Newsworthy excerpts

Both excerpts from the Roadbiker.com newsletter:

Work Out Just 20 Minutes for Amazing Results!



No, this isn't a plug for a miracle no-sweat fitness method. Instead, it's a prescription for more power and endurance on your bike, a taste of the kind of advice you'll find in the new eArticle by John Hughes we plugged above -- INTENSITY: How to Plan & Gauge the Most Beneficial Training Efforts.


It's simple. On a normal ride, choose terrain that allows you to pedal hard and steady for 20 minutes. It might be a long, gradual climb or a flat road into the wind.


Be sure you're warmed up, then go for it. Your effort should be around 85-90% of your max heart rate. It should feel hard but not all-out.
On another ride at least 2 days later, do it again.


These twice-weekly 20-minute efforts are like mini time trials. They increase the amount of power you can generate at or near your lactate threshold (the effort level where panting begins).


Few roadies ride this way because it's lots easier to just cruise along. And that's why they don't get closer to their potential.


But if you discipline yourself to bite the bullet for a measly 20 minutes during a couple of rides each week, you'll feel real improvement after just 8-10 of these workouts.


Or double your money back!














---Exercise scientists have stumbled on an amazing discovery, reports the New York Times. Athletes can improve their performance in intense bouts of exercise, lasting an hour or so, if they merely rinse their mouths with a carbohydrate solution (sports drink). That's right, swish and spit. It appears that the brain can sense carbohydrate in the mouth and then respond, spurring on the athlete. Some of the research was done with cyclists. The advantage for relatively short and intense events, such as time trials up to 25 miles (40 km) is avoiding digestive problems from riding hard with food or drink in the stomach. For longer periods of exercise, though, a person is better off swallowing a carbohydrate drink than spitting it out. This way actual fuel is provided in the form of calories.

I am just the messenger here...