduce your calories, the problem isn't carbs or eating patterns or your body "getting used" to something - you just need to reduce your calories in a sustainable way.
    If you are stuck start by reviewing your food logging accuracy. If you make your diary public people can help you.


    I’m on 2400odd kcals a day and then I ride on top which is usually about 600kcals plus. I’ll make it public briefly and then you can take a look
  • Ed_Zilla
    Ed_Zilla Posts: 207 Member
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    Why did someone check the "Woo" for every single post in this thread?

    I ride mostly on the KATY Trail and usually get about 700 or so miles per season. I turned off all of my tracking apps and now only play music and enjoy my rides so much more.

    My cycling diet consists of the following: After 2 hours or so I usually stop at one of the trail-side restaurants and get a snack. Depending of direction traveled there is everything from pizza, Thai food, BBQ, winery with meat & cheese trays, and local cyclist-friendly diners. So - no macros for me.

  • makkimakki2018
    makkimakki2018 Posts: 414 Member
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    Hmm i eat protien heavy on most days.

    Monday-Wednesday (not doing anything hard just commuting to work) : protien and vegetable heavy.

    Thursday-Friday (loading up on energy to be spent on the weekend) : gradually increase carbohydrate intake.

    Saturday-Sunday (Usually go hard on these days) : Just eat!

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