Last night, I saw the latest episode of The Lance Chronicles on the Outdoor Life Network. This episode focused on The Criterium International, training rides in Southern California, the Lance Armstrong Foundation Live to Ride Gala, and production of more Subaru ads.
Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong’s personal coach, talks in this episode about his forthcoming book Chris Carmichael’s Food for Fitness which is coming out in July. One of the things he says, which I totally agree with, is:
You know I’ll tell you, these low carb diets, they don’t work for athletes. I mean, there’s no way that a guy like Lance Armstrong could be doing what he’s doing right now.
Most of us are closer to the weekend warrior category than we are to being one of the “Heads of State” of the Tour de France. But, if you want to perform well in running or cycling races, or any aerobic fitness activity for that matter, you have to eat a balanced diet. When combined with exercise, diets that are low in carbohydrates and high in protein can result in poor performance. I’ve always thought that diets that rely on ketogenesis would reduce muscle mass as well, but it seems that this is more of a problem with high protein diets when no exercise is done.
I’m looking forward to reading this book, despite the fact that I will have to wait until the Tour de France is over to do it. The book will include instructions on how to match food consumption to activity level, and menu plans for eating at home, snacking, and eating out. These are hard issues for most non-professional athletes to deal with.
Amazon.com is taking pre-orders for Chris Carmichael’s Food for Fitness, so you can pre-order it or put it on your wish list. I’m doing it today so I don’t forget.