How To Maximise Recovery Post-Ride When You Have Zero Appetite
Jul 20, 2023Today is for those who have zero appetite after hard races or training rides.
For cyclists who have heightened physical demands and urgent recovery needs, this poses a serious problem as their ability to return to ‘physical baseline’ is compromised.
I.e. If you have another race or ride within a 24 hour period and you need to be at your absolute best, the amount of fluid and carbohydrates consumed in the hours following can significantly accelerate the recovery process.
However, many athletes experience ‘Exercise Induced Appetite Suppression’ following intense exercise – Meaning they are unable to consume the necessary amounts.
For example, Vatansever-Ozen et al (2011) had ten elite athletes run for 120 minutes: 105 mins at 50% VO2max followed by another 15 mins at 70% VO2max.
Upon completion, they were given a buffet style lunch and were told to eat until satisfied.
As expected, their appetite stimulating hormone (Ghrelin) became supressed after demanding exercise.
The reduced Ghrelin levels after intense exercise may be due to an increase in sympathetic nervous system activity (fight or flight) which is responsible for diverting blood from your gut (to aid digestion) towards your working muscles to support performance.
There’s also emerging research showing that elevated lactate levels produced from intense exercise can blunt Ghrelin levels and subsequently reduce energy intake (McCarthy et al, 2020).
Interestingly, even though the athletes burnt ~1550kcal in the running session, they didn’t eat more food at post workout buffet when compared to the control group (who went to the buffet without doing the exercise).
In comparison, they were in a massive calorie deficit and wouldn’t have initiated the recovery process optimally.
Therefore, they'd be starting the following day on the back foot due to incomplete recovery.
Our rule of thumb: If you can't eat your calories, drink then. Milk/Yazoo's and smoothies work best until your appetite normalises.
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