September 22, 2010

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode

Ben Greenfield will no longer be writing for Triathlete Magazine, and tells you why in the podcast. If you have feelings about this, let Triathlete Magazine know be clicking here to e-mail the editor.

In this September 22, 2010 free audio episode: a peak into the world of professional cycling, ketogenesis during workouts, phenylalanine and aspartic acid on ingredient labels, insomnia and nutrition deficiencies, compression socks, building leg muscles effectively, benefits of rowing machines.

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Featured Topic: Robbie Ventura

In today's featured topic, I interview Robbie Ventura. Robbie graduated with honors from Lake Forest College with a double major in Business and Psychology. While working toward his Bachelor’s degree, he played on the Forester hockey team, which advanced to the NCAA Tournament, and was named to the All-American Collegiate Cycling Team. In 2008, he was inducted into the LFC Athletic Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in both hockey and cycling.

Robbie was a professional cyclist for 12 years with his last 4 years as a member of the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team alongside Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal teammates. A competitive racer on the dirt, road and track since the age of 7, Ventura amassed over 70 victories during his professional career, was a member of the U.S. World Team and rode the Track World Championships in Hamar, Norway, placing 5th in the elimination.

During our interview, I ask Robbie:

What does a typical training protocol look like 8-12 weeks leading up to the Tour de France, in terms of sample workouts, exercises, mileage, etc.?

Do many professional cyclists use strength training, or any form of plyometrics/resistance training?

During the Tour, nutrition and glycogen restoration is obviously an issue. What type of fuels are consumed, and in what quantities? How about hydration and water volume?

Without touching on the doping scandal, a horse that gets kicked to death, are there sports performance supplements, such as creatine or nitric oxide that professional cyclists typically use?

What type of recovery techniques or tools can a cylists or triathlete implement when multi-day workouts are occuring, or fast recovery is necessary?

What are the top 3 examples you have of extreme workouts or feats of human performance leading up to or during the Tour?

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Listener Q&A:
Ioan asks: Why sometimes after a training session, do I have an “ammonia-like” smell in my nostrils afterwards e.g. by the time I get to shower? It's something I'm not doing right re nutrition, but can't figure out what.

Sarah asks: I am a beginning triathlete and am taking a lot of supplements for performance and other health benefits. I am taking an amino acid supplement that contains aspartic acid and phenylalanine. I have seen foods that contain phenyalanine and have a warning on their label for that purpose. I have also done some research on both of these and see that they are part of the sugar substitute aspartame. Are these really amino acids with health benefits or should I stop taking this supplement b/c these aren’t healthy?

Geoffrey has a call in question: My 17 year old daughter has had a growing problem with not only falling asleep, but when she finally does sleep, she wakes around 3:00 a.m. and can't get back to sleep. She is a vegetarian and I'm wondering if she might be missing something in her diet. Do you have any thoughts as to what food or supplement might help?

In my response to Geoffrey, I mention the Magnesium testing kits from http://tinyurl.com/bioletic and also the Expanded GI Panel and Tissue Mineral Analysis from UniKey Health Systems. For insomnia, I also recommend Natural Calm and this topical magnesium oil.

chunkybearcub asks via twitter: @bengreenfield is there a particular brand of compression socks you recommend? im looking to wear a pair for a 50 mile ultra.

Sarah has a call-in question about females building better leg muscles, and listener Daniel has a call-in question about how rowing compares to running and swimming for conditioning and calorie burning.

Do you have a question for Ben? Just click Ask a Podcast Question at the bottom of this page and leave a voicemail, leave a Skype voicemail to username “pacificfit”, or e-mail [email protected].