By Ric Stern That’s the thing you can do when you’re dead, right? Or, at least that’s what I sometimes say as a joke — usually to someone who doesn’t exercise and is marveling at how “amazing” it is that I cycle every day. But there’s more to it than waiting until you (or I)…
Ever wonder if you’re drinking enough on hot rides — or too much? Your bathroom scale can tell you, and it only takes one ride to find out. Sports scientists call this a sweat rate test, and it’s the same method pro team staff use in the field. Every liter of sweat you lose weighs…
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.
