Proteins are made from amino acids and provide the building blocks for all the structures within the body. In order to build lean muscle mass, tendons, ligaments and so on we need to eat the full range of amino acids in our diet.

The body is constantly breaking down and rebuilding protein, and the rate that this happens means we need to eat it every day. Even though muscle mass is more commonly associated with strength sports, protein is still key for cyclists as many of the adaptations that you want to achieve through training include increasing lean muscle mass.

But is muscle mass important for cycling?

Lean muscle mass is important because it’s what generates the force to keep your bike moving forwards. It also plays a role in weight management: the more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be. This means you’ll burn more calories at rest, which makes achieving an energy balance far easier.

As well as building blocks, protein can also be used as an energy source. Carbohydrate is the body’s preferred fuel source for high intensity exercise, but if you don’t take on enough carbs then you’ll start to use protein as a fuel. This isn’t ideal because you don’t store additional protein in the body, so you’ll end up breaking down your lean muscle mass to use as fuel.

One of the key elements in cycling performance is power to weight ratio, especially when riding uphill. The more watts you generate per kilo of body mass, the faster you’ll be able to ride. What this means is that you’ll need to maximise your lean muscle mass and minimise body fat, so that the weight, in the ‘weight’ half is as functional as possible.

Now let’s take a closer look at the effect consuming protein has on the body.