UKC

Please help me with this; it is becoming frustrating. My son aged 18 is enjoying a lazy summer before starting university. Yesterday he slept until 2pm, got up and had a bowl of sugary cereal, a croissant and a glass of orange juice then at 4 pm he joined me and my pals, all in our 60s, for a bike ride. From the start he lacked vigour and enthusiasm and dragged behind, complaining. At his age he should be out-performing us oldies as he only weighs 62 kgs and his body is awash with testosterone. The ride was 37 miles with almost 3000 feet of climbing and at about mile 30 he suffered one of his occasional episodes of palpitations; one of our buddies is a physician and he performed a carotid sinus massage, which stopped the palpitations. There is probably an inherited electrical signalling problem but I'm pretty sure his lack of nutritional energy is contributing to this; he is due to see a cardiologist next week and will be wearing a HR recorder.

Before anybody jumps on me and tells me "he's only a lad, take it easy" he is usually a fit and vigorous cyclist, his first 10 mile TT was 30 seconds faster than mine and he rode a 100 miles sportive last summer in under 6 hours. He simply cannot grasp the fact that by getting up late and eating only a shitty breakfast of cheap carbs with sugar he is missing out on one entire meal a day and depriving himself of the carbs, proteins and fats that a growing teenager and athlete needs.

Can you express this in terms of the calorific yield of the breakfast he ate versus the calorific requirement of the ride he undertook? I feel that only bare figures will bring it home to him.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

you might be right about his nutrition, but surely the priority should be to get him cleared by the cardiologist in case there is something serious going on?

In reply to Rigid Raider:
Given his breakfast, it could be a problem with metabolic flexibility.*


* Beware T'interwebs medical advice/diagnosis!

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Are you sure he hadn't had a skin full the night before?

I would much more concerned about potential heart problems than nutrition. 2-3 hours on the bike should be well within what a fit 18 year old should be able to do without breakfast, nevermind a load of carbs, sugar, protein and fat.

In reply to The New NickB:

Unlikely since he has never shown interest in alcohol of any sort.

We did a similar ride last Sunday so I'd have thought that in the three days since then he would have needed to be eating well to recover. The accepted wisdom seems to be that you generally "peak" about three days after the exercise but how can he recover if he's missing out on one meal a day?

In reply to Rigid Raider:

What did he eat the previous evening?

As others say, I'd expect an already fit teenager to be able to easily perform despite missing food. Lack of hydration might be a factor? That's one of the biggest things that knocks me out, when I've been poorly hydrating before the actual exercise.

As for calorific values, clearly he hadn't input nearly what he output, but you'd need to take account of the previous days' food too as this will surely still be in his system.

Hope the cardiologist visit proves all is well.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

The most important meal for recovery is the one immediately after exercise. I would not worry about theoretically missing a meal in the 24 hours prior. Don't forget, we have tend to have a carb reserve in our body of around 2,000kcal.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

The evening before the ride he ate a burger and chips at Byron in Manchester.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

I learned more from feeling rubbish/failing/bonking as a waif teenager and with time putting two and two together through experience (over many years!) than I would ever have from an internet induced educational program administered by a parent. Learning to listen to your body (and how it changes from teenagehood to young adulthood) is more important than learning to be given numbers and act accordingly. Let him be his own judge and jury (and sometimes executioner).

In reply to Rigid Raider:


Good god! Has he seen a doctor???

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Sounds like he's eaten enough. I miss a meal every day because I do daily fasting and have ridden 50 miles fasted. I think it's about adapting slowly to fat burning. With your son I imagine it's more to do with nutrients rather than calories, and in connection with his heart maybe short on electrolytes.

Hope all is well with his ticker.