Originally Posted by
DeathCurse7
Are there benefits to bonking in training?
Are the negatives effects?
How do you structure bonking into your training and how often?
Welcome to Bike Forums.
There is a form of training, sometimes called bonk training, that may be part of a periodized training program. The goal of bonk training is to develop the ability to burn a greater percentage of fat versus glycogen for ATP production during cycling. This is useful for cyclists that want to do multi day events with long rides each day.
The protocol is to get up in the morning and go for a two hour ride or so without eating anything. Without any food, ATP production will favor fat burning and try to conserve muscle and liver glycogen. However, the goal is not to actually bonk and run ones body out of muscle and liver glycogen.