[the_ad id="5357"]
[ad_1]
Most road cyclists especially if they have been riding for a while will be familiar with the term ‘bonk’. Most riders have learnt the hard way, the bonk or dreaded ‘hunger knock’ can strike when a cyclist fails to get enough fuel onboard for the riding or event required and just simply runs out of puff.
You may feel the energy leaving your legs over a few miles, other times the bonk may just come out of nowhere. Vacant eyes, empty legs, (and I mean empty legs) and a total preoccupation with what you will eat when and indeed if you get home are all classic symptoms.
But what actually is the bonk? And how can it best be avoided? Fuelling properly for training, racing and general riding can have a massive impact on performance. If a rider is under-fueling (sometimes unknowingly) before most rides they may not be able to perform anywhere near their full potential. We asked cycling coach and owner of Custom Cycle Coaching (opens in new tab) Dr Tom Kirk, who has a PhD in sports physiology and nutrition for some fuelling and training insights.
First, it’s important to explore and understand exactly what happens to our bodies and systems when we ‘bonk’ or ‘blow’. These terms have been used for decades and it’s probably fair to say lots of riders associate them with running out of energy or perhaps sugars. But we delved a bit deeper to improve our understanding.
“That feeling of the dreaded ‘bonk’ is technically hypoglycaemia or a low blood glucose concentration,” Dr Kirk explains. “In healthy people, blood glucose is tightly controlled at around 4-5.5 mmol/L (millimoles per litre). As glucose is the only fuel typically used by the brain, when this fuel drops much below 4 mmol/L your body will begin to go into ‘safe mode’ preventing higher intensity exercise to preserve those limited glucose/glycogen stores to allow the brain to function. Other familiar symptoms are dizziness, slow reactions and confusion and you should get some carbohydrates in the body as soon as possible to prevent any further deterioration.”
So the bonk is actually the rider entering a hypoglycaemic state and the result of a built-in safety response of our bodies to protect brain function when glucose levels become too low. That completely empty lack of power feeling that comes with blowing, or bonking, is due to low blood glucose levels.
Understanding what the bonk…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…
[ad_2]