There is nothing more precious than health. If you have good health, everything else depends on your skills, determination, and willingness. The only way to keep your health stable is by following a healthy diet and getting enough physical exercise. There are various types of sports that you can engage yourself in to keep your body fit, and cycling is one of them.
Now, whether you are already a professional cyclist or striving to become one, you need to be careful about your diet. After all, the sport requires maximum physical effort when you have to give your best.
To keep your performance up, you need to strictly follow some health tips, and we will take a look at them in this write-up. It will include tips on what to eat, tips for exercise, and some additional recommendations beyond that.
Table of Contents
What to Eat?
The most critical aspect to consider if you are a cyclist is the food you eat. As your entire body will be in exercise mode while cycling, you will need an excessive amount of energy to keep yourself fueled for long. For this, it is necessary for you to keep yourself up on calories.
To make it simple for you, you need to consume 40-50 calories for each mile you cycle. For instance, if you cycle daily for 15 miles, you need to consume at least 600-750 calories. As it can be a bit tough to keep track of the calories, it will be better if you have a cycling computer. There are various cycling computers to choose from. It can provide you with various insights, including the distance traveled.
The things that make up the calories in your body are nutrients that need to be consumed in an appropriate ratio. For example, if you cycle on a daily basis, you need to consume at least 5-9 grams of carbs for each kilogram of your weight per day. If you weigh 50 kg, the minimum carbs per day needed by your body are 250 grams.
On the other hand, the fat intake per day for you should be 20 grams. This should be taken from food elements like nuts, seeds, fish, and oil. Fats like Omega 3, Omega 9, and Omega 6 are good fats and are supplied by the food mentioned above.
Further, it is also imperative to consume food items that have all the required minerals and vitamins like calcium, iron, and zinc.
Water Consumption
Along with the consumption of food, it is equally necessary for you to keep yourself hydrated. Hence, you should keep your water intake to the maximum. If you are a regular cyclist, you need to drink at least 2-3 liters of water.
And this is not it; you also need to ensure that you have enough after a riding session. For that, you need to weigh yourself pre- and post-riding. If you have lost 1 kg, you need to drink a liter of water. You can also replace water with any other health drink if you want.
Engage Yourself in Proper Exercise
Cycling involves various aspects like repeated force production with legs, bike handling, climbing, etc. To make sure that your body handles all of these processes easily and without getting tired, you need to engage in some strength and conditioning exercises. Here are some of the exercises that may perform for a smooth and energetic ride:
- It requires the full explosive power of the body.
- The core strength of the planks can enhance the efficiency of the bike.
- Leg Lifts. Leg Lifts provide smooth pedal strokes by targeting hip flexors and abdominal stabilizers.
- Energizes the main muscles used in cycling like calves, hamstrings, quads, and glutes.
Other than these, you can also engage yourself in kettlebell swings, single-leg deadlifts, etc.
Keep Track of Your Vitals
As cycling helps almost every part of your body to exercise, it is best to track your body vitals. Heart rate is the most crucial vital to track as it can rapidly shift while cycling uphill and downhill. To ensure that it stays within required limits, you just need to ride at a consistent speed. You can also test your limit but not daily, as it can drain you mentally.
If we talk about tracking vitals, smartwatches and smart bands are the best bets. You can opt for various smart wearables for tracking your vitals like Garmin, FitBit, Polar, Withings, etc.
However, while using them, you need to ensure that such apps treat your health data with the utmost respect. For instance, your heart rate and other vitals should not be used for recommending certain services or tools. Furthermore, it is important to ensure that all data traveling through the digital space remains secure. Thus, you should install tools like Atlas VPN on the device paired with your smartwatch or band. Then, all your internet traffic will traverse safely.
Overall, keeping your body vitals in check can enhance your overall cycling experience.
Wrap Up!
To conclude, we can say that keeping your health in check is essential for keeping your performance up to the mark. For a cyclist, it is imperative to focus on both food and exercise to ensure that he or she performs well. And after going through this write-up, you will get a clear idea about managing everything well.