I think we're still all at sea with antioxidants. Clearly they have benefits but also can reduce training adaptations. This study suggests high dose NAC and presumably glycine could help TdF riders towards the end of the race but are they counter productive in training? What about for ordinary athletes? Other studies showed benefits in older people but not younger. All quite tricky.
well said. good summary of where we are with antioxidants. There's some evidence that taking antioxidants after a hard workout will actually reduce the training effect.
Great read as always! I've always said the same about this statement " If we want a model of excessive exercise (and diminished recovery), the Tour de France is it." Not just Tour de France, Il Giro, La Vuelta...I mean, what these guys do is not normal whatsoever! And yet...as you mentioned at the end of the post, feeling is still king in a way.
Fantastic breakdown of the metabolite signatures. The 4-5x basal metabolic rate point really underscores how insane the Tour is as a physiology experiment. What caught me was teh selective depletion of saturated vs unsaturated fatty acids, that efficiency argument makes sense but runs counter to standard exercise biochem thinking. The cysteine/glutathione connection is probly the most actionable finding here for regular athletes.
I think we're still all at sea with antioxidants. Clearly they have benefits but also can reduce training adaptations. This study suggests high dose NAC and presumably glycine could help TdF riders towards the end of the race but are they counter productive in training? What about for ordinary athletes? Other studies showed benefits in older people but not younger. All quite tricky.
well said. good summary of where we are with antioxidants. There's some evidence that taking antioxidants after a hard workout will actually reduce the training effect.
That was a very sad way to end an interesting article! : all the best - Steve
Great read as always! I've always said the same about this statement " If we want a model of excessive exercise (and diminished recovery), the Tour de France is it." Not just Tour de France, Il Giro, La Vuelta...I mean, what these guys do is not normal whatsoever! And yet...as you mentioned at the end of the post, feeling is still king in a way.
Fantastic breakdown of the metabolite signatures. The 4-5x basal metabolic rate point really underscores how insane the Tour is as a physiology experiment. What caught me was teh selective depletion of saturated vs unsaturated fatty acids, that efficiency argument makes sense but runs counter to standard exercise biochem thinking. The cysteine/glutathione connection is probly the most actionable finding here for regular athletes.