The importance of protein in endurance cycling

Protein is a nutrient that benefits our bodies in multiple different ways. It promotes a healthy immune system, supports the general health of the body and is key for muscle strength, growth, and recovery. So, protein is a key part for anyone who is looking to improve and maintain their performance in life and on the bike. But how much should we be having and is it fully necessary?

For cyclist, protein is the main and key element of recovery for the body and our muscles, but for endurance cyclists this is even more important as you must recover whilst still being on the move. Protein promotes muscle recovery and repair whilst creating your optimal body composition and muscle strength.

As endurance athletes, cyclists are always putting force and demand through the muscles and tendons in our legs and they are constantly under strain. To stop this strain turning into injury, it is key for endurance athletes to have the correct amount of protein in their diet, not just on the bike but in general day to day life.

How does protein repair our muscles?

Protein contains amino acids and these amino acids, and these are the building blocks for muscle repair and recovery. The body produces natural amino acids, and these are enough for people who partake in low intensity activities and general day to day activities like walking and being active.

However, for anything more than this the body cannot produce enough amino acid on its own and this is where protein comes into the conversation. With both ways providing the body with the building blocks to keep muscles moving freely and injury free, it is key that endurance athletes get enough protein to ensure that they can continue to do what they are putting the body through. Its key to keep the protein levels up, because the body can use and convert the natural amino acid that we produce as a energy source instead of using it to repair the muscles we are damaging.

How much protein should we be consuming as cyclists?

As with many meal plans, diet fads and mis leading online information supplied by google, there is no ‘one size fits all’ number to put on this question. It varies from athlete to athlete, depending on if your riding for 2 hours or 12 hours, intensity and relative effort all are factors that will affect the amount of protein that someone may need.

Research shows that athletes doing between 1-3 hours a day of exercise should be aiming for between 1.6 – 1.8 grams of protein per KG of body weight per day. So, if you train those hours at 70kg you should be aiming to consume 112-126 grams of protein a day. Most endurance athletes training these hours would be likely getting enough protein from fuelling for these rides as it is during day-to-day life.

However, that does not mean that as a endurance cyclist that amount of protein is enough for us to get the most out of our bodies and to get the best performance we can. For anyone doing high intensity endurance riding and high volumes of training and/or those looking to develop a body composition that they are after, would benefit from upping the protein intake to 2.4 grams per KG of body weight per day. So, at 70kg you would be looking to have about 168 grams per day.

Does protein intake change for women in cycling?

All research and content on leading pages such as cycling weekly, alpecin cycling and independent papers all relate to protein intake on body weight and amounts per day. Since women are generally lighter than men, they are likely to be consuming less protein as well as other nutrients such as carbs and fibre. This isn’t because they require less, its just because women are generally lighter than men.

Whereas research is mostly done on weight, and therefor meaning women and men both work on the same metrics for protein intake, women in the studies and research are hugely underrepresented and this may mean that the information they have may change as more and more studies, cycling groups and clubs are becoming more women involved.

Who knows in years to come it may be women studies that lead the way for all cycling nutrition. Personally, for me, I feel that women in cycling isn’t as involving as it should be still. It’s much better than it has ever been, however them studies and research writing this blog, has 80% been done on men and the typical intake for males. So, there is 100% more research to be done on the fact of fuelling and nutrition for women in cycling and other sports.

Credit – Dan Stephenson of outlands project

How often should we be consuming protein in a day?

If you’re reading this, then it’s likely you’re a cyclist or someone who is into getting the most out of their body. So, it is also likely that you are already having a balanced diet and eating regular meals to be fuelling your training days.

However, for those that have stumbled across my blog, you should be aiming to spread the protein intake through 4-5 meals a day. This doesn’t mean you have to have a extra meal a day, this can be consumed via protein induced snacks, such as protein bars or in terms of a post workout snack.

As endurance cyclists, it is likely that we are all aware, as endurance athletes, of how to get protein and a lot of us don’t need to or want to be tracking calories and micronutrients. I can personally say I do not go through a day thinking about how much protein I am consuming, because I know that my meals all contain some sort of protein. However, I know and I’m sure for many others that we could all be aware of how much protein is in the foods we eat. And this means that we can be more confident and cleverer with spreading the intake of protein over the 4 meals in the day rather than having one really protein heavy meal and hardly any protein in other meals. As breakfast doesn’t normally contain anywhere near the amount of protein that lunch or dinner does, but its about being clever with our meals, the use of eggs and avocado at breakfast is a simple and easy way to boost the consumption of protein in that one meal.

That one saying of “you must consume x amount of protein within 30 minutes of exercise” is mostly exaggerated and a myth, for endurance athletes anyway. As cyclists, we would be much more benefitted to consume the protein throughout the day and promote constant amino acid to the muscle throughout the day. Because we are putting low amounts but constant strain on those working muscles, unlike a weightlifter that puts short bursts of high strain on the muscles.

What foods contain the amino acids I need?

Animal products such as eggs, milk, dairy products, and meat products all continue high quality protein and amino acids that benefit our bodies. It is highly advised to have a balance in your diet though and to get protein from non-animal protein such as nuts, seeds, cereals, and potatoes although these do contain less amino acid than animal protein. So, you would need more of these to get the amounts you need, so that’s why its important to have a balanced diet.

If you are full plant based, it is even more important to be aware of the protein in foods. Because animal products contain so much more protein and the amino acid building blocks we need, its key to be ensuring that your getting the correct amount of protein you need, and mixing up the plant based foods you are eating – because you’ll have to consume more – means that your meals wont get boring and repetitive.

Should I be using protein during endurance exercise alongside carbohydrate?

No. That’s the simple answer, its important to get the protein we need but, you do not need to be ensuring you getting protein per hour like you do with carbohydrate. It becomes more important if your doing back-to-back days riding and you can ensure you’re getting your protein off the bike, like at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The key thing on the bike and during exercise is to be fuelling the body with the carbs you need as that’s what your muscles use for fuel. Most cycling products contain protein as it is and during exercise as long as your nutrition intake is about 5% protein, that is plenty to keep the muscle recovery process ticking.

Summary

Writing this and doing the research for the last couple of days has been an eye opener. As a cyclist who loves an endurance ride and as a chef, I am fairly with it with consuming the right balance of nutrients in most meals. However, what has been eye opening for me has been the numbers and science behind it.

I knew protein meant muscle recovery. However, I didn’t know the workings of how it repaired the muscles and how much I should be consuming. So, this has been a learning curve for me as much as a informative (Hopefully) blog post. And that is why I started to write these blogs, to learn and hopefully help pass on that information to others.

For the record, no, I haven’t been consuming enough protein.