KETO AND LOW CARB FOR CYCLISTS | Dr. Kyle Pfaffenbach | Ask a Cycling Coach 535
Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast - Presented by TrainerRoad
TrainerRoad
4.9 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2025
⏱️ 74 minutes
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Summary
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// TOPICS COVERED
(00:00:00) Welcome!
(00:00:32) Listener Question on Low Carb Diets and High-Intensity Training
(00:02:41) Host's Personal Experience with Low Carb and Keto Diets
(00:03:29) Research and Studies on Low Carb and Keto Diets
(00:05:13) Mechanisms of Fat Oxidation and Performance
(00:09:30) Deep Dive into Carbohydrate and Fat Metabolism
(00:31:29) Practical Applications for Athletes
(00:40:39) Understanding Body Composition and Success
(00:42:17) Glycogen Storage and Technology
(00:46:01) Periodized Carbohydrate Intake
(00:51:24) Balancing Nutrition and Training
(00:59:59) Fasted Training and Marginal Gains
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- The human metabolic response to chronic ketosis without caloric restriction: Preservation of submaximal exercise capability with reduced carbohydrate oxidation. Phinney, et al., 1983: https://trainerroad.cc/phinney1983
- Metabolic adaptations to a high-fat diet in endurance cyclists. Goedecke, et al., 1999: https://trainerroad.cc/goedecke1999
- Effects of fat adaptation and carbohydrate restoration on prolonged endurance exercise. Carey, et al., 2001: https://trainerroad.cc/carey2001
- Low carbohydrate, high fat diet impairs exercise economy and negates the performance benefit from intensified training in elite race walkers. Burke, et al., 2017: https://trainerroad.cc/burke2017
- Crisis of confidence averted: Impairment of exercise economy and performance in elite race walkers by ketogenic low carbohydrate, high fat (LCHF) diet is reproducible. Burke, et al., 2020: https://trainerroad.cc/burke2020
- A good review article: Ketogenic low-CHO, high-fat diet: the future of elite endurance sport? Burke, 2021: https://trainerroad.cc/burke2021
- Performance effects of periodized carbohydrate restriction in endurance trained athletes – a systematic review and meta-analysis. Degn Gejl, Nybo. 2021: https://trainerroad.cc/DegnGejl2021
- The Effect of a Ketogenic Low-Carbohydrate, High-Fat Diet on Aerobic Capacity and Exercise Performance in Endurance Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Cao, et al., 2021: https://trainerroad.cc/cao2021
- A review of the ketogenic diet for endurance athletes: performance enhancer or placebo effect? Bailey, Hennessy, 2020: https://trainerroad.cc/hennessey2020
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast presented by Trainer Road. I'm coach Jonathan Lee, |
| 0:03.5 | and we have with us, Dr. Kyle Fofenbach from Eastern Oregon University, coach of the Brooks Beasts |
| 0:08.1 | and many other star athletes. Kyle, last time we had you on, we answered a question that was all |
| 0:13.1 | about whether all of this high carbon intake was giving us diabetes and he gave us a full |
| 0:16.7 | misfrizzle magic school bus walk through on the human body and what happens. It was fantastic. |
| 0:22.6 | A lot of people liked that episode. A lot of people also, I think, didn't like it because, |
| 0:26.5 | you know, it's a hotly debated topic. And we're going to go straight into another one today. |
| 0:32.2 | This question is from Wachey. It says, hey, trainer road team, my question about is about nutrition, |
| 0:39.1 | combining a low carb diet with high intensity training, which typically requires carbs as fuel. Your podcast in the |
| 0:44.4 | general cycling community is focused on fueling the training mostly based on carbs. This is the |
| 0:49.7 | state-of-the-art nutrition knowledge slash science at the moment when one wants to focus on performance gains. |
| 0:55.8 | There are many voices, though, which recommend low carb or in extreme cases, keto diets for |
| 1:00.8 | longevity and general health. Myself after experimenting with many different approaches have |
| 1:05.7 | found that low carb diets work well with my body, no bloating, reduced inflammation, |
| 1:10.0 | stable energy levels, great recovery. |
| 1:12.4 | And my current nutritional goals are 26% carbs, 23% protein, and that's derived from calculating |
| 1:18.5 | 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, 51% fat. On days when I do cycling training, |
| 1:26.5 | I compensate the additional calorie needs with |
| 1:28.5 | more carb-heavy foods like fruit, bread, rice, pasta, and sweets. I'd be interested to learn |
| 1:34.3 | about your perspective on low-carbon cycling. Do you have any experience yourself? Have you seen |
| 1:39.2 | any studies on this topic? Maybe studies like from Louis Burke or spoken with some specialists. What would the best time period be to take on additional carbs before training? Thanks for a great podcast. After listening to you for some time, I started training with Train Rail this January, and I'm enjoying it a lot. I can't wait for the gains. They say, okay, Machia, I'm going to, so Kyle, look, like, I'm'm just gonna get myself out of the way here so then we |
| 2:02.1 | can all good yeah explain your thoughts on this uh but this is so this is a question and i want to make |
... |
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