Running asymmetries, protein consumption, and perceived hydration on cycling performance
Finding the best running and rehab content on the internet each week so you don’t have to.
What I’m Thinking
I tracked my protein consumption in January.
Here are six things I learned.
It was easier than expected. 1-2 extra minutes each meal. Shout MyFitnessPal.
I was significantly undereating protein. My daily goal in January was 1g of protein per pound of body weight (190lbs). Aggressive but not impossible. This required overhauling my breakfast and snacks throughout the day.
Starting the day with a protein-packed breakfast was key. My breakfast scramble:
handful spinach
4-5 eggs
1/4 cup cottage cheese
2-3oz of chicken breast
I felt better after intense workouts, with less morning soreness and sustained energy throughout the day.
I felt more satiated after meals and didn’t feel much need to snack. Greek yogurt with frozen fruit was my only daily snack.
Since I knew I was tracking macros, I made healthier nutrition decisions.
As I demonstrated, what we eat doesn’t always match with what we think we eat.
I plan on continuing this for the foreseeable future but with a less aggressive goal:
2 grams of protein per kg of body weight.
What I’m Reading
📖 Perceived dehydration impairs endurance cycling performance in the heat in active males:
“When participants believed they were ‘dehydrated by ∼2% of their body mass’, cycling endurance performance was impaired by ∼6%, despite no difference in their hydration status. The decrement in performance occurred despite no differences in heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, thermal sensation, or gastrointestinal temperature between trials. The decrement in performance likely derived from predispositions/knowledge that dehydration impairs performance and/or increased thirst sensation.”
📖 Gait asymmetry not associated with injury risk:
“The search for interlimb asymmetry as a risk factor for injury in running seems to originate more from popular beliefs than scientific evidence. None of the three prospective studies on asymmetry in running biomechanics and injury risk provided evidence that asymmetry predisposes runners to higher injury risk, as hypothesized in the literature. Furthermore, following previous work, no differences in loading between the injured and non-injured leg were found in this study. Therefore, the search for gait asymmetry in the lower limbs in healthy recreational runners as an approach for primary prevention is not supported by scientific evidence.”
📖 Running softer and increasing cadence for less knee pain:
“Compared to no intervention, two-week partially supervised gait retraining programs focusing on [reducing] impact and [increasing] cadence were more effective in improving running [knee] pain six months after the protocol in a sample of Brazilian runners with PFP. Additionally, the two-week partially supervised gait retraining program focused on impact was more effective in improving knee function immediately post-training. No differences in usual pain and lower limb kinematics were found in the follow-up time points assessed. As expected, one gait retraining group was not superior to the other.”
What I’m Liking
Home management ftw.