Endurance

Without drinking? I don`t believe it! Maybe in winter..one teammate went to 150km training with just one 0,5L bottle, but it`s still big difference between that and 0! I believe without eating, I have problems in the hot summer days when I`m without appetite (of course I eat before training) and I just eat one or two bars, but I drink a lot..

Irelander said:

How is it that some people can cycle for five hours without eating or drinking and most people cant.Obviosly not very good for you but I have seen it done

Agree it's not smart, but I've also heard of experienced long distance riders doing this. Believe it's because they are riding at low HRs, just using a percentage of their capability. In this high-aerobic zone, they aren't consuming as much water or stored glycogen as most of us need.

Of course, if it's 90*, sunny and 90% RH, this stunt would be a lot tougher.

But, if a rider loses say 3% of body weight over the course of the ride, would bet his performance is affected by the dehydration. He may be able to finish the ride being down 2-3 quarts of water, but he's not going to be setting any records.

Irelander said:

How is it that some people can cycle for five hours without eating or drinking and most people cant.Obviosly not very good for you but I have seen it done

It's actually not that difficult to do if you're tooling along at a low effort, it's not too warm, and you're on the flats. You probably expend more energy in 5 hours if you are on your feet in a service-oriented job or factory than spinning along easily.

Also, it is a 'tough' way of depleting your glycogen stores and dropping some weight. You've heard of morning 'bonk' rides? Pound a cup of coffee and go out and ride on an empty stomach.

in.10.city said:

Also, it is a 'tough' way of depleting your glycogen stores and dropping some weight. You've heard of morning 'bonk' rides? Pound a cup of coffee and go out and ride on an empty stomach.

Sorry, I do not follow you. By ' tough' do you mean an effective way, but it is difficult to achieve? 😕 Please explain! Thanks!

Powerful Pete said:

Sorry, I do not follow you. By ' tough' do you mean an effective way, but it is difficult to achieve? 😕 Please explain! Thanks!

Think about it - it's almost like fasting if you don't at least replenish after - it works but it isn't the best thing for an athletic body that needs to perform day in and day out.

You can get an idea why some athletes can get by with less water when you watch group windtrainer sessions. Some people have sweat dripping off them whilst others have a completely dry forehead.

Powerful Pete said:

Sorry, I do not follow you. By ' tough' do you mean an effective way, but it is difficult to achieve? 😕 Please explain! Thanks!

Believe the idea of "carb-deprived" riding is that your body will have to learn to access and burn stored body fat. You'll have to ride at a fairly low level of effort to conserve glycogen and avoid the bonk, but experienced endurance riders seem to be good at this anyway. Avoiding all the carb and sugar calories during a long ride should help with weight loss, if that is your goal.

When I was losing weight in 03, I followed this practice....no Gatorade or carbs during or after the rides. Like in.10.city said, not what the athlete needs to perform day after day, but believe it does work for weight loss.