YGR is happy to announce that Dr Ben Miller from CSU will be available to answer your physiology, performance, or nutrition questions in his new YGR column, Adaptations. If you’ve ever wondered what is actually happening in your body during training and racing feel free to email Ben at ben@yourgroupride.com. He will attempt to answer these questions in his bi-weekly column.
Here’s what Dr Miller has to say about his new column.
Cyclists are often looking for the next best thing to make them stronger, faster, more comfortable, or able to ride farther. What this often leads to is a somewhat non-objective assessment of advice, advertising, or popular press. I often just bite my tongue when overhearing conversations around these topics, even though much of what I hear is pure fantasy. Thankfully, there are some basics of physiology that can be taught, which can provide someone the foundations to make reasonable decisions when confronted with hype or “good advice”. The goal of this new column in YGR is to answer basic questions about how the human body works to have an educated Fort Collins cycling populous. The questions I will answer will be directed by the YGR readership. When questions are submitted, I will pick questions that are actually answerable (some are not) and ones that I think have general widespread interest.
It is important to lay out some ground rules about what this column is about. I am a physiologist and cellular biologist. I specialize in aging, protein metabolism, and mitochondria. I am not at coach, thus I will not dispense coaching advice (as I wished coaches would not do about physiology). I have worked as a physiological advisor to the New Zealand Olympic sport program. I have some background in nutrition because I have studied different forms or energy metabolism and have taught nutrition at the university level. I will not always know the answer to your questions, but I know where to find credible information and how to determine if a study was well done or not. The exercise performance literature has often fallen short on scientific rigor. Thankfully, I think that is changing a little bit and there are some very credible scientists doing that work. Nutrition and exercise are two very good examples of where a little knowledge cac be a very bad thing. Be wary of the source of your information (see this well worded opinion piece on the subject of nutrition and feel free to substitute exercise for nutrition throughout: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/nutrition-advice_b_3061646.html). Having said that,you have every right to doubt my answers. What I will strive to do though is provide the correct information so you can make that decision yourself. Please send questions to ben@yourgroupride.com
He is a member of the First City Cycling Team, former member of the Fort Collins and CSU Bicycle Advisory Board and former Director of the Norther Colorado Cycling Events Committee.