Yes, we are pretty close: I am 5’-11”, 36 yo male. BMR is 1721 for me. I had somewhat arbitrarily set the +800 calories for my activity level (outside of workouts). This was based on me chasing my 3 kids around, active outdoor lifestyle (frequent walks, some running, gardening, house projects, bike rides with kids, etc.) Looking at this, maybe that is actually a bit high. If I go with “Light exercise 1-3 times per week” Cronometer gives a 0.375 multiplier and comes up with +645 calories or 2366 calories total. That would be before any training.
Very good point about Strava/Garmin overstating calories burned on a ride! Probably best to look at the “active” calories only.
I feel this way every single time Kyle is in the podcast. He’s incredibly smart and obviously knows his stuff but I don’t get anything from these episodes. I’d rather Alex Larson got this much time to expand on her thoughts.
Sometimes I feel like they are talking to the racer that needs to lose a few kilos to make race weight.
I’ve come across other researchers and doctors with similar approaches that are more straight forward to follow.
I - The PE Diet book - Ted Naiman. You can watch the author on YT or listen to him on podcasts and he lays it out pretty clearly. Start with daily caloric allowance to run a deficit (can use calculations or any app out there). Hit the protein target (similar to dr kyle) and fat target and one is allowed 100g of carbohydrate. This would be low carb for most people. From there you can add carbohydrates based on activity level. The emphasis is on lower carb (energy) and may be challenging for athletes but the overall concept sounds similar.
II - Dr Donald Layman (professor emeritus and researcher). He advocates a similar protein target, and 125g of carbohydrate. I can’t remember the fat target or if there is one. Add carbs based on activity level. (He’s all over Youtube or you can search pubmed for his research.)
Yes, and it isn’t just Tressler saying this. There has been a significant groundswell in commentary on this. It would be great if the TR podcast could cover this more. REDs, LEA, are, of course now widely discussed in sport, but this goes beyond undereating athletes.
It’s easy to even interpret that on an N+1 personal level. Life has been chaos the last couple of weeks with some huge stressors. I have lost my appetite somewhat and, despite forcing food in for fuel, my body is going into conservation mode. I don’t have the energy to train, and, tbh, I don’t really want to get off the sofa. I have viral symptoms now probably as my immune system is struggling. Have I lost weight? Not significantly. Would I have lost weight if I could have maintained my normal training? Definitely. But there is no way my body is going to support my ego in thinking that’s a good idea
Its the simply-not-simple calories in vs calories out equation. People concentrate on calories in, but rarely truly assess the calories out. The body has a stronger influence to control our metabolism than most give it credit for. It can autonomically shut off/turn down key systems to conserve energy, particularly in people who have a history of hunger, AND, when the generations before them have a history of hunger (if I get time later I will see if I can find some references)
I’d also like it if the podcast could investigate the research and see if there are any studies out there supporting the theory that every body has a preferred minimum genetic set point for weight/fat percentage so, if you modify that, you will always be fighting a battle with your body.
I remember him saying a while back 30g protein and 60g carbs in a recovery drink, which is quite a bit different than the 4:1 ratio Jonathon always mentions.
This is why I would like the question asked, so he can tell about it and give all the details. I often skimp on the recovery drink. And I would like to know how important it is and exactly what’s in it. And maybe if it differs depending on the workout? etc
Based on the work I’ve done with a spots nutritionist is that the recovery shake is replenishment of glycogen depleted during the workout and a little protein to help slow any catabolic effects in the window.
I’ve found that eating [edited] 100 calories for every 200 kJ burned [/edited] during my workout keeps me from being ravenously & recklessly hungry.
It’s snacking during the day that always sets me back
I always enjoy watching TR content with Kyles input. This one had me asking, why can’t we calculate a pre fueling plan for each workout and display it with the session plan?
I asked Chat GPT to give me a formula for this based on FTP and IF, and this is the response.
‘can you generate a formula for carb consumption of a training session based on FTP and intensity factor for the session?’
ChatGPT said:
Yes – you can create a practical formula to estimate carbohydrate (CHO) consumption in a cycling training session using FTP (Functional Threshold Power) and Intensity Factor (IF).
108g per hour is a bit aggressive - Tour de France level intake for a regular training ride. All this kind of presumes that one needs to replace carbs burned 1:1 on each and every ride for every hour of training.
However it does ignore any previous consumption; like if you had a big CHO meal right before you would probably burn more CHO regardless of intensity compared to if you had no CHO the last 3 hours before.
But as a ball park it seems fine I think.
You would not replace 1-for-1 during the ride as @AJS914 mentioned. In fact, considering your glycogen stores can contain up to 500g of CHO, you could do this ride on relatively low CHO consumption (esp. if you have no exercise planned for the next day). 60-90g of CHO for such a ride (with most of consumption in the 45-115min window) should then be sufficient to keep bloodsugar from bombing.
However, this obviously changes for rides 3h+.
Regarding the recovery drink, @patrickhill and @jbakkane the 30g PRO + 60g CHO is probably because 60g of CHO is usually enough to replenish (see for example previous example of 215g CHO burned, 60-90g consumed during and ideally 60-90 prior, leaves ~65g of CHO deficit).
The 30g of PRO of the recoverydrink (which should be balanced with daily overall PRO) is probably to ensure to effectively trigger and maximize muscle protein synthesis (MPS), the process of building and repairing muscle. This amount is considered a “key threshold” for most adults to activate MPS and is also important for satiety and blood sugar balance, though older adults may need slightly more or a higher leucine content for full activation.
Indeed this to quickly move from a catabolic to a anabolic state.
This gives a session-level carb consumption estimate, useful for fuelling strategies.