If you finish summer rides with white streaks on your helmet straps and salt crust on your jersey, here’s the cheapest hydration upgrade in cycling. Add a pinch of table salt to your bottles. Sodium is the biggest electrolyte you lose in sweat, and many riders lose more of it than their drink replaces. Sweat…
By Ric Stern In a previous column we discussed how training harder can help maintain or improve fitness as we age. Today I want to take one of the things I touched on there — strength training — and dig into it properly: how it helps you as a cyclist (or triathlete, or runner), how…
Question: Is testosterone replacement therapy acceptable for recreational cycling? —Allen J. RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: I assume you specified “recreational cycling” since in professional competitive cycling, using testosterone is considered an anti-doping rule violation. Cycling authorities strictly prohibit its use, and age-related decline in one’s testosterone level is not grounds for a medical exemption.
By Ric Stern VO2max, nice little acronym, bandied around all the time in cycling circles. You’ve probably seen GCN mention it, and most likely every cycling magazine you’ve ever read. But what is it, what does it mean, and more importantly than the physiology if it’s so important, can you improve it? In reverse order,…
Question: I am a road cyclist, though I haven’t been at it very long. But I’m old enough that I have a few prostate problems. My urologist says I’m not ready for surgery yet, but he suggested that I purchase a “prostate saddle.” I did that, and found that it’s designed not to put pressure…
