Monday, April 1, 2019

Follow-up to 'Low-Carb Athletes: Chris Froome, Tour de France Winner 2013, '15, '16.'

Interesting details. He's not keto, or strictly low-carb, but uses it much as Zach Bitter does, tactically.

"Chris Froome has embraced many nutritional strategies during his cycling career, from consuming more Omega-3-rich salmon to repair his muscles, to stoically devouring 400g of energy-boosting rice for breakfast on race days. But one of his most potent weapons is carbohydrate-restricted training – also known as low-carb training, or simply ‘training low.’ 
"“Low-carb training teaches the body to become more efficient at burning fat as a fuel source, as opposed to just using the readily available glycogen (stored energy) in the muscles,” explains Froome... “There are two benefits. One is obviously weight-loss, as it is important to keep lean for the mountains. But the main side is the adaptation in the body to use fat as a fuel source and not depend entirely on glycogen.”... 
"Recreational athletes who copy Froome’s methods can expect to burn more fat and enjoy better stamina. “One of the main adaptations that comes with having more mitochondria in your muscles is that you use more fat for a given (exercise) intensity,” explains Morton. “That is good for endurance because fat is a good fuel source, but it also means when you need to go quicker later on, you should have more carbohydrates left. All of these adaptations happen with standard endurance training anyway, but with carbohydrate-restricted training you get more bang for your buck.”"