Tuning Your Body For Sport Riding

[Wild Will]

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/08february07_workout.htm

[Promethean]

Thanks.....just what I was looking for. Any good links on nutrition?

[Wild Will]

I'll look into it. My wife's an authority. As an aside, I once asked the great racer, Pier Francisco Chili, what he ate before a WSB event. He told me he eats "pasta al dente, weet a a-spicy marinara over it".

Noriyuki Haga prefers fresh beaver.

[DarthRider]

I'll look into it. My wife's an authority. As an aside, I once asked the great racer, Pier Francisco Chili, what he ate before a WSB event. He told me he eats "pasta al dente, weet a a-spicy marinara over it".

Noriyuki Haga prefers fresh beaver.

I'm with Haga!
As long as it's fresh...

[jamming]

I'm with Haga!
As long as it's fresh...

Sorry, I had a witty come back, but it's rude.

[Wild Will]

Abhijeet, I looked into a site with motorcycle specific nutritional info, but came away empty. So, lucky you, I decided instead to tell you what I do to stay in good health while on a ride. It's worked for me for many, many years, as I'm almost as old as Dean, but nowhere near as old as Dangerous Dave.

First, think yoga. It's simple and easy, but it keeps us supple and stretched out. Maybe you already do yoga. I started in my teens and progressed to martial arts and am still supple and loose at near 60. That's the only physical exercise I do now, besides physical labor I do as a contractor, surfer and rock climber. Stay loose and supple. Like your grip on the handlebars. Use your upper legs to grip the tank and keep the bar inputs light and easy. Look where you want to go. You know the drill. Ever get a nasty cramp while on the bike? Stretch more before and during the ride. Teach yourself
to ride while standing on the pegs, even cornering. It gets you stretched out while riding and improves comfort and circulation. Try it, and do it often.

Sorry about the aside; on to what to eat while on a ride. I can only tell you what I do, and that it's something I know works for me, and that I never feel discomfort while on a ride due to eating. I like to eat lightly when on the road, and avoid meat at breakfast, although I love it. I have cereal and fruit, usually. Drink water at each rest stop. I avoid soda.

At lunch I usually have a salad with a chicken breast, or something that hasn't been fried. It sits too heavily in the gut, and takes your concentration off the cornering. Black beans in the burrito instad of the "squirt beans", as my wife calls them, that most burritos are made of. Where I live, most places to eat have 'fresh foods' available. The less processed the better I feel while on a 400 mile day, which is typical.

At dinner, I have whatever I feel like, but try to avoid fried stuff, heavy desserts and maybe I'll have a couple of drinks. Then I like to walk a bit before bedding down. Up early for more cereal and fruit, something like that. I also like eggs and toast, but avoid fried potatoes, sausage or bacon, as I said (while on a ride).

I also always keep water and energy bars (2) in my tankbag, just in case. Also a piece of fruit (apple, banana or orange) is there in case lunch choices might mean an uncomfortable afternoon's ride. I also take a quality vitamin daily, and glucosamine for my worn out joints. Stay hydrated. You'll feel aware, awake and fresh all day in the saddle.

Where I live, all the roads are about cornering. There are few straight roads. You have to be mentally on top of your game, because when you're tired it's easier to let your mind wander and to blow a corner. That's an ugly scenario.

You probably already knew all this, Mr. Cafe Webmaster (and thank you very much again!), but this regimen works for me. The guys I ride with usually eat heavy breakfasts, and lunches. They are tired by late morning and want to rest after lunch. I want to ride.

[Bones]

I think Will sums it up pretty well.

I would add a few thoughts:

1. Flexibility is WAY under rated. I think we have all found that with aging, we naturally lose flexibility. Working at maintaining that will go a long way towards being comfortable. Joints become painful when they don't get to move through their normal range of motion.

2. Hydration, like Will said. Under rated, for sure.

3. GI comfort. I will readily admit that I don't eat as balanced and healthy a diet when touring as I do when at home, mainly because I absolutely want to avoid GI distress. It is hard to find truly healthy snacks while on the road at mini mart gas station places. But I also do not like to eat too much during the day, for the reasons Will outlined. Will rides in California where you can get fresh fruit, salad, high end coffee, and even fine wines at every gas station. The rest of us are stuck with peanut butter crackers and bottled water.

4. Sometimes you need a bit of sugar boost, especially near the end of a long ride when your blood sugar may start to wane. If it isn't hot out, dark chocolate works for me. You don't want to have your sugars flying, but if you have to ride for another hour and you need to keep your concentration up, sometimes a bit of sugar and caffeine may help.

5. Core strength. There are some good exercises that don't take but a few minutes each day to keep some of the core muscles conditioned. This helps keep back pain at bay.

6. Fat on your buttocks. I found that if you ride a Harley about 1400 miles in 3 days and you have a skinny ass (think me, Electraglide, Big Bend ride '06), your ass will hurt for months. I am not advocating gaining 50 lbs as a preventive measure. Maybe seeking a bike with long ride ergos would be a better idea.



Jeff

[Boxerboy]

Beer adds flexibility! and don't forget the nutritional and fluid values:)

Practising hanging off the arm chair whilst watching motogp should cover cornering technique.:041:

[Ed K]

Ditto Will and Jeff...

I work-out 5-6 days a week... and have been since my teens. (I am 52.) Cant imagine not exercising! Makes a huge difference when riding, and life in general. After dis-embarking a GXS-R, hunched over it for 8 hours a couple of months ago with only minimal breaks for gas, water, and Cliff bars, --> no aches or pain, either on that day, or the next.

I dont do Yoga like Will, but do pray. (Never about motorcyles or riding... well, umm, maybe for a 1098! -> just kidding!)

Three days per week with free weights in my backyard... rain, shine, storms, cold... the weather does not matter. (Also, it does not get that cold in CA.) The key for me is its convenient... dont have to haul my ass to a gym and back... etc... time is scarce for me... its gotta be programmed to the minute.

I combine strength training with two to three days per week cardio, on an elliptical, cranked-up with much resistance so both arms and legs get a significant work out, for 45 min while using a heart rate monitor.

Been using a heart rate monitor for about 10 years now. Those things are great... 'cause you can really create a consistent, controlled work-out with 'em, and ensure you are "in the zone."

I have found the most important thing for a successful exercise program is to pick a time, any time, and stick to it. For me its early in the morning, usually starting between 5:30 AM and 6:00ish AM before work.

There are tons of fantastic books on nutrition. There is so much crap food out there... one has to be careful. What one eats has a clear and direct effect on short and long term mental and physical performance. There is so much that can be said... but a couple of quick items to add to Wills and Jeff's list... generally stay away from refined sugars and hydrogenated oils (and finally this latter one is getting some press).

As I look back, if there was one thing I would have done differently earlier in my life it would have been to consume more calcium. Sometimes folks think this is something only women should worry about... but men need alot calcium as well.

Good luck!

[jamming]

I'm 46 and have stayed in pretty good shape my whole life. I've always tried to eat healthy, beer has been my downfall.

I had a really bad crash in 1980 and had to have my right knee rebuilt.One of the things the DR. told me to do was ride a bicycle to help rebuild the muscles. One of my good friends was a serious bicycle racer. I talked to him and ended up with a full Campy equiped Gitane bicycle. It weighed 19 lbs and was an absoulte joy to ride, I was hooked. I'm no road racer but I did a couple of century rides and still ride to this day. I've switched to a mountian bike and have a trailer I tow the kids in, I strap on their helmets and load em up. They love it. I Jam up to the store a mile away and load the trailer up to shop, so I get my use out of it. I live in the country and do a lot of off road on the bike. I love it, used to run, but the knees won't allow me to run anymore.

Recently I've decided to lose 20 lbs of ugly fat and since cutting off my head is not an option, I've been using the Bill Phillips Body for Life book.
Mind you, I'm not doing the whole program, but am using the nutrition information, and some of the weight training program. I like it, and it works for me. Diabetes runs in my family and I do have some blood sugar issues, thus the 20 lbs need to go.

Funny thing is, I NEVER got any of the childhood dieseses like chicken pox, mumps, measles, so when I had kids I got all sorts of bloods tests and had to get shots for them. Go figure.

I am now feeling ALL of the bumps and injuries I've subjected myself to in my missspent youth. Time to take care of myself I guess.

[Deans BMW]

At 64, a diet of Mz Pams pies does the trick.

[DarthRider]

I'm not nearly as healthy and in-shape as all that, but I do feel MUCH better after my pre-Diabetes scare of last spring and resultant 42 lb. weight loss. And all my numbers are good now too...My Doc and his PA actually danced a little jig when the good report came in. Talk about a good "bedside manner!"
I do some "real" floor stretches and some self-invented ones for 15 minutes every (well, most) mornings, and before I retired I was walking 2 miles a day with some buds at work.
It's hard for me to keep up the discipline to walk alone so I'm recruiting Beezer and will get back in the groove...I sure felt better when it was a regular thing.

+1 on the need for calcium. A couple of years ago I showed a loss of bone density in a scan, so I now take twice-a-day supplements. Not as good as natural I know, but I hate milk, and...well, it's something I can and *will* do.

The big bonus in all this (other than not dieing of course!) is how much better the bikes run now! Oddly enough, the most powerful one - the Speedy - shows more benefit than the others!? Go figure...:020:

[Promethean]

Will,
Thank you for your thoughts. In my culture, taking care of one's health is apparently not of paramount importance as it should be. Now that most things in my life have been taken care of or on auto-pilot, I thought this might be an area I should get handled. Your post came at an opportune time.


Abhijeet, I looked into a site with motorcycle specific nutritional info, but came away empty. So, lucky you, I decided instead to tell you what I do to stay in good health while on a ride. It's worked for me for many, many years, as I'm almost as old as Dean, but nowhere near as old as Dangerous Dave.

A few years of sedentary lifestyle has screwed the pooch for me. I'm looking to get in shape. My knees kill me when I'm on the RR for long rides. Ergonomics and lack of flexibility may be a factor. I'll take WW's suggestions on yoga in consideration.


I think Will sums it up pretty well.
5. Core strength. There are some good exercises that don't take but a few minutes each day to keep some of the core muscles conditioned. This helps keep back pain at bay.

6. Fat on your buttocks. I found that if you ride a Harley about 1400 miles in 3 days and you have a skinny ass (think me, Electraglide, Big Bend ride '06), your ass will hurt for months. I am not advocating gaining 50 lbs as a preventive measure. Maybe seeking a bike with long ride ergos would be a better idea.
Jeff

Ed,
I salute you for sticking with something I haven't been able to do. Would you mind posting the titles of the books on nutrition? I haven't found a single one at Amazon.com. Perhaps I wasn't searching correctly. Also, I found that I feel better throughout the day as soon as I quit consuming caffeine and sugar. Takes some getting used to but it's well worth it.



There are tons of fantastic books on nutrition. There is so much crap food out there... one has to be careful. What one eats has a clear and direct effect on short and long term mental and physical performance. There is so much that can be said... but a couple of quick items to add to Wills and Jeff's list... generally stay away from refined sugars and hydrogenated oils (and finally this latter one is getting some press).


20lbs of fat is about the right amount for me to lose. Most of it around the midsection.



Recently I've decided to lose 20 lbs of ugly fat and since cutting off my head is not an option, I've been using the Bill Phillips Body for Life book.
Mind you, I'm not doing the whole program, but am using the nutrition information, and some of the weight training program. I like it, and it works for me. Diabetes runs in my family and I do have some blood sugar issues, thus the 20 lbs need to go.


Thanks. Pretty much every fitness book that I've read, indicates the benefits of stretching.



The big bonus in all this (other than not dieing of course!) is how much better the bikes run now! Oddly enough, the most powerful one - the Speedy - shows more benefit than the others!? Go figure...:020:

[Bones]

Abhijeet,
A couple of things:

Stretching: there is a proper technique and several improper techniques. The latter can injure you resulting in further loss of flexibility. Remember, you may be trying to gain in flexibility what you lost slowly over time. So don't go in with the idea that you get it all back in a day. Basically, SLOW, gently firm, sustained stretches work best. Don't bounce.

Calcium: Yogurt. As one of my professors in medical school used to say when asked about calcium tablets and other such things: it makes for expensive feces. His point was that a lot of what is consumed in supplements does not get absorbed. Calcium tabs are known for that. Yogurt is the best source for calcium if you actually want to absorb it.

The best way to lose 20 lbs. is to walk. It is the single best exercise to initiate and sustain weight loss known to man if you do it regularly. It doesn't injure you. It is not painful. It makes your joints move but without stress. The reason nobody talks about it is because it is free, you don't need special equipment and all you have to do is open the door and go outside.

Vigorous exercise is great, but as you know, the enthusiasm for doing it falls off after a few weeks.

I use the eliptical trainer and do light weights (mostly for range of motion, small muscle strenghth and flexibility) and stretches each morning at 5:30. The whole thing takes 30-40 minutes. I hate doing it then, but if I didn't, it wouldn't happen.

Good luck.

Jeff

[DarthRider]

Bones, I didn't know that about the calcium pills. I had 2 Docs recommend them and I take 2 a day. I'm no fan of yogurt but I guess I better mend my sorry ways!

Anything more you can add about stretching, just in a general sense?

Thanks,

[Ed K]

Abhijeet,

I very rarely have anything cafeinated... Same with refined sugar... truly almost never.

For folks used to cafeine and sugar, withdrawal symtoms will occur when cafeine and/or sugar are stopped... headache, lethargy, etc... Folks will also find, exercise in the morning... and a full, healthy breakfast... will eliminate the need for cafeine or sugar.

I start off each morning after a work-out, by throwing 1 cup of 1% organic milk, two tablespoons of wheat germ, two tablespoons of flax seed, about a dozen blue or black berries, and almost two cups of oatmeal into a blender.

It forms a thick goop that is sort of a science to mix putting my spoon in the blender while turning it on (dont do this at home kids!). Its easier to mix in the blender by adding more milk and part, or all of banana (one does not need to put a spoon in the blender then).

Call me crazy (my wife does), but I like it thick, so in goes my spoon with the blender on. Ahhh, just the right consistency... now I can spoon it out, in a wide mouth cup, eat and read my Wall Street Journal in total satisfaction... for about 5-10 mins b/4 racing off to work.

Some might say yuk! But its good for the bod in more ways than I can list in this email. And to me, it tastes great.

Then while at work...I drink decaf green tea all day long.

At night I have Indian style decaf tea: decaf black tea, milk, with various Indian spices added. Oooh, Indian spices... a whole other subject regarding nutritional value... but another time!

If you read and follow this book, "In Fitness and In Health" ...it will change your life. A tri-althelete friend of mine recommended it to me many years ago for training.

Although I have never participated in triathalons... it was a great book to learn from. Kinda like motorcycle riding... I have no interest in 10/10ths track racing, but sure can learn from racers, racing books, etc, and have more fun going 9/10ths... and every now and then, an occasional, 10/10th.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/0964206226/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/104-0204491-9411969?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

This book has been around for a while... but I was not surprised to see that every person who rated it on Amazon, even these days, gave it 5 stars... the highest rating.

It's a great book because it's not only about nutrition, but about the entire spectrum of what's needs for training, including nutrition.

Good luck and glad to share more... if you have additional interest...

[Ed K]

...since cutting off my head is not an option
:046:


I'm not nearly as healthy and in-shape as all that, but I do feel MUCH better after my pre-Diabetes scare of last spring and resultant 42 lb. weight loss.
Wow! Congrats Dave!



Calcium: Yogurt. Yogurt is the best source for calcium if you actually want to absorb it.
Jeff agreed... but would add that the Yogurt should be non-fat, plain, and if possible, organic. None of that sugary stuff!

[Wild Will]

I'll add this. A book my wife turned me on to recently is filled with fascinating info on diet and your body, written by two M.D.'s:
"You On A Diet", #1 New York Times best seller by Dr's Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. I love the illustrations, and the simple way it's presented.

Ed, we have lots in common, as I prefer to begin my day with a blender concoction that goes like this:

Into a blender, place 2 cups apple juice, 6 ice cubes, 1/4 cup of yogurt, 1 Tbl. protein powder, 1 banana, 1 cut up apple, 1/4 cup of granola and 1 Tbl. of wheat germ. It's thick and delicious. You can also use frozen packages of fruit available from supermarkets, like berries, mango, etc.

I love blender drinks!

[Bones]

I'll add this. A book my wife turned me on to recently is filled with fascinating info on diet and your body, written by two M.D.'s:
"You On A Diet", #1 New York Times best seller by Dr's Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. I love the illustrations, and the simple way it's presented.

Ed, we have lots in common, as I prefer to begin my day with a blender concoction that goes like this:

Into a blender, place 2 cups apple juice, 6 ice cubes, 1/4 cup of yogurt, 1 Tbl. protein powder, 1 banana, 1 cut up apple, 1/4 cup of granola and 1 Tbl. of wheat germ. It's thick and delicious. You can also use frozen packages of fruit available from supermarkets, like berries, mango, etc.

I love blender drinks!



Add a prune and you and Harry might actually have a bowel movement one day.










sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Ed K]

Ed, we have lots in common, as I prefer to begin my day with a blender concoction that goes like this:

Into a blender, place 2 cups apple juice, 6 ice cubes, 1/4 cup of yogurt, 1 Tbl. protein powder, 1 banana, 1 cut up apple, 1/4 cup of granola and 1 Tbl. of wheat germ. It's thick and delicious. You can also use frozen packages of fruit available from supermarkets, like berries, mango, etc.



Sounds great Will... One can also add a tablespoon of natural (non-hyrdogenated peanut butter... or just nuts... to a nice nutty taste!



Add a prune and you and Harry might actually have a bowel movement one day.

Jeff, The oatmeal takes of care of the business end, just fine.....thank you!

[Bones]

Darth,
The issue with stretching can be looked at from an engineering standpoint, in a way. As we age, the previously well organized and undamaged nature of our fibrous tissue (think collagen, elastin, and things like that) that contribute to our tendons and ligaments (the stuff that connects our muscles to our bones and our bones to our bones, respectively) shortens. Think of a slinky. When it is new, it is nicely coiled and stretches nicely and returns to shape well. If you play with the slinky and throw it around, it gets knotted up a bit, some of the coil gets bent here and there, and it becomes kind of balled up and a bit shorter. It still stretches, but not as smoothly. And it doesn't recoil up as nicely.
Well, that is similar to what happens to our collagen. The best example is all that happens in the back of our legs. You know how your hamstrings and achillies tendons get tighter as you age?

So, you don't want to decide to return them to OEM status all in one day, because they basically behave like leather. Stress them too fast with tension and they just get injured. When healing from injury, they shorten a bit, or at least they lose some of their elasticity.

The stretches have to be applied with a firmness and must be sustained. Bouncing creates two problems. Too much force for short periods of time stresses the collagen fibers. And when you bounce, a feedback loop makes the attatched muscles respond by shortening. Example: when your M.D. taps your tendon with a reflex hammer. However, a SLOW, sustained stretch does the opposite to the attatched muscle. It actually gets it to relax, in response.

The sustained stretch should last 30 to 45 seconds on average and should be applied to the point of feeling tightness, but NOT pain. Repeat the stretch at least 10 times and do it daily. If you can do it morning AND late in the day, even better. After a few weeks, you will be making progress. It does not work overnight. And at our age (40+), if you skip a few days, you start to shrink again. When can you stop your quest to keep limber? Never.

Also, riding a bicycle is fantastic exercise, BUT if not combined with a lot of stretching, it will significantly shorten your hamstrings and achilles tendons. Ask me how I know (ex bicycle racer talking, here). All that cycling is done on a machine with a rather limited range of motion.

If you have done yoga for years and keep it up, you can maintain a lot of flexibility. That is why Wild Will can type on the computer and scratch the back of his ear with his heel at the same time.

The calcium pills are better than nothing. But only barely. I am not dissing your M.D.'s but I will tell you this with confidence: most M.D.'s don't know as much about nutrition as you might think. We M.D.'s love to write prescriptions and suggest pills. And we M.D.'s have been dead wrong about a lot of nutritional information over the years. Want some examples?
1. "Corn Oil margarine is healthier for you than butter." 1960's WRONG!
2. "Protein is bad, carbohydrates are good." 1970's WRONG
3. "Carbohydrates are good, all fat is bad." 1990's WRONG
4. "Carbohydrates are bad.........." Well, are you seeing a trend?

We are learning that certain types of fats are not so good for you. But it never made sense to me that eliminating all fat from a diet was a good idea.

What about homogenized milk? Good for you, right? Guess what you haven't seen in the lay press but I will bet you will see soon: the process of getting all those little fat globules to stay in solution will turn out to be bad.

My point is this: we are fed a lot of dogma. Often, it turns out to be wrong, even if it was taught like religion only a few years earlier.

Give this a moments thought. Some animals are designed to eat only one type of food, and they stay perfectly healthy. Koala bears. All they eat is eucalyptus leaves. They are designed that way. Polar bears eat only fat and muscle. They are designed that way. Cows eat only grass....well cows used to eat that way until we started growing them like we grow corn. But they were designed to eat grasses.

Humans are omnivores. That is how we are designed. We do best eating a relatively wide variety of things. Meats, vegetables, grains, fruits, nuts, berries, etc.

It is probably best to eat a relatively wide variety of foods, balancing a mix of things.

I recently had a patient who is being treated for mercury poisioning. She decided years ago to avoid red meat because it is unhealthy. Since fish is supposed to be good for you and salmon has been the rage as a health food, she started eating non farmed salmon about 3-5 times a week. Real salmon is a predatory fish, so it concentrates things in its flesh. Guess what happened?


Here is a simple rule of thumb that may one day make the most sense. Eat foods that look what they actually were at one time. Steak looks like meat. Sausage doesn't. Salad looks like leafy vegetables; broccoli looks like broccoli; water looks like water; I am not sure what Icy Breeze Gatorade looks like. You get the idea.

That is not to say that I follow that rule on a daily basis. But it is something to run through your mind if you have a choice between eating an apple or a Twinkie.

Start reading about how supermarket foods are actually grown and you can really scare yourself.

Meanwhile, we are still living longer now than we did a century ago, so I wouldn't obsess about it. But I don't think running to have a bologna sandwich on white bread with margarine is a great thing to have every day. You get the idea.


Jeff

[DarthRider]

Thanks Bones!
Looks like I'm doing pretty well on the stretching but have room to improve on the general nutrition. It really has improved though, in the last 8 months since I received the best thing that ever happened to me...my pre-Diabetes diagnosis!

I'm eating better and smarter but most of the credit goes to Betty. She is on Weight Watchers so our diets can be pretty compatible. And she is very good at buying and preparing the right foods. And keeping fruit on hand instead of Twinkies!

Thanks for taking the time Jeff, you've given me some things to consider for sure! My main focus has been getting the weight down and my "numbers" in line. That's going well, so it's about time for "Phase 2" of better health...more & better stretching & exercise, and continue to improve nutrition.

I kind of like this retirement business and want to enjoy it for a good while!:020:

[bbneuser]

with all of the subtrefuge of late, this discussion has swung around to some really meaningful exchange of information, particularly in light of my estimate of the demographic of the cafe. this is good stuff.

i'm exactly where some of you are with my good intention to peel off some extra weight, absence of time with lots of current projects/work, but a real need to get myself back to a previous level of fitness achieved mostly by riding both road and mountain bikes, some tennis and kayaking on occasion. don't have a bunch of time to comment further, but you need to take a look at a couple of websites for reference material.

first is: www.gssiweb.com it's the official site of the gatorade sports science institute. some really good info on hydration, nutrition, etc.

second is: www.trainright.com it's chris carmichael's website, primarily for cyclists (he's lance armstrong's fitness coach), but the regimen is adaptable to any active athlete who wants to gain a level of conditioning and overall well being brought about with good training discipline, nutrition and information. here's a sample of newsletter that you can subscribe to for free, this one dealing with winter training:
http://ro-r01.webmail.aol.com/23546/aol/en-us/mail/display-message.aspx

i commend everyone's commentary here, as it's really difficult to try to regain both conditioning and motivation if you've been off 'plan' for some time. i've been trying to get back into it, with some core strengthening exercises (which have had the collateral effect of reduced hand numbness while riding), dumbells, walking, etc in spite of a knee injury brought about by a nephew trying to assert his football skills on me during thanksgiving, which makes the stretching regimen all the more important.

good work guys. maybe this discussion will continue on and provide ongoing motivation to stay the course and stay fit. it's been a good wakeup call for me. thanks.

[DarthRider]

Not to take anything away from health & conditioning at all, but don't overlook the additional benefits of carefully setting up the ergos on your ride(s).
That might be a good topic for another thread, but it is related to this one.

[jamming]

Not to take anything away from health & conditioning at all, but don't overlook the additional benefits of carefully setting up the ergos on your ride(s).
That might be a good topic for another thread, but it is related to this one.

That's a hellave good idea Dave, I'm in the process of getting the ST in order, handlebar's, seat..etc....like to hear what other's have done.
I might just have to start it.

[Deans BMW]

On my ST, I have done nothing, stock seat and bars.

[jamming]

Dean, your a tuff ol Hoon...I'm a wuss...too many nagging injuries from my misspent youth, close to 5000 canopy openings takes a toll, then there were those motorcycle accidents, and a helicopter crash(military)and my job, I have NOT been nice to myself.

[DarthRider]

Dean, your a tuff ol Hoon...I'm a wuss...too many nagging injuries from my misspent youth, close to 5000 canopy openings takes a toll, then there were those motorcycle accidents, and a helicopter crash(military)and my job, I have NOT been nice to myself.

Don't forget trying to feed your leg to a Pit Bull! :104:

[Ed K]

The stretches have to be applied with a firmness and must be sustained. Bouncing creates two problems. Too much force for short periods of time stresses the collagen fibers.

The sustained stretch should last 30 to 45 seconds on average and should be applied to the point of feeling tightness, but NOT pain.

We are learning that certain types of fats are not so good for you. But it never made sense to me that eliminating all fat from a diet was a good idea.

It is probably best to eat a relatively wide variety of foods, balancing a mix of things.

Eat foods that look what they actually were at one time.

Jeff

And additionally, some vitamins and minerals are not absorbed as well without fat... "Healthy" fat is good for you in many ways... can reduce "bad" cholesterol and raise "good" cholesterol... stabilizes blood-sugar... takes longer to digest so not hungry as quick, etc.

Nuts, olive oil are examples of good fats. Btw, different nuts contain different minerals... and vitamins. Similarly, not all oils are created equal.

With regards to fat ... and maybe oversimplied rule of thumb ... if it solidifies at room temperation, its not good... cause it'll do the same on your veins and arteries... that is, clog them.

Off course, fat has lots of calories... so they need to be consumed in moderation...