The Beginners Guide To Eating Better, So Your Journey Takes You to
Your Destination.
By Glenn Greer
Co-Owner of Gables Fitness
There is eating healthy. There is eating for performance.
Then there is eating for performance and to alter body composition.
Spinning offers one of the most calorie expanding workouts ever on this earth. Sure, there could be workouts that are superior in other galaxies far, far away, but for the sake of this ‘Beginners Guide To Eating Better, So You Can Get Through Your Spinning Class’ Nutrition guide book, let’s just stay on planet earth.
Today’s nutrition is tomorrows performance!
Test out a 28 Day Nutrition Plan to Jump Start Your Nutrition.
What limits one’s potential to perform optimally on a Spinning Bike and what inhibits one’s weight loss results? Spinning is not walking on a treadmill. Its calorie cost far exceeds that of most boring modalities so many people use to help with their weight loss. Now, of course we can adjust the intensity of a treadmill by increasing its grade and or speed. But, for the most part Spinning is a better choice to stimulate the mind and stimulate the metabolism.
There are many parameters that can effect ones potential for optimal performance on the bike. Since I am going to focus on nutrition rather then:
- Sleep
- Recovery
- Mechanical Performance
- Willingness to reach out of your comfort zone
- Cardiovascular endurance
- Consistency
I thought I would present a beginners guide to optimal nutrition for Spinning. Now, ofcourse these nutritional concepts and strategies can be applied for resistance training, kickboxing and other programs that create metabolic disturbance. But, I want to make sure those that are Spinning at Gables Fitness or other facilities, understand that if they are Spinning and not achieving the results they desire, they have to look at Nutrition as one of the main components. Your instructors are going to take you on your journey, I just want to make sure your packing your lunch for the long ride!
The guide book is intended for you to learn to crawl, then put one foot in front of the other, comprehend the information, then implement it slowly until its a habit. From that habit, consistency will have you believe in the concepts and strategies I discuss, then you will be ready to run or I should say Spin, into slowly increasing your calories and not buying into calorie deprivation.
In other words, read the guidebook and replace misinformation and false beliefs with nutritional science.
So, while your instructor is going to help you with your mechanical performance, I thought I would help with improving your nutritional chemistry. If you are an advanced rider and you are more for performance, I would recommend testing out increasing your carbs and using protein/carb recovery drinks.
Muscles can store 300 to 400 grams of glycogen and the liver can store about 100 grams. If optimal performance is your primary focus learn to increase your favorable carbohydrates (brown rice, sweet potato, baked potato, oatmeal, quinoa) along with maintaining adequate lean protein every 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Ideally, a great start is First meal, pre-ride and post ride.
Click here to download the guide book.
