Your time and money are valuable. That’s why it is important to invest these commodities wisely and carefully consider the claims of products and practices meant to improve your cycling performance. 

This week each of us deep-dive into a product or claim that has recently triggered our skeptical spider senses. Things that made us stop and say, “Is that true?” and “Does that even improve cycling performance?”.

Herein we investigate: Normatec recovery boots, lactic acid buffering lotions, and a blog providing back pain advice for cyclists.

1:30 Sign up for the Strava study! See link below for information!

3:15 The value of skepticism.

7:35 Normatec boots. What are they? Do they improve recovery as they claim to? Should you invest your money in them?

20:45 Lactic acid buffering lotions. Do they actually improve endurance performance? Should you include them in your race day arsenal?

44:50 Advice for treating cyclist back pain given in a TrainingPeaks blog vs. a response from a trained medical professional.

71:30 The value of critical thinking for athletes and coaches.

This episode’s panel:

Jason Boynton, Ph.D.

boyntoncoaching.com

Damian Ruse

semiprocycling.com

Cyrus Monk

cyclistscientist.com

Instagram: @cyclingperformanceclub

Facebook: @cyclingperformanceclub

Twitter: @cyclingclubpod

Episode #11 References:

Strava study information:
https://twitter.com/akreutzer82/status/1412425084086763538/photo/1

Topical Sodium Bicarbonate: No Improvement in Blood Buffering Capacity or Exercise Performance
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32575069/

Effects of Beta-Alanine on Muscle Carnosine and Exercise Performance:A Review of the Current Literature
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257613/

Myth or Reality-Transdermal Magnesium?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28788060/

How to Help Cyclists Reduce Low Back Pain
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach-blog/how-to-help-cyclists-reduce-low-back-pain/

Christopher Schwenker, P.T.’s blog- The Zommunique
https://thezommunique.com/

Optimizing recovery to support multi-evening cycling competition performance
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30589619/

The Effects of Intermittent Pneumatic Compression on the Reduction of Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage in Endurance Athletes: A Critically Appraised Topic
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30589619/

→ Subscribe to the Cycling Science Digest

→ Join Team SEMIPRO