Tough to say if you could do it as effectively by ...

2009-02-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

Tough to say if you could do it as effectively by controlling your diet throughout the day. You want to be fasting to the point where your liver glycogen levels are getting quite low. It's easy to be at that point after sleeping through the night - typically, it'll be about 10hrs since you last ate any carbs.

Since I don't know of any studies specifically doing it another way, at this point I can only conjecture an alternative. The following is only a suggestion for some "self-experimentation". Be careful. Let me know how it goes.

Weigh yourself before beginning a 4-week block of these workouts. Be careful with your diet throughout the block (check out my DietPower post if you think you need help in that department). And then weigh yourself at the end. If things are truly working, you should get somewhat leaner, unless you're pretty lean already. Also, try a regular 4-hour endurance road ride at the end of the training block. If this approach has worked, then that ride shouldn't be difficult to complete, so long as you are eating and drinking during the ride.

So, now for my conjecture...

Immediately, what comes to mind is using a very low carb diet throughout the day. Your brain only uses glycogen for its fuel needs. You need some carbs throughout the day or you'll be a zombie at work. Get most of them (the carbs, not the zombies!) at breakfast.

You might be able to get yourself into a low liver glycogen state by the end of the day if throughout the day you were to eat a high fat diet - and I'm talking about the healthy fats like walnuts, pecans, (and any other real nuts, not peanuts) olives, avocados, olive oil. Try replacing the calories you eat from carbs with the same amount of calories from fat. I'd only eat like this on the days you're specifically trying the FFAST rides.

At the end of the day but before supper, start by trying the 30min on, 20min rest, 30min back on approach to the FFAST workout. (Later you could progress to the full 1hr on.)

That second 30mins has been shown in the lab to produce higher FFA levels, meaning your body is relying on more fat for fuel. That's what we're trying to get at here with these workouts. Using fat for fuel, and getting your effort level high enough to recruit the Type IIa fibres forcing them to be more efficient using fat for fuel.

In your case Darcy, if your overall commute home is about 1hr, and you can spend most of that hour in that climb at the end of your ride, you should be able to get those Type IIa fibres involved in the effort.

Just don't go too much beyond an hour. The risk of burning protein for fuel becomes quite high (you can smell ammonia on your breath when it starts to happen). You literally start eating your muscles - and of course you don't want that.

As soon as you finish, drink a recovery beverage in the 3g to 4g carb to 1g protein ratio (a blend of orange juice and vanilla whey powder works well for me and is cheaper than a commercial "recovery" beverage). Then stretch, get showered up, and have a regular supper of carbs, protein and fat.

Too bad you don't have a shower at work. Readers out there who do could easily incorporate a FFAST workout into their morning bicycle commute.

Trying to do this in the morning would mean rising...

2009-02-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Trying to do this in the morning would mean rising at 5:00, whether I did it during a long commute and arrived sweaty to my showerless work or sat on the rollers in the basement. Any chance I can control my diet through the day so my body is in the same state at 5:00 (the other 5:00 in a day) for the commute home? Going straight home is over half an hour of climbing so I could take a long route to keep myself in the zone all the way to my door.

Comments on Bicycling Blogger: FFAST Riding For Endurance Results

Tough to say if you could do it as effectively by ...

Trying to do this in the morning would mean rising...