Road Bike Rider

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. You can become very strong and grow large muscles just by lifting a single set of 6 to 12 repetitions of a weight that is 75 percent of your maximum, three times a week (Sports Med, Apr 2020;50(4):751-765). You need to lift a weight heavy enough to damage muscle fibers to make a muscle bigger and stronger, but causing more damage than that increases your … [Read more...] about How Often Should You Lift Weights?

Get back on the pavement after dropping your wheels off the edge. You may not want to put yourself in this risky predicament for the sake of practice. But if you remember this tip, you can do the right thing when the time comes. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: What To Do When Your Wheel Goes Off the Pavement’s Edge

Has this happened to you? It starts raining, and the next time you come to a stop sign your brakes don't work. You roll through the intersection and thank your lucky stars no cars were coming. Rim brakes and water don't mix. When the rims and brake pads get wet, almost zero bike- stopping friction is created no matter how hard you squeeze the levers. At least for the … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Brake Early When Rims Are Wet

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. The American Heart Association has cautioned that, “Exercise, particularly when performed by unfit individuals, can acutely increase the risk of sudden cardiac death and acute myocardial infarction in susceptible people” (Circulation, Feb 26, 2020). The authors cite more than 300 scientific articles showing that exercising excessively long and intensely … [Read more...] about Can Intense Exercise Increase Your Risk for a Heart Attack?

You'll see the pros do this on cobblestone sections in events such as Paris-Roubaix. Let's say you're cruising along in a 53x19-tooth gear. Spinning and grinning. But uh-oh, here comes a gnarly stretch of bumpy, patched pavement. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Shift Into a Harder Gear to Smooth Out Rough Roads

Have you ever been in a fast group on a long ride? You can get so focused on sticking with the paceline that you're too busy, or too nervous, to eat and drink. That's a real problem because soon you're bonked, dehydrated and struggling to maintain the pace. It's dangerous, too, because a tired rider is a squirrelly rider. … [Read more...] about How to Eat and Drink Safely Riding with a Group

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. Fifty-two percent of North Americans spend $41 billion a year on over-the-counter food supplements. A review of 277 clinical trials on 992,129 participants, using 24 different supplements, found that nutritional supplements were not associated with increased lifespan or prevention of heart disease (Ann Intern Med, July 8, 2019;171(3):216-217). … [Read more...] about The Placebo Effect and Supplements