Intermittent fasting is great for cyclists who want to see themselves toned and healthy at the same time. The whole point of intermittent fasting for cyclists is for when they want to shed a few pounds, get fitter, grow healthier and improve their overall cycling speed and performance.
Provided you take proper precautions while deep-diving into the trend (as it’s often confused with not eating at all), there is no way it won’t work in your favor.
What Is Intermittent Fasting and How Do You Do It Right?
Intermittent fasting is a proven way that helps you in losing weight quickly and efficiently. It is basically when you fast voluntarily for 14-16 hours straight without consuming any drinks or solid foods. Even though it sounds bizarre, there are proper ways to do it right.
Intermittent fasting does not necessarily mean you skip all your meals but it’s more about consuming any amount of food tactfully to make it work for you.
For example – Let’s assume that you finished the last day of the meal (dinner), say at 7:00 pm, and post that you do not consume anything (except water) and go straight to bed.
The next day, you begin your day without having any breakfast (except black coffee, tea, and water) and go ahead with your usual cycling exercise routine. Once you come back from the training, by the time you eat, it would be somewhere around 10:00 am or 11:00 am, that’s when you have your wholesome breakfast!
So after fasting for 14-16 hours straight, that’s when you break the fast. This is how usually fasting works when you want to genuinely lose weight to increase your cycling performance!
Tip – Make sure to eat wisely as you may end up consuming more than you usually do for breakfast. This regime would work only if you follow it the way it’s meant to be. If not, there won’t be much time when you will see yourself overeating and gaining weight instead of losing it.
Now that you know how fasting for a longer duration can be beneficial for your weight loss regime, let’s see what are the other benefits of doing intermittent fasting which will also help you in improving your cycling performance:
1. Using Fat as Fuel – Great for Weight Loss
The prime and the golden benefit of intermittent fasting pays off when you hit the roads to kickstart your cycling workout. It works like magic for high-intensity cycling sessions but also when you want to keep the workout mild and light. This is because your body does not get carbs or protein right at the start of the day which usually gets broken down into energy for you to be able to paddle intensely. Now with no carbs or proteins in your body, it’s forced to employ the fat to provide you strength throughout the ride that works in your favor for you to lose weight fast.
In an attempt to lose more weight, you consciously paddle with great speed that automatically pushes you to paddle faster, which leads to improving the overall cycling performance one day at a time. This technique also fills you with enough endurance and improves insulin sensitivity to help you in the longer run.
2. Keeps A Lot of Diseases at Bay
Intermittent fasting is known to be less effective because the temptation to consume junk food and food otherwise becomes more when you fast for such long hours. However, if you are determined to make the most of it there’s no stopping from you to avail its endless benefits.
There are certain diseases that you dodge out of the way with fasting for such long hours like it:
- Enhances your heart health
- Improves blood pressure
- Mends cholesterol levels
- Improves triglycerides
- Helps fight diabetes
- Helps reduce insulin
- Efficiently restricts calorie
3. Good for Your Muscle Health
When you build strong and healthy muscles, your cycling performance gradually tends to improve. Once you put all your energy into a workout while you are still fasting, your body starts producing the growth hormone that improves the longevity of the muscles which eventually leads to the building of lean muscles.
Also, as per a few studies conducted, it says that intermittent fasting aptly helps you keep up with the muscle mass while you are exercising with an empty stomach.
Wrapping It Up
Before you get excited, we highly recommend you to try intermittent fasting only if your ultimate goal is weight loss. This should not be your go-to step when you already have a healthy weight and you exercise regularly.
If you are not dealing with weight loss issues, you shouldn’t be fasting at all. As a cyclist who does not have any concern related to weight, feel free to have breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner when keeping regular cycling sessions in check.
