Book Review: Pit Onthel

A few days ago, my uncle gave me this book "Pit Onthel". Its a nice little book about old bicycles call it "onthel" in Indonesia. This book contain a brief history about some old bicycle brands (like Fongers, Batavus, or Raleigh), parts, lots of bicycle and parts picture. Also, you will find a short story and history about few people who attached with onthel in their life. Made by a shinny paper and compact size, this book its nice to read on travel. The author use a simply language, so its easy to understand for people who doesn't familiar with bicycle 

Ride On!

Legal Dope: Caffeine

Caffeine is one of the few legal ergogenic aids that has substantial evidence behind it. So, how do you use it to get the most out of your legs when you’re on the road/trails? What is caffeine? Caffeine is a stimulant naturally found in the leaves, nuts and seeds of plants. You’ll find it not only in tea and coffee, but also in cola and energy drinks and also increasingly in sports supplements such as gels, sports drinks and now even chewing gum.

Matthew Ganio, PhD, an exercise physiologist at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine in Dallas. "Caffeine crowds out a calming brain chemical called adenosine," he says. You become more alert, you react faster, and you don't feel like you're working as hard, all of which add up to training or competing at a higher intensity for a longer period of time and being more agile in a pack

The beauty of using caffeine for performance comes from research that shows it can be helpful for a wide range of sports from high intensity, short duration sprints all the way to endurance events. So, no matter if you’re riding or running, caffeine may be helpful. 

Don’t get too excited just yet… Whilst caffeine does offer benefits to performance, in many people the side effects can mean that caffeine isn’t the right choice. If you’ve ever accidentally had one coffee too many, you’ll probably know what these side effects are already. Common issues from too much caffeine include increased heart rate, shakiness, anxiety, sleep disturbances and gut upsets.

Ganio suggests testing what caffeine does to you during hard sessions. "If you feel jittery, anxious, or notice your heart racing, dial back the amount you take in before a ride," says Ganio. "If you can't find a caffeine level that leaves you feeling comfortable, skip it. Side effects can impair performance."

How should I use it?

It’s not just as simple as drinking an espresso shot before jumping on your bike or running. Typically, a dose of around 1-3mg caffeine per kilogram of body weight is now recommended. At this dosage studies have shown an improvement in performance of about 3% (although individual responses do vary). So, a 70kg cyclist is looking at ingesting 70-210mg of caffeine. It’s important to work out what dosage works for you and it can be a bit of a balancing act finding the dose that will give you the performance benefits, without the side effects. 

You also need to consider when to take caffeine - it may be before or during your session (or a combination of both) that helps you to perform at your best. Caffeine is absorbed quickly and reaches peak concentration within about an hour of ingestion. Traditionally, recommendations have therefore been to take 1-3mg caffeine per kilogram of body weight about 60 minutes before your race starts. If using caffeine during your race, 1-2mg per kilogram of body weight has been shown to improve performance. 

How and when you do this will depend on your tolerance and your need for it. There is no right way to take caffeine - many protocols have been tested and all seem to show similar benefits. For example studies have looked at taking multiple smaller doses versus one or two larger doses (all giving the same amount of caffeine) and all showed approximately 3% increase in performance.

Tips for using caffeine

1.Practice your plan in training first. As always, it’s best to try a range of protocols in training and see what works best for you

2.For shorter events: dose up on caffeine before your event to get the maximum effect. You may want to use caffeinated gum to do this rather than knocking back multiple espressos. 

3.For longer events like an enduro, aim to maximise your caffeine later in the race when you’re starting to get tired, helping you post good times on the final stages. Taking a caffeinated gel, gum or electrolyte tab throughout the race will be a good way to do this. 

4.If you get nervous before a race, caffeine will make this worse! If it’s a longer event, take your caffeine throughout the race when you’re a little more relaxed instead of taking a large dose just before you start

Source:
Australian Mountain Bike magazine issue 159
www.bicycling.com


Ride On!

Psssttt...if you like motorcycle too, visit my other blog at 

https://throttletothemax.blogspot.co.id/

Simply Running Injury Prevention

It's easy to get injured; anyone can do it. Just run too much. Distance running is about training the human body to do the same thing over and over again for a very long time, and there is no way around that fact. However, we are able to control how often, how long and how hard we run. Tracking your weekly mileage is the easiest and simplest way to avoid running-related injuries. 

While there are benefits to being strong and efficient, what matters most is having a sense for how much of this particular stress your body is presently primed for based on approximately your last four weeks of training. We must slowly prepare the body to go farther, longer and faster. Patience is a runner’s best friend.

"I firmly believe that every runner has an injury threshold," says physical therapist and biomechanist Irene Davis, Ph.D., from the University of Delaware's Running Injury Clinic. "Your threshold could be at 10 miles a week, or 100, but once you exceed it, you get injured." Various studies have identified injury-thresholds at 11, 25, and 40 miles per week. Your threshold is waiting for you to discover it.

Running experts have recognized this problem, and long ago devised an easy-to-use 10-percent rule: Build your weekly training mileage by no more than 10 percent per week. If you run 10 miles the first week, do just 11 miles the second week, 12 miles the third week, and so on.. Gps technology has made recording this variable quite easy.

At the end of the day, listen to your body. Take rest days when you need them, and push harder if you feel strong. Keep buying your lightweight shoes, doing strength training and supplementing, but don’t make running any more complicated than it has to be.

Source:
http://www.runnersworld.com
Canadian Running magazine, Trail Issue 2017


Run On!