Have I discovered legal doping?

[Globalti]

Went out for a short (28 miles) but hilly ride last Sunday and concentrated on spinning up the hills. As soon as I got home I necked a carbohydrate and whey protein recovery drink and I have to say that my legs felt less stiff and tired for the rest of that day and the Monday.

Last night (Tuesday) I went out for an evening blast and... FLINKIN' BLIP! I was going like a train! My usual hills came and went with no effort and I breezed along feeling like a cycling God. I was absolutely amazed at the improvement in leg strength since my Sunday ride.

Does a protein and carb recovery drink really make that much difference? What experience do others have of these drinks?

 

[byegad]

One good day is not proof. I have days where I think the brakes are dragging (They're not! Sadly.) and other where I feel like I have a tail wind all of the time. In may case at 63, overweight Asthmatic and Arthritic I have many more of the former than the latter!

 

[Rob3rt]

No.

 

[MrWill]

Jesus christ, that is how training works, you train a bit, you get better.

It's not the drink lol!!!!!

Always makes me chuckle this. But usually is the people that go to the gym, lift some weights for a bit, take some protein powder. Their muscles get bigger and they think 'Ohww myyy, it must be the powder!' Then proceeds to tell everyone how 'good' the powder is.

 

[Globalti]

Well my surprise is based on the fact that my fitness seems to bumble along at a fairly steady rate with very little improvement; I usually do one longer weekend ride and one shorter but faster mid-week evening ride. My legs ache and feel heavy for a couple of days after every ride and compared with my regular cycling buddy, who is faster than me (we are both 58) I don't really seem to make much of an improvement. Yet last night the feeling of extra strength was remarkable, really striking. I didn't ride with my regular buddy so won't be able to measure the improvement until the weekend ride.

When you are accustomed to your own rate of improvement and then there's a sudden dramatic change you have to ask yourself "what did I do that was different?" What I did was take a recovery drink.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

Peaks, troughs and plateaus spring to mind!

 

[MrWill]

Well my surprise is based on the fact that my fitness seems to bumble along at a fairly steady rate with very little improvement; I usually do one longer weekend ride and one shorter but faster mid-week evening ride. My legs ache and feel heavy for a couple of days after every ride and compared with my regular cycling buddy, who is faster than me (we are both 58) I don't really seem to make much of an improvement. Yet last night the feeling of extra strength was remarkable, really striking. I didn't ride with my regular buddy so won't be able to measure the improvement until the weekend ride.

When you are accustomed to your own rate of improvement and then there's a sudden dramatic change you have to ask yourself "what did I do that was different?" What I did was take a recovery drink.

You did a session focusing on hills. Then the next sessions' hills felt easier.

It's not the drink!

 

[Globalti]

Yes but the hill session was no different from any other of my regular rides! Okay, I tried to concentrate on spinning but I do that on most of my rides anyway. It really was a normal, regular routine cafe ride over my regular route, absolutely no different from most other rides.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

yes this is doping and you are now disqualified

 

[John the Monkey]

Legal doping? Eat cherry bakewells. I'm 2.37% faster[1] on rides if I've eaten a cherry bakewell in the last 12 hours.

And they're delicious.

[1] This may be made up.

 

[KneesUp]

It could have made a difference if you're normally a bit dehydrated and the drink was larger than normal. I sometimes work the afternoon shift on my own, which tends to mean I don't drink much as I'm busier, no-one else is putting the kettle on and so on - and those rides home are tougher than the ones where I've kept drinking all afternoon.

 

[format]

As I've posted elsewhere, chocolate milk (protein recover drink) makes a huge difference to how my legs feel the day after a ride.

Not sure if necessarily gives me an extra performance boost, but it helps me recover more quickly, if that makes sense.

 

[Rob3rt]

The reality is, you do not improve that quickly. No-one does. What this really shows is that you A) Had a good day or B) Usually have bad days.

Quite frankly, Sunday-Tuesday is more than plenty time to recover from a 28 mile hilly ride, if you don't normally recover in that period, something is wrong with you or the things you do in that period.

 

[albion]

Sounds quite a tail story to me, a tail wind one at that.

 

[blazed]

Yes you have discovered legal doping. You are the world's first person to consume carbs and protein after exercise. Get ready for worldwide fame and fortune.