ARE YOU EATING ENOUGH?

LIGHT IS FAST, BUT CYCLISTS HAVE A TERRIBLE HABIT OF OVERSLIMMING FOR RACING SEASON

- MATTHEW KADEY

While we often hear messages about cutting back on calories for weight loss, that’s not great advice for athletes – cyclists in particular. Highly active individuals need to eat more, not less, to take in enough calories to fuel performance and maintain health.

In other words, cyclists need sufficient energy available for the body to support their training needs.

Longstanding calorie shortfalls, now known as ‘low energy availability’ (LEA), can cause unfavourable physiological and psychological outcomes that have the potential to impair an athlete’s health and sports performance.

To help you keep your body energised and fuelled enough to take on every workout, here’s what you need to know about low energy availability – and why it’s so important to give your body the calories it needs.

What Is Low Energy Availability?

Alexandra Coates, PhD (a postdoctoral fellow in The Human Performance Laboratory of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University) tells Bicycling that in simple terms, low energy availability represents a state where there is inadequate energy intake relative to exercising energy expenditure. “Essentially, your body requires a certain amount of energy to maintain normal function. If you’re expending a lot of energy in training, but aren’t eating enough, your body reacts as it would under times of starvation,” she says.