Originally Posted by
Tulok
Thank you for your reply. I’m already at pretty low body fat percentage so what I really do need at this point is actually more muscle... since posting my last response I’ve learned that I needed to up my protein (especially on recovery days) tremendously over what I had been consuming. 0.66 g/kg is what I read. I probably have been consuming 0.25 since I started trying to focus my training this year. Live and learn! I always assumed eggs were protein filled but surprisingly they’re not!
Am am I right for thinking that I should fuel with carbs for riding, protein for recovery and healthy fats for general health etc? (Ignoring all the nuances of protein/carb ratio for optimal uptake etc).
Yes. Protein has, IMO, a weird history as one of the three macros. One sees no numbers apparently defining a maximum for either fat or carbs. Yet there are many human communities which subsist almost entirely on protein. Try telling an aboriginal Eskimo or East African that they shouldn't get more protein than 1g/kg. They'd starve to death. We have mechanisms to transform protein into carbs, but not the other way. There's no substitute for amino acids. Just one of my favorite rants.
2g/kg is certainly not excessive from a biological viewpoint. 1g/kg is probably a good minimum. All that said, my tell is that if my legs hurt on the bike while I'm training hard, I need more protein in my diet. Legs hurting off the bike - that's normal. I'm not talking about "the burn" from lactic acid or whatever, but simply aching when pedaling hard.
Carbs with protein after a ride is good. Protein uptake into one's cells is helped by carbs. 4 carbs/1 protein is often seen as a recovery recommendation, but not everyone needs that many carbs, depends on how hard and long one rode. If one will eat a nice carby meal soon after a ride, just protein with some carb works well. It's easy to overeat for recovery. Eating carbs on the bike helps with that.