Chris Horner's secret - beetroot juice?

[SuperHuman]

Dr. Allen Lim has revealed Team RadioShack are consuming fresh beetroot juice as part of their breakfast routine every day at the ToC.

http://youtu.be/pQbvU7w9KN8

Beetroot juice has been studied in 2009 and again in 2010, and both studies found a 15% increase in time to exhaustion. That would make a difference on the climbs.

http://rhinofitnesslivehealthy.blogspot.com/2011/04/beetroot-juice-studied-again-15.html

 

[Boeing]

Interesting I guess it replaced Lance's pee

 

[danjo007]

so... what are you saying? you want beetroot on the list of prohibited substances? please! when someone wins a race or stage, they get a new thread here! -> quality.

 

[Merckx index]

The statistics in the papers they cite look a little suspicious to me. In the abstract of the first paper referenced, they report that beetroot juice (BR) “reduced systolic blood pressure (129 ± 9 vs. 124 ± 10 mmHg, P < 0.01).” I don't have access to the whole article, so couldn't evaluate their statistics for certain, but I find it hard to believe that a 4% decrease with a larger SD is significant at the 0.01 level. Likewise for reduction of oxygen cost of moderate intensity running (2.26 ± 0.27 and 2.10 ± 0.28 l/min), severe intensity running (3.77 ± 0.57 and 3.50 ± 0.62 l/min), and time to exhaustion of severe intensity running (7.6 ± 1.5 and 8.7 ± 1.8 min). They claim all these differences are significant at the 0.01 level, yet for comparison, the Qmax difference (0.93 ± 0.05 and 1.05 ± 0.22 mM/s), which is about as large with comparable SDs, is not significant. Doesn’t add up.

Same thing for the second paper cited, a time trial study. BR significantly increased mean PO during the 4-km (PL = 279 ± 51 vs BR = 292 ± 44 W, P < 0.05) and 16.1-km TT (PL = 233 ± 43 vs BR = 247 ± 44 W, P < 0.01). The statistics look flawed to me.

To be fair, even a very small increase in power output would be helpful to a racer, and there wouldn’t seem to be anything to lose by drinking this stuff. The difference in TT times they report would correspond to about a minute in a 40 min. race, obviously a significant advantage. The problem is that the high variability suggests that the effect is hardly uniform, that different riders would experience greatly different benefits, probably in some cases little or not benefit at all.

Finally, if this really works, should it be banned? Does the fact that nitrate is a "natural" substance matter? If some rider with access to new science can go faster not through more training, but simply through taking a substance that other riders don't know about, is that a violation of the spirt of athletics or not? Could make for a very lively debate.

 

[JMBeaushrimp]

Yeah... Beets...

Seriously? You've got Alan Lim on the line (with all the sketchiness he's been involved in) and you buy the beet story hook, line, and sinker...

Nothing like pounding back a rice cake chased with a little beet juice. Breakfast of champions. What a bunch of suckers...

 

[Ferminal]

The principal finding of this investigation was that acute dietary nitrate supplementation improved 4- and 16.1-km TT performance in competitive cyclists by 2.8% and 2.7%, respectively.

This period was chosen as peak plasma [NO2-] concentrations occur 2.5-3.0 h after ingestion of BR

These findings indicate that, at least under the conditions of the present study, dietary nitrate supplementation has the potential to benefit athletic performance, at least in events of ~5-30 min in duration.

However, it remains to be determined whether dietary nitrate supplementation can enhance performance by this magnitude in elite cyclists.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21471821

Lim and his marginal gains... poor old Garmin are still battling away with rice cakes and gluten free diets.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Interesting I guess it replaced Lance's pee

 

[skippy]

Just woken up to the news that Chris Horner who i expect to podium at the TDF has won a stage at the ToC !

Congrats to Horny ! Last year i read that Beetroot juice was good for you but was unable to find a supplier in Austria and am still adverse to eating the food product which was on the daily diet as a child . Seems my parents knew a thing or two .

Now where is the "Horny must be on the Juice" conspiracy thread ?

Can't be this one as it seems to be dyiny from lack of interest !

 

[JPM London]

Beetroot juice has been studied in 2009 and again in 2010, and both studies found a 15% increase in time to exhaustion. That would make a difference on the climbs.

So beetroot juice is more effective than orange juice it appears?

Nothing like pounding back a rice cake chased with a little beet juice. Breakfast of champions. What a bunch of suckers...

No, breakfast of champions is Nutella - 5kg, no less...

 

[flicker]

Dr. Allen Lim has revealed Team RadioShack are consuming fresh beetroot juice as part of their breakfast routine every day at the ToC.

http://youtu.be/pQbvU7w9KN8

Beetroot juice has been studied in 2009 and again in 2010, and both studies found a 15% increase in time to exhaustion. That would make a difference on the climbs.

http://rhinofitnesslivehealthy.blogspot.com/2011/04/beetroot-juice-studied-again-15.html

Beetroot juice is potent. Try it. Good to mix with celery and parsley. These anemic guys need to try it, they would not be getting mono and weird flus and coughs or need vitaman shots. Nor Honey Badger waffles.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

And people think Contadors 50 sec. gain was something clinic special... tsss

 

[halamala]

Horner climbed 6.8 W/kg

Chris Horner

Tour of California 2011, Stage 4, Final climb Sierra Rd

Elevation / Höhenmeter [m] : 532 m
Distance / Streckenlänge [Km] : 5.63 Km
Time in seconds / Fahrzeit in Sekunden [sec] : 1004 = 16 min 44 sec = 16:44
Weight rider / Gewicht Fahrer [kg] : 63.5 kg
Weight bicycle, clothes etc. / Gewicht Fahrrad [kg] : 8 kg

Grade / mittlere Seigung : 9.4 %
Average speed / mittlere Geschwindigkeit : 20.1 Km/h
Total weight / Gesamtgewicht : 71.5 kg

Power : 434.7 Watt
Power / kg : 6.8 Watt / kg

Source: [ http://www.rst.mp-all.de/bergauf.htm ]

I hope he'll release the SRM file later.

 

[blackcat]

little boy Horner, lost a load of wait in his sub saharan off season

also lost weight and waist

 

[Benotti69]

he increased his cadence...

 

[brianf7]

Dr. Allen Lim has revealed Team RadioShack are consuming fresh beetroot juice as part of their breakfast routine every day at the ToC.

http://youtu.be/pQbvU7w9KN8

Beetroot juice has been studied in 2009 and again in 2010, and both studies found a 15% increase in time to exhaustion. That would make a difference on the climbs.

http://rhinofitnesslivehealthy.blogspot.com/2011/04/beetroot-juice-studied-again-15.html

AH AH I tried it and rode a good time trial BUT my face turned red bright red It stayed red for a long time and I also had heavy legs for two days after. I took 50 ml. supose it is harmless and good for you especialy anyone who has exercise induced astmah.

But dont try to make it your self with the wifes food blender it makes a big mess.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

he increased his cadence...

He's just been training hard and he also checked out the whole course beforehand.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Remember, Horner is a 0. His passport is so clean you can see your face in it. Probably has a French grandparent. Nothing to see here

 

[Berzin]

You guys can support Horner and I'll support my man Contador, but the difference is I don't delude myself into thinking some 40 year-old suddenly finds the form of his life, riding up hills against Euro competition and not even breathing hard.

What a joke.

Oh wait, Horner's a nice guy...that should make a difference, shouldn't it?

 

[JRTinMA]

You guys can support Horner and I'll support my man Contador, but the difference is I don't delude myself into thinking some 40 year-old suddenly finds the form of his life, riding up hills against Euro competition and not even breathing hard.

What a joke.

Oh wait, Horner's a nice guy...that should make a difference, shouldn't it?

But do you have to delude yourself to support Contador? A guy who has tested positive, stroked out at an age when you just don't stroke out and has dubious links. If your gonna love this sport you better be ready to delude yourself some days and just enjoy the spectacle. He's 39 btw.

 

[veganrob]

I hope it is all just a joke. Otherwise it is an insult to our intelligence.

I guess either way the joke is on us all that Horner gets away with such crap.

Oh yeah, I heard he is a nice guy though.

 

[GreasyMonkey]

Mutant Beets.

Mutant beetroots, from near the Fukushima reactor.

All that iodine & cesium has altered the juice.

 

[filipo]

I wonder if Matt DeCanio thinks Horner is a nice guy? I know he thinks Horner's a doper...

 

[mewmewmew13]

AH AH I tried it and rode a good time trial BUT my face turned red bright red It stayed red for a long time and I also had heavy legs for two days after. I took 50 ml. supose it is harmless and good for you especialy anyone who has exercise induced astmah.

But dont try to make it your self with the wifes food blender it makes a big mess.

Funny to think of all the Shackies pedaling through the race with bright red faces.
so...an identifier of anyone drinking beet juice???
incriminating

 

[Berzin]

but do you have to delude yourself to support contador? A guy who has tested positive, stroked out at an age when...

BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JRTinMA]

Boring!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with you, just like suggesting if a guy wins in CA he must be doping. Doping or not I'm just glad he dropped LL.