Women are not small men
Last week I asked on my Instagram what topic people wanted me to write about.
One question raised was: “If and how the pro peloton has adapted the way women train and fuel.” It was quite an interesting one because it’s true, we very much aren’t small men.
Our bodies don’t work the same way as men and we don’t do the same races as the men, even if the races have the same names. The maximum distance I will race this year is 160km, unlike the men who will race over 100km more. The longest stage race we have is 10 days, unlike a threeweek Grand Tour, so obviously our training as such must be different. I’m lucky I’ve been coached by Dani and Matt Rowe for three years now and they understand that women’s races are shorter and more intense and our training should reflect that. Once the season starts it’s not essential to keep doing lots of long (over four hours) rides without efforts. That’s great in the winter but as long as you have that under your belt it’s not required from then on.
As far as nutrition goes, there are lots of developments that are ongoing. The main reason for this is in the past all the research has been done solely on men.
An example of this is ice baths postexercise. Much research initially showed no improvement or even stalled recovery. However, when the test was done with women it showed a lot more impact because women can benefit from help redirecting blood to their internal organs, as opposed to their extremities, after exercise. Something as simple as having a cold recovery shake after exercise will help with this and reduce recovery time.
All this is before we’ve even touched on menstrual cycles and how much the change in hormones affects us every month. If you are interested in this topic check out Doctor Stacy Sims’s work.