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Mountain Bike Nutrition &

Supplements

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Table of Contents

The 123’s of Nutrition pg. 3

MTB Supplements Overview pg. 6

Specific Supplement Recommendations pg. 9

Nutrient Timing for Max Results pg. 11

Race Day/ Performance Nutrition pg. 13

Intermittent Fasting pg. 15

Additional Resources pg. 17

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The 123’s of Nutrition

If you ever want to clear a room of mountain bikers either tell them you are out of beer or, better yet, tell them you want to talk about nutrition. Nutrition is one of those subjects that everyone knows is important but they can rarely muster more than a passing interest in it. One of the reasons for this is that it tends to get overcomplicated and confusing and we like to spend our time riding rather than counting calories and munching on a celery stick.

While nutrition is an immensely complex subject it can actually be boiled down to some very simple steps. The most important thing to remember is that what you eat fuels your body. Understanding that there are times that you want to eat for purpose and not for pleasure is very important. You will ride much faster and sustain it longer if you have the right fuel in your body.

You also want to keep in mind that you do not have to eat perfectly to gain the benefits of proper nutrition. It is called the Rule of 90% - doing something right 90% of the time will gain you almost all of the benefits of doing it right 100% of the time. The idea is to change your junk food diet with some good food thrown in into a good food diet with some junk food thrown in. This means that if you have some post ride beer and pizza every once in while you are not totally sabotaging your efforts

It all boils down to the 123’s of Nutrition. This is the basic plan I use with all of my new clients to help them easily get their nutrition back on track and dialed in...

Click on the link below to watch a video presentation of the 123’s of Nutrition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_gajHFBHJs

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Step 1: Make sure that you are having 5 feedings a day spaced about 3-4 hours apart. Nothing else really matters if you are not getting up, eating breakfast and then making sure to eat something every 3-4 hours after that.

This is actually much easier than you may think. If you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and throw in a protein shake or other healthy snack like some nuts, fruit or beef jerky in-between meals you’ve got it covered. Once you have Step 1 down and are consistently eating every 3-4 hours you are ready for the next step.

Step 2: Make sure that you are eating some protein with each meal. For most people getting some protein with each meal is a new concept and takes some practice. Sometimes I talk to riders and they are not really sure about where to get protein.

Protein comes from eggs, beef, chicken, fish, yogurt, cottage cheese or a protein supplement. The easiest way to fill in protein gaps is to have a serving of whey protein as this will give you 20-30 grams of protein and really help to balance out any meal. Once you have Step 1 & 2 down then you are ready for Step 3.

Step 3: Stop eating refined carbs and eat more fruits and vegetables. Breads and pastas are metabolic nightmares for your body and are very calorie dense and nutrient poor. Simply cutting them out will do wonders for your energy levels and body fat.

If you want to eat refined carbs like breads and pastas you should try to eat them earlier in the day since your metabolism is higher. You also want to look for whole grain options since they have a higher fiber content and help control the blood sugar spikes you usually get from refined carbs. A word of advice though – look at the label and make sure that your “whole grain” carbs contain at least 3-5 grams of fiber per serving. Otherwise it is just regular carbs in disguise.

So there you have it - the 1 2 3's of good nutrition. Don't try to implement all 3 steps at once as this is a good way to frustrate yourself. See where you currently are - if you don't even eat 5 times a day then start by making a commitment to do that for the next 3 weeks. Once that is a habit move to Step 2 for 3 weeks and then to Step 3.

Trying to do too much too soon can sabotage even the best of intentions so don't fall into that trap. If you take it one step at a time you will find your eating habits getting much better with minimal frustration. After a while these steps will simply be a habit and you won’t even think about it anymore, it will just be how you eat.

While there is a lot more than can go into your nutrition plan, these basic steps will gain you most of the benefits you want. I never tell someone to count a single calorie or measure out a single portion of food until they have these things down. The funny thing is, I rarely need to go any deeper than this – everything just seems to fall into place when these steps are followed.

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You don’t realize how much bad nutrition affects you until you start to eat better. Everyone thinks that their diet of beer and fast food is sufficient but the truth is that you are holding yourself back. Implement these simple steps and you’ll be amazed at how much more energy and focus you have on the trail.

Here are a few more things to keep in mind when it comes to nutrition:

- Drink plenty of water. Most people are dehydrated and this will impact energy and performance levels. While the old “8 glasses of water a day” advice is good, trying to get 100+ ounces of water a day is even better. And this needs to be water – juice, tea, coffee and Red Bull do not count. Using Crystal Light to add some flavor to your water will make this more tolerable for those of you that need some flavor in your beverages.

- Refuel after training. Training breaks you down, recovering from training builds you up and increases your fitness levels. A post workout drink with 15-20 grams of protein and 30-40 grams of carbs will help jump start this process. There are a lot of good supplements for this purpose out there but here is a trick I use a lot – mix a half scoop of vanilla whey protein into a cup of orange juice and you’re all set.

- Get some fat in your diet. Your body needs good fats to function optimally. Fish oil, extra virgin olive oil, flax seed oil and nuts are all good sources healthy fats and should be a part of your diet. I usually recommend eating 5-10 grams of fish oil a day and using extra virgin olive oil to cook with as easy ways to get this vital component of your diet covered.

- Write it down. It is very easy to fool yourself about how much and when you are really eating. If you are serious about getting your nutrition on track write down what you eat and when you eat it for few days. It will give you a look at where you really are so you can better decide what your next step should be.

- Use protein shakes to fill in nutrition gaps. Using nutrient dense protein smoothies to help you fit in a nutritious meal when you would otherwise skip eating is an easy way to keep on top of your nutrition plan. Fast and delicious, protein smoothies are a "must have" in the busy mountain biker's nutrition arsenal.

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Mountain Bike Supplements

Mountain bikers live in a world full of spectacular claims. Every year we are told how

some new valving in a fork or tweak to a suspension system is going to change how we

ride and turn us into rock stars on the trail. After a few years in this sport you start to

realize that most of those claims are a bit overblown and becoming a better rider really

boils down to being consistent with the basics, like training and riding your bike.

The same can be said for the world of supplements. In fact, coming from the fitness

world I know how outrageous the supplement industry can get in its quest to lure your

dollars away from you. One of my all-time favorites was when a study that dunked rats

into cold water was used to back up a supplement that was supposed to enhance

testosterone levels - reaches like that are more common than you'd think.

This puts supplements in a weird spot because they can enhance your results but most

of the stuff out there is borderline worthless. You end up either buying $300 worth of

stuff every month from GNC (I know, I've been there) or you end up buying nothing and

trying to get it all from your diet (I've been there too). Neither approach is optimal and

over the years I've found a simple way to integrate supplements into your program

without blowing a lot of money of expensive pee.

The list of supplements I recommend is pretty short and consists of Foundational

Supplements that help support your basic nutritional needs by filling in common gaps.

This list I what I currently use and recommend that every rider consider:

Foundational Supplements

Essential Fatty Acids - Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are types of fats that our body

cannot produce on its own but are required for a huge list of bodily functions. Hair, skin,

hormones (like testosterone) and joints all require these EFAs and if you don't eat a ton

of cold water fish then odds are you are not getting enough from your diet.

To make matters worse, the prevalence of farm raised fish is making it harder to get the

essential fatty acids you need from real fish anymore. Farm raised fish are fed corn

which changes the fatty acid profile in the flesh of fish. One of the reasons for the

popularity of Tilapia is that it can actually eat and digest corn (they are working hard to

genetically engineer salmon that can do the same thing) so don't be fooled into thinking

that it has the same health benefits as other fish.

Because of this very few of us are able to get the amount of EFAs we need to support

our training and riding. Chronic inflammation, lower levels of key hormones and

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decreased brain function are just some of the effects of low EFAs in the diet, which

means you want to make sure that you are filling in that gap through supplementation

with either fish oil and/ or krill oil.

Whole Food Based Greens Powder - While nothing can replace a diet sufficient in

fruits and vegetables, the truth is that it is very hard to eat enough of them each day and

this makes a greens powder a must for most of us. A good greens powder will provide

the body with an array of antioxidants, enzymes, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals,

all of which are needed to help support and minimize the damage from hard training and

riding.

In addition, a greens powder can really come in handy when traveling and you don’t

have easy access to fresh vegetables. This makes a greens powder an important part

of helping you fill in any nutritional gaps you might have in your diet.

Protein Supplement - Protein can be a very confusing subject with some experts

claiming that you need a ton of it and others claiming that you need barely any at all.

Here is what I know - you need protein and unless you eat a lot of fish, steak and

chicken you probably need to supplement with some.

You also need a protein source that contains all of the essential amino acids (the

building blocks of protein) which means that whey and/ or casein is best. This leaves a

very popular protein source, soy, on the outside looking in. Without getting into

conspiracy theories, the prevalence of soy protein has less to do with its effectiveness

and more to do with the surplus that farmers find themselves with and the soy industry's

desire to cash in on it.

In my opinion, the best source of supplemental protein remains whey protein. It has all

of the essential amino acids and a high concentration of branch chain amino acids - in

other words, all the stuff you want to take extra protein for. It is also relatively

inexpensive and can be easily mixed into a lot of stuff, including pancakes, muffins and

smoothies. I recommend using 1-2 scoops daily to help support your muscles recover

from riding and training.

Mineral Supplement – Our bodies rely on a wide variety of minerals to function

optimally. If you are deficient in just one of these essential nutrients it can grind all sorts

of metabolic process to a halt. This means that you can be slowing your recovery and

robbing yourself of results for want of a simple mineral or two.

To complicated things even more, the mineral content of our soil has been depleted

which means that we don’t get the same mineral support from our food that we used to.

In some cases you have to eat 3-4 times as much food to get the same minerals

compared to 100 years ago.

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This is why I recommend a good mineral supplement to off set this fact of modern life. It

is good insurance against the mineral depleted foods we eat today and a great way to

make sure that we are supporting our training efforts.

Post Workout Drink - Nothing on this list comes as close to "drug like" as a good post

workout drink (PWD). While training and riding promote a host of physiological benefits,

they also stress the body. Fortunately, the body is designed to respond to this stress by

providing a short post exercise period designed for recovery. A well designed post-

exercise carbohydrate and protein supplements can help both support training as well

as accelerate this recovery process.

Like I mentioned, the studies on this type of supplement show that it can make an

impact on your results. You want to look for a PWD that has a 2:1 ratio of carbs to

protein (2 grams of carbs for every 1 gram of protein) and uses a fast acting form of

whey protein like whey protein isolate. Simple sugars are also an important part of the

mix and so don't be afraid if you see sugar sources that you would usually want to

avoid.

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Specific Supplement Recommendations

I personally use the ONNIT brand of supplements and have worked out a deal with

them so that you can get 10% your supplement order with them. Their motto is “Total

Human Optimization” and I like their commitment to creating innovative products and

finding the highest quality ingredients possible. This is the list of what I currently use

and recommend:

Warrior Bars – In addition to 14 grams of protein, the Warrior Bar also features 140 calories

and 4 grams of fat per 2-ounce serving, and is free of gluten, nitrites, antibiotics, and added

hormones. All natural and made from prairie-fed buffalo, cranberries, and a spicy pepper blend,

the bar is designed to provide the protein and calories that triathletes, runners, climbers, and

other high-energy and endurance athletes require.

OatMega Crisp Protein Bars - Both bars have been carefully formulated to use only high-quality ingredients like whey from grass-fed cows, gluten-free oats, and even responsibly-caught deep ocean fish oil. Oatmega® uses a proprietary process to ensure the taste of fish oil is virtually non-existent.

Oatmega® bars also only use whey protein from grass-fed cows that are pasture-raised. The cows are hormone-free and they’re never fed soy.Plus, Oatmega® bars are gluten-free and contain no GMOs.

Krill Oil – While fish oil and krill oil have similar benefits, there are a few differences that

make krill oil a good option to consider.

First, krill oil is more bioavailable than fish oil, meaning that you have to take much less

of it. While with fish oil you have to take 5-10 grams per day, with krill oil you can get the

same benefits from 2 grams a day.

Krill oil also contains a powerful anti-oxidant called Astaxanthin. This anti-oxidant helps

to protect the fatty acid chains from degradation and has been shown to play an

important role in reducing inflammation in the cardiovascular system. Astaxanthin isn’t

found in fish oil, giving krill oil another leg up on regular fish oil.

Earth Grown Nutrients Powerfood - While there are a lot of greens powders on the

market I’ve found ONNIT’s Earth Grown Nutrients Powerfood to be a great choice. It

contains a wide array of unique earth based foods from both land and sea, including an

Anti-Oxidant Blend, a Power Greens blend, a Rainbow Blend, a Detox Blend and a

Digestion Blend. It is the most complete greens powder I have come across, which is

why I use and recommend it to my athletes.

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Hemp Force Protein - For those who are looking for non-animal based protein powder I

recommend Hemp Force Protein by ONNIT. Hemp protein if the highest quality

vegetable protein available and provides 15 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber and an

array of Essential Fatty Acids as well, making Hemp Force a great choice for anyone

looking for a high quality protein supplement.

Live Coral Calcium – The mineral supplement that I use and recommend is Live Coral

Calcium by ONNIT. Independently rated as the highest quality coral calcium, it is the

only live harvested coral calcium. Because it is live harvested from the untouched

beaches of Brazil and cold processed it contains higher levels of the minerals than

regular coral calcium. Providing one of the richest natural sources of magnesium,

calcium and other trace minerals Live Coral Calcium from ONNIT is a great way to fill in

this important nutritional gap.

Total Primate Care – If you want a simple, cost effective way to get everything you need

to support your brain and body health then check out ONNIT Lab’s Total Primate Care.

It contains all of the foundational supplements listed below and what I personally use to

ensure I’m getting the nutrient support I need to get the most out of training, riding and

life. With a Day Pack to support focus and energy and a Night Pack to support

relaxation, restoration and immune function, Total Primate Care takes all the guesswork

out of what to take and when.

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Nutrient Timing - The Secret to Maximizing Your Workouts and

Results

Nutrient timing is the practice of eating certain things at key times. This helps us

maximize both strength levels during your workouts and recovery after your workouts. In

essence there is a 3-4 hour window where what you eat will make a huge impact on

your workouts and results.

Food is viewed as fuel to your body, nothing more and nothing less. You must

understand that without adequate and proper fuel your body will not operate at full

capacity. While there are things you want to do on a continual basis the 3-4 hour

window surrounding a workout requires a different approach. Maximizing this “workout

window” is a simple 2 step process –

1) Top off your fuel supply with high quality “racing fuel” for your workout.

If you don’t eat for an hour or more before your workout then you go in with low blood

sugar and amino acid levels. This means that you will “hit the wall” sooner in your

workout. Since intensity of effort is a key to your results, having the quality fuel needed

to achieve and maintain high intensity level is of utmost importance.

2) Consume plenty of “building blocks” to help your body repair and regenerate after the workout.

Hopefully you understand that workouts break your body down and how well you

recover, or “rebuild”, from those workouts is what really dictates your results. In the 2

hours following a workout your body desperately needs the building blocks to start the

rebuilding and regenerating process. The more you can take advantage of this window

the better your recovery.

So, here is how proper Nutrient Timing for your workouts should break down -

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- 60 minutes Pre- Workout: Start to drink plenty of water. Hydration plays an important

role in your exercise performance so you want to avoid coming in dehydrated. Drink 10-

20 ounces of water in the hour leading up to your workout.

- 15 minutes Pre- Workout: Start to drink a mix of fast acting proteins and carbs. You

want to top off your blood sugar and amino acid levels so that your body has fuel

available when you start your workout. Research has shown that a liquid supplement

with 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein works best. You want to avoid fiber and fat with this

feeding since this will slow down the absorption rate of the proteins and carbs.

- During Your Workout: Continue to sip on your protein/ carb drink as needed, making

sure to finish by the end of your workout.

- 30 minutes Post Workout: Consume another serving of your protein/ carbs

supplement.

- 90-120 minutes Post Workout: Eat a regular meal. Within this post-workout window

your body metabolizes carbohydrates more efficiently, making the inclusion of a refined

carb beneficial.

While you can use any supplement that you like for your pre-/ post-workout supplement,

you need to make sure that it meets these criteria:

1) Does not contain fiber or fat. 2) Sits well on your stomach. 3) Is easy to drink during your workout.

While there are a lot of good supplements that work well I personally use a scoop or 2

of vanilla whey protein or Vanilla-Acai Hemp Force Protein in orange juice for an easy,

budget oriented post workout drink.

The key to getting the best results in the least amount of time is by taking advantage of

opportunities to supercharge certain aspects of your program. While the science behind

nutrient timing is complex, actually applying it does not have to be. By simply

consuming the right things at the right time you can supercharge both your workouts

and recovery which ultimately leads to better results.

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Race Day / Performance Nutrition

Knowing what to eat to fuel your performance when it count is very important. While

training plays a huge role in how you perform on race day how you fuel up plays a big

role as well. How you eat the hundreds of days that you aren’t racing makes the biggest

difference but race day nutrition can make or break your performance as well.

Making sure that you have the right foods to prepare for, power through and then

recover from your performance can be the difference between a satisfying weekend and

a lot of frustration. Here is my basic advice on what to eat on race day to maximize your

performance.

Contrary to popular belief, “carb loading” starts about 48 hrs prior to race day and is an

elaborate process that consists of much more than eating plate of pasta the night before

and a bowl of oatmeal the day of a race. Your dinners should include lean protein (fish,

chicken, steak, etc.) with a big salad and as many veggies as you can handle, with

some sort of complex carbs (brown or whole grain rice, whole grain pasta, etc.).

For breakfast, avoid the simple carbs (you should have filled your glycogen stores

previously) and go with something with lean protein (eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage

cheese, etc.) and fruit or veggies. If you do some sort of carbs, make sure they’re

complex (like oatmeal or sprouted grain toast or just the fruits and veggies should do).

Don’t do carbs in the form of regular bread or cereal.

In other words, how you eat on race day should be a reflection of how you eat every

other day.

During the day, have an electrolyte drink handy. Coconut water is fantastic for this

because it will provide you with natural sugars and electrolytes, without all the

chemicals, etc that come in something like Gatorade.

If you’re not into coconut water, then I’d encourage you to check out a local health food

store like Whole Foods for something that they carry that provides electrolytes without

the additional crap ingredients.

It would be optimal to have a good carb and protein mix like to sip on throughout the

day as well. Something like vanilla whey protein or Vanilla-Acai Hemp Force Protein

and OJ mixed together works as well.

The important thing is to not just focus on carbs but protein as well.

As for lunch that can be put into a cooler, I’d say make a protein shake in the morning

and drink that. It’ll be lighter on your stomach and provide you with the nutrients to feel

strong throughout the day. You may want to make a few of these.

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A great recipe that I use is

-1 banana

-Scoop chocolate or vanilla protein

-Frozen blueberries (or other frozen fruit)

-Use orange juice (or other fruit juice) or milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

as the liquid to mix.

Veggies and nuts also provide stable energy sources and can be eaten through the day

to curb hunger without spiking your blood sugar.

Click here to see a video presentation with more info on MTB Performance Nutrition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hx2EgZ9PTQ

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Intermittent Fasting

This originally appeared as an article on Pinkbike.com and it understandably generated

a lot of controversy. I am including it in this manual as nothing more than my thoughts

and experiences with another way to eat. While I still recommend the 123's of nutrition

for most riders, I do think that for some Intermittent Fasting may be a viable

alternative…

The Warrior Diet is the subject of a lot of controversy. From the first time its creator Ori

Hofmekler first started writing about it several years ago nutritional experts have been

lining up to take shots at it and discourage people from trying it. It was, and still is,

nutritional heresy.

What is it that makes it so controversial? In a nutshell, the Warrior Diet has you use

controlled fasting during the day and controlled overfeeding at night. In other words,

skip breakfast and eat little to nothing all day and then follow that up with a large meal at

the end of the day.

This breaks every rule in the book - everyone knows that breakfast is the most

important meal of the day, you shouldn't let yourself get hungry and eating a big meal

before bed is a sure way to get fat. I sure believed the naysayers and steered clear of it.

However, over the last year or so I keep coming across smart people whom I respect

who use or advocate the Warrior Diet. After reading more about it in the excellent

training book The Purposeful Primitive I had to admit that my curiosity was piqued and I

wanted to give it a go.

Several things about the diet make a lot of intuitive sense to me. I've never been hungry

in the mornings and would gladly skip breakfast if I wasn't told I needed it. I naturally

don't like to eat during the day, preferring to stay focused on my tasks and not have to

stop every few hours to eat. I also prefer to eat a big meal at the end of the day and only

skimp on it because I'm told it is bad for me. All in all, it seems like if I just ate the way I

wanted to without external influences I'd follow something similar to the Warrior Diet.

So, I bought the book and spent a few weeks implementing it. In the book Ori makes a

compelling argument for the need to fast during the day and how ancient warriors and

hunters would subsist on a similar eating pattern. In fact, the term Intermittent Fasting is

becoming more popular as more research identifies the benefits of controlled under-

eating and the Warrior Diet is simply a type of Intermittent Fasting.

You are allowed to graze on things like fresh fruits and vegetables and eat some light

protein sources like yogurt or kefir during the day if you get hungry but you can't eat a

meal until the 2-4 hour overfeeding period starts at the end of the day. As you do it

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longer you can eat less during the day and have a shorter overfeeding period but I'm

stuck with grazing a bit during the day and letting from 5-9 pm be my overfeeding

period.

While I was apprehensive at first I was surprised at how quickly I adapted to diet. I

thought that hunger would be a huge issue but in reality it was not a big deal. If I got

hungry I would eat half an apple, some carrots or some nuts and be good to go. My

energy levels were pretty good and I actually enjoyed not having a post-lunch urge for a

nap or having to think about how long I'd be gone and how much food I had to bring with

me.

After a couple of weeks, though, I went through a period where I was training hard and

riding almost every day. I found that I simply was not able to keep up with my energy

demands and that I was crashing later in the day. About that time I read John Berardi's

excellent report on Intermittent Fasting and learned a few more approaches to the

concept, including fasting 1-2 days a week or following a 16 hour fast/ 8 hour feeding

schedule. I didn't want to have to go back to eating "normal" a few days a week and so I

decided to try the 16-8 plan and simply shorten the fast.

I kept up my morning fast and started my eating period at lunch instead of dinner. I put

my own twist on it my sticking with "live" foods from lunch until dinner and saving my

processed "dead" foods for a small window around dinner. So far this plan has worked

pretty well for me, although I will say that I would recommend planning your training for

later in the day during your feeding period. If you do train or ride in the morning then

eating a small to moderate protein smoothie with kefir/ Greek yogurt, fruit, whey protein

and juice (avoid milk) beforehand will help keep you from crashing.

Overall my experience has been good and I now see an alternative eating strategy that

lines up better with my normal rhythm. While the "eat every 2-3 hours" approach is very

effective for those that can adhere to it, the truth is that a lot of people struggle to really

take advantage of it. Intermittent Fasting and the Warrior Diet may offer another way to

achieve nutritional success that would be worth looking into.

If you are interested in learning more about Intermittent Fasting or the Warrior Diet

please check out these resources:

John Berardi's Special Report: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

Ori Hofmekler's Blog: http://www.warriordiet.com/

The Warrior Diet: This book is available online at Amazon.com or as a download to an

eReader.

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Additional Resources

Precision Nutrition

The team at Precision Nutrition are who I recommend for those who want to take their

nutrition program to highest levels possible. They offer a wide variety of programs and

options as well as an info packed forum that is free to check out. If you need more in

depth nutritional info I highly recommend checking them out.

http://tinyurl.com/mtbpnlink

ONNIT Labs

ONNIT Labs is a human optimization website where you can find top quality, unique

supplements and equipment to support your training efforts. You can also use the link

below to get 10% off your supplements.

https://www.onnit.com/bikejames