Here is my completely unofficial list of mountain biking super foods. To qualify as one for my list it had to be something I actually eat and use on a consistent basis and since I don’t eat a ton of broccoli and cauliflower you won’t find them or their kind. I also needed for it to be something that I didn’t need to go out of my way to find, so most of it you can find at any health food market.

Here are my first 5, I’ll post the other half in a day or so. Let me know what you think should be included, I’d be interested to see what other people think compared to what I have planned to post.

1-Blueberries - In case you did not know it blueberries are great for all sorts of things, including brain function. I don’t know about you but I’ll take all the help I can get in that area! I get most of my blueberries from the frozen ones I throw in Super Shakes or from the fresh ones my wife buys when they are in season.

2-Bananas -This is one that most people will think of but not for the reason I am including it. While bananas have been staples of mountain biker’s diets for many years based on the belief that the potassium in them would help prevent cramps, I use them in my Super Shakes. They provide a great “base” ingredient for the Super Shakes, which are invaluable in getting enough quality feedings in each day, so having them handy makes throwing a quick shake together much easier.

3-Whey protein -While whey protein can obviously be used in protein shakes, you can also use it to “balance out” a carb heavy feeding. One of the keys to sound performance nutrition is to eat some lean protein with each feeding. By throwing some whey protein on some Kashi cereal or drinking a serving of it with a serving of whole grain pasta you can turn carb heavy meals into more nutritionally balanced feedings.

4-Kefir -This superfood is kind of like yogurt on steroids. Kefir has more of all of the things that make yogurt great. The 10 active cultures in it are great for the digestive system and it tastes great as well. You can find kefir in most health food stores and it is showing up in more supermarkets as well.

5-Fish Oil - I am not sure that this is an actual food but this is my list so I get to add it anyways. If I was a good boy I would eat more salmon but I don’t, making it necessary. You need at least 6 grams of fish oil per day for optimal function. Your body uses the essential fatty acids in fish oil to maintain hormones, the nervous system, hair, skin, joints and much more. If you don’t eat fish each day then you need to supplement. I use the lemon flavored fish oil and pour it in a super shake since I don’t want to take 6 fish oil pills each day.

-James Wilson-

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Mountain Bike Nutrition & Supplements

One of the secrets to getting good at anything is to learn the secrets and shortcuts. One of the biggest secrets to mountain bike nutrition is to make liberal use of the “super shake”. Your normal smoothie you get at a smoothie shop is little more than “adult onset diabetes in glass” not matter how many supplement powders they throw in there for you. A super shake is a protein shake/ smoothie that is literally a meal in a glass and can act as a quick breakfast or snack throughout the day.

I recently put together a list of 5 super shake recipes I use on a regular basis that I thought you might like. You can download the list by right clicking on the link below and selecting Save As…

mtb-super-shake-recipies 

Hope you enjoy, feel free to post any super shakes that you use and enjoy.

-James Wilson-

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“Thanks James,

I’ve been reading through the DB Combos Program manual and listening to the mp3 files while I’m getting ready to start the program on monday.

One question that has come up while I’ve been reading relates to the nutrition part of the manual – you say that we should mostly get carbs from fruit and vegetable sources and avoid refined starches such as pastries, bread, pasta etc. I’d just like your thoughts on what actually counts as refined carbs – would you include oats, rice and other relatively whole grains in this? Or do you think that the less processed grains are ok to eat?

Cheers,”

Paul

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Refined carbs are those that pre-industrial revolution man did not have access to. If it has been milled then it is “processed” so rice, oats and other grains like quinoa and bulgar wheat are fine.

If you are going to use whole grain breads and pastas make sure that the fiber content is at least 3-5 grams per serving. They can label stuff “whole grain” that has been refined too much and looking at the fiber content is the best way to tell.

There are far more unrefined carb sources than refined carb sources once you start to recognize them. Making that change alone to your diet will work wonders for your body composition and energy levels.

Let me know if you have any more questions…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

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Here is a video I shot covering my suggestions for fueling up before a workout and re-fueling afterwards. Failing to follow this simple advice can cut your results dramtically…

-James Wilson-

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I recently had a local reporter ask me my opinion on supplements in general and particularly as they applied to kids and young athletes. A local sports medicine doctor he had asked had told him he did not recommend protein supplements to kids and he wanted to know my take. Here is what I told him…

While I don’t want to sound confrontational with the doctor (whom I know and have worked with) I see no problem with young athletes taking protein supplements. My take is pretty simple – when we are trying to get our kids and young athletes to eat healthier then why would we discourage them from using a protein supplement which is far healthier than fast food or junk food?

Sure, you don’t want a kid eating nothing but protein shakes and they don’t need those products that combine protein with other supplements (like Muscle Milk which is hugely popular with teenagers) but using a pure whey protein supplement to mix in with some fruit and milk to make a fruit smoothie can’t hurt them. I encourage the kids I work with to get one or two of those in a day to fill in the gaps between meals with something other than junk.

Also, there is absolutely no evidence at all that healthy people taking protein will have any adverse side effects. The studies used to conclude that protein supplements might be bad for your kidneys came from studies on people with pre-existing kidney conditions. No studies on healthy people have shown the same results.

Creatine is one of those supplements that won’t hurt you (you’ll just pee out what your body does not absorb) but its effects, both good and bad, have been greatly exaggerated and most kids simply won’t see much from it, making it a waste of time in my book. I don’t use or recommend for the most part.

Two things to keep in mind with supplements – first, they are intended to “supplement” a good diet and training program. Most kids don’t eat well and they have sub-par training programs. They don’t need supplements like creatine unless they have everything else dialed in. Too often people want something to “make up for” bad habits which is never the way to go.

Second, some supplements help us fill in dietary gaps. For example, taking fish oil or some other essential fatty acid supplement simply helps make up for the fact that we don’t eat enough of them from our diet. We need several grams of essential fatty acids per day and few of us get that, making supplementation necessary from a healthy body function perspective. In fact, if kids really wanted to see improvements from a supplement they should take 6 grams of fish oil per day. The science backing the inclusion of essential fatty acid supplements is long and impressive.

So, the real question is what are you trying to accomplish with the supplement? If you are trying to fill in dietary gaps with protein, essential fatty acids and vitamins/ minerals then they may warrant consideration. If you are trying to directly increase performance with things like creatine, Nitric Oxide or something similar then you need to make sure that you have everything else dialed in before you should consider them. Even then you should be wary since the supplement industry is one of the most unscrupulous in the world. I know, I used to work as a fitness author and saw first hand how they develop the hype in the absence of results!

-James Wilson-

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Warning – what follows is a rant that may appear to be a bit random in places. It may also offend a few people but if I’m not pissing somebody off every day then I am probably not trying hard enough.

I have to admit it – I’m getting more than a little frustrated at the MTB industry. MTB riders everywhere have been flat out lied to and deceived by the MTB industry, particularly with the help of the magazines. In short, these entities have managed to convince most everyone that the key to enjoying mountain biking is more about the bike they are riding and the components hung on that bike than about how tuned the engine driving the bike is. This approach is total bull shit that will do little to really help riders enjoy the trail more.

I recognize it because the same thing has happened to the general fitness industry. You can’t open a single fitness magazine without being accosted by ads and articles pimping supplements and new machines and gadgets. The same money driven attitude has spawned this “all sizzle, no steak” approach that we see in the MTB magazines. Trust me, advertising dollars drive the MTB world just like it does the fitness world. And what the advertising dollars want you to see and hear the magazines are more than happy to print.

True story – several years ago I knew the owner of a large bike company that was importing a unique new bike from the European market to the states. I saw him on the trail one day and he was pretty pissed after a meeting with the editor of one of the bigger MTB mags. He had wanted to see about getting the bike reviewed by the mag and was told that the write up “could” depend on how much advertising he was willing to buy, plain and simple.

Granted, some smaller bike builders manage to get their bikes reviewed without having to invest in a good deal of advertising but that is the exception, not the rule. It is no coincidence that companies like Cannondale and Trek have no problem getting every bike they bring to market in the mags – they also happen to buy 2 page advertising spreads every month as well.

Magazines would quickly go out of business without these advertising dollars so they feel compelled to oblige those that basically write their paychecks. Now, I’m not saying that there is a big conspiracy in which all of these people know that they are blowing smoke up your butt, they simply don’t know any better. Like my dad told me once – if you grow up in a whore house you just don’t know that whoring is wrong. They just know how business has been done in the past and to them it is just business as usual.

We all know of riders who rip it up on whatever bike they ride. I’ve personally known 2 guys who rode some pretty beat up bikes and absolutely embarrassed everyone else on the trail, no matter how new and advanced the bike everyone else was riding. To use a better known rider as an example, how did Fabien Barrel win 2 DH World Championships on a Kona Stab? Is the Stab the most technologically advanced bike in the world? Hell no, Fabien is just a great athlete and he trains his ass off.

Or how about my boy Rich Houseman? While Yeti obviously makes great bikes, was it the bike that allowed him to win his first Pro title last season? Nope, Rich has worked hard over the years to get where he his at and I guarantee you that he could throw a leg over any bike and be a threat on the track.

Top riders, both pros and bros, know the truth – give them a bike and they can tear it up because they have the most important asset a biker can have – superior physical skills. Training can give the average MTB rider better physical skills and while they may never get to the same point that a Fabien or Big House are, they can get closer than they will be by trying to figure out how to shave a pound off their bike or what shiny new part in the bike mags they must get next.

Seriously, what will make a bigger impact on your riding – adding 75 lbs. to your deadlift or adding a carbon fiber handlebar? Investing in a bike skills camp or investing in the new XTR build kit? Living in Fruita I have seen countless guys on the best bikes money can buy poking along the trail because they are physically weak and their skills suck. You simply can not appreciate the small performance increase these top tier bikes and parts offer unless you are physically in shape to do so.

Now, I do acknowledge that you do need a decent bike that is made for what you are doing. Obviously a Wal-Mart bike will not do and trying to downhill on a XC bike will get pretty scary, but once you have invested in a decent bike that is intended for the type of riding you are doing the best way to enjoy the trail more is to start worrying about increasing your physical skills and capacities.

However, the mags don’t get advertising dollars from training sources so they don’t want to “waste” space promoting something that does not pay them to do so. They are also afraid that they will lose readership if they do something different than the other mags, a lemming mentality that does little to advance our sport.

So, what does this all mean? First, check yourself and your priorities. Do you really want to be a better rider and enjoy riding more? If so, what are you doing to achieve that goal? If your answer is something like “saving for a new (fill in the blank)” then maybe you’re going about it the wrong way. If you are really serious about getting all that you can out of your saddle time then your answer must include investing in yourself through some sort of skills or physical training program, preferably both. If not, then being a better biker is not really a priority of yours, which is fine, just know that you’ll probably be riding at the same level this time next year, even with a shiny new crankset or handlebar.

Second, if you are serious about being a better rider then take some action. Invest in yourself and let your favorite bike mags know that you would like to see more coverage of skills and physical training. If they start to think that their readership wants to see this type of stuff then they will be much more likely to devote some of their space to it.

Anyways, so ends my rant. My singular mission at this point is to help re-shape the mentality of the MTB world and hopefully help my fellow riders better appreciate what investing in themselves will do for them. Hopefully some of you can help me do just that. 

-James Wilson-

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