For more than fifty years, athletes in sports requiring endurance have used a training technique called carbohydrate loading. A recent study from South Africa shows that this technique slows sprint performance of cyclists ( Journal of Applied Physiology , January 2006).

Competitive bicycle racers ate a high fat or high-carbohydrate diet for six days followed by a high-carbohydrate diet for one day and completed time trials on their bikes. Then they ate the opposite diet for six days followed by a high carbohydrate diet for one day and repeated their time trial. Diets did not affect their times or power output for 100 kilometers (62 miles), but the high fat diet slowed their sprint performance over one kilometer (0.6 miles.)

Muscles get their energy from sugar and fat stored in muscles and coming into muscles from the bloodstream. The limiting factor in how fast an endurance athlete can exercise is the time it takes to transport oxygen from the blood in the lungs to the muscle. Muscles require far more oxygen to burn fat than to burn sugar for energy. So when a muscle runs out of its stored sugar, called glycogen, it becomes less efficient, hurts, is difficult to co-ordinate and slows you down. Many previous studies show that it doesn’t make any difference what an trained endurance athlete eats on the week before competition because the muscles of trained athletes store the most glycogen when they reduce training for several days, regardless of what they eat. Any difference in the muscle and fat concentration inside muscles becomes unimportant during endurance competition.

This study shows that a high-fat diet before sprint competition hurts performance. A high fat diet causes muscles to burn a higher percentage of fat. Using fat for energy requires more oxygen than carbohydrates do, and how fast you can sprint 0.6 miles on a bicycle is limited by how rapidly you can deliver oxygen to muscles.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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Lance Armstrong is a modern day sports hero, some say he ranks up with Jesse Owens and even surpasses that legend. Others compare him to the Soccer Legend Pele or the Hockey Great; Wayne Gretsky. Some say he and Tiger Woods are cut from the same mold. Few would disagree that he may well be the greatest Athlete in the World in our present period. If you admire Lance Armstrong and his accomplishments in cycling, you are not alone and you are correct in doing so.

Yet if you look at Lance’s achievements on the bicycle and his present efforts to cure cancer for all people of the world, well you might say that the Sports Hero we know, is a foreshadowing of things to come with his foundation and his fight to find a cure for cancer.

If you study winners and losers what you often find is that some winners can transfer that winning streak into other non-related endeavors. And one would bet that with the drive that Lance Armstrong has, that he may just be the motivating force to find a cure for cancer.

We as a nation and as citizens need to get behind his vision for the greater good and continue to push our leadership, scientists and society to work relentlessly to find a cure for all types of Cancer and we need to get behind the winning spirit of Lance Armstrong. Think on this.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Got a young grandchild at home? Well then perhaps you should think about starting with a tri scooter. Tri scooters are wonderful for the general development of youngsters helping them to learn balance and get them prepared for their future adventures with a bike when they are older.

Tri scooter manufacturers take maximum care to make the products appealable to the youngsters while still keeping them safe. And what is a better attraction to kids than their favourite kids TV characters?

Dora the Explorer tri scooter - This resilient explorer has stories to share from her involvement with varied situations and characters. Let your kids learn how to explore the world with Dora as they go on their excursion of the unknown.

Fireman Sam tri scooter - Fireman Sam, chum of Bob and saviour of the people of Pontypandy in Wales is the character of this scooter. Sam and his fellow firefighters make this scooter extremely engaging with stickers and pictures from Sam’s life. a must have for each junior fireman Sam fan.

In The Night Garden Iggle Piggle tri scooter - Iggle Piggle travels to the garden in a boat every day to meet with his assorted crew of pals. Built employing the same style as in the hypothetical cartoon world, the scooter will be a great pal for Iggle Piggle fans.

In The Night Garden Upsy Daisy tri scooter - Iggle Piggle’s pal from the night garden, Upsy Daisy, is here now. The rag doll with bright clothes and the orange megaphone features as the logo on the handle of this very well designed scooter.

Peppa Pig tri scooter - Peppa Pig and her buddies teach the youngsters about day to day life like nursery, visiting grandparents and going to the playground. If you have recently introduced your child to the Peppa Pig, it makes great sense to let your kid start off on wheels under the watchful eyes of Peppa. A fabulous design ensures your kid stays glued to this trike.

Thomas & Friends tri scooter - The captivating train engine, Thomas with his pals, Barney the friendly dinosaur, Bob the builder, Angelina ballerina, Pingu, Fireman Sam and Rainbow Magic have been a favourite with the kids for well over thirty years now. After having found his niche on bed sheets and mugs, Thomas features for the first time ever on a tri scooter. A pretty design apt of the red coloured train engine and a massive plaque and stickers make the scooter irresistible for youngsters. A must have if you have a fan of Thomas in your home.

Though themed differently, all the tri scooters rank high on safety and comfort. The body has been kept lightweight and the scooter is very portable. The reviews of the scooters have been very positive with users adoring their abilities to capture the kids imaginations while still helping them learn some very valuable lessons.