Looking for a formula that allows you to train hard, bring on more net calories, and still get leaner? It sounds too good to be true, but the pro peloton's secret, known as "the Drip," may just be that magic solution. And it's not just for the pros -- in fact it's perfect for us everyday cyclists and working stiffs!

Like many cyclists, coming out of the holidays this winter I was faced with perhaps the most common dilemma: I had excess weight to lose, but also wanted to get going with my training. Those two issues don't have the same solution, although they might seem to at first blush. Old school training philosophy would tell me to go out and ride tons and tons of base miles in the form of Long Slow Distance (LSD).

The LSD approach doesn't work for me for two main reasons. #1 -- I work! I just don't have the time to ride 5 to 6 hours a day or 30+ hours a week. #2 -- I'm a firm believer in the theory that the best way to build "base" is by pushing a decent, hard tempo for prolonged Chunks during a ride.

Athletes can't push their bodies very hard when on much of a calorie deficit -- yet that's how one loses weight. Enter the Drip…

The Mechanics: You're constantly bringing on (or "dripping") calories all day long in liquid form and eating small meals every couple hours (2-300 calories each) on top of that. The liquid mix consists of a good quality protein and some form of sugar. The carb-to-protein ration should be between 3:1 and 6:1. Although I'll experiment with home-remedies for variety's sake (more on that later), I personally predominantly rely on the Clif-Shot recovery mix. It's a high-quality organic product, tastes good, and takes away the guess work and measuring.

The Theory: The goal is to keep your metabolism constantly fired up with a continual influx of carbs and protein. Insulin spikes and subsequent crashes become non-existent, energy levels go up, recovery from workouts improve, WHILE you get leaner and drop weight!

I used to drip more when I had an office job. It is awesome. You don't get super hungry and then crave fried chicken for lunch. I would eat the chicken then get so tired that I was barely working after eating. The drip levels blood sugar and helped me make better decisions. -- Alec Donahue

I've heard various pros whisper about cycling on-and-off the Drip for years, but never had more than a vague understanding of the tactic. It was originally conceived by Rick Crawford, famous for coaching the Fort Lewis College cycling team and Tom Danielson, and one of the main forces behind the Colorado Premier Training program and their new wind tunnel. Crawford even had a "Drip" product on the market several years back -- which gave the technique its name -- although online information about the now defunct offering is scant at best.

My own coach referred me to Cycle-Smart's Alec Donahue, a racer who has relied on the Drip throughout his racing career and has coached his athletes in its implementation. He agreed to an interview to walk me through the process for my own benefit and allowed me to share the info with Cyclo-CLUB.

I've been experimenting with the Drip myself for the past month and am really excited by my performance and day-to-day recovery. I went straight from the 7-Day Fat Loss into Drip-mode. Weight loss has been modest so far -- about 5 pounds -- but I've definitely gotten leaner, lost fat (waist has shrunk), and am gaining fitness every week!

Josh: Al, Tell me about the intention of the Drip.

Alec: You want to keep a steady blood sugar, and that will keep the cravings away. It will help with bad food habits. This is a cool tool! Since you will be meeting protein needs, I usually see no power loss with the weight loss, which is a really big deal. You cycle on and off of the Drip, it isn't an all-year thing.

Josh: So… what's the secret formula already!?

Alec: For drink mix you want to find a whey protein isolate product. Adding sugar to it is easy, and maltodextrin does the trick. Avoid artificial sweeteners and weird anabolic blends that weight-lifting products add.

When training, the goal on the bike is to start with about 300 calories worth of carbs and 60 calories of protein every hour on the bike [ Josh's note: individual's numbers will vary, remember these are geared towards a 150-pound Cat 1 cyclist riding at a hard clip! ].

Josh: And you think I can potentially bring on more calories than that? I'm usually burning about 750 calories per hour in training.

Alec: Caloric intake while riding is VERY trainable. This is a huge misconception in racing/training. Get used to eating in your training -- the more you can effectively eat while racing longer races, the better you will be able to perform.

Josh: Let's talk about whey. I've been experimenting with different proteins. My understanding of whey is: great for recovery, horrible for during, and presumably pre-exercise (leads to easy generation of more lactic acid). Presumably this is especially true for harder days and doesn't matter so much when just building volume of training. So, I've been experimenting with my own soy protein mixes as well as a hemp protein blend. I've even used diluted fruit juices as the sugar source -- which I really like!

Alec : There is research that does point to the drawbacks of whey. Neither I nor any of my clients have found them to be significant. My body, like many others, does not tolerate soy as well as whey isolate. Whey has the highest digestibility, and won't bother my stomach even after the hardest cross races or hot summer events. Protein choice is more personal than clinical. You should try them all and see what gives you the least gas and best recovery. There is even a big difference in isolate vs concentrate.

Josh: What does off-the-bike nutrition look like?

Alec: It depends on how far apart your meals are. An ounce every five min or so, at a rate that keeps you from getting hungry. Sorry this isn't exact, but it would vary for age, weight, metabolic rate, training load, reason for dripping, and more. [ Josh's note: I found a solution half the strength of my on-bike mix worked great .]

Meals should be 300 calories or so. Regular healthy food, just in controlled small portions 6+ times a day. This is really time consuming, but with planning you can get into the swing of things. Fiber is important during the drip as well. This can be a challenge when the meals are so small -- big bowls of veggies do the trick.

Josh: I have trouble eating protein during really intense training sessions and don't touch the stuff in races.

Alec: The Drip isn't for intense exercise, but carbs are, so continue to eat those in your training except during really intense efforts -- like VO2 Max.

Josh: How do I modify for rest days or low-volume days?

Alec: (Other than not bringing on the more concentrated Drip since you're not riding), there's no modification on rest days. You can cut carb and fat intake a little with in your meals.

I used to drip more when I had an office job. It is awesome. You don't get super hungry and then crave fried chicken for lunch. I would eat the chicken then get so tired that I was barely working after eating. The drip levels blood sugar and helped me make better decisions. You want to drip just enough to keep you from getting hungry, and eat about the same as your estimated Basal Metabolic Rate. So, if you are not training, less than 2,000 calories would be good for losing weight. It helps me cut fat better.  This scenario is greatly helped by planning your snacks and meals before you get hungry. Reactive eating is a big problem in weight management. The drip lets you train harder too. So it is again great for the working man that is serious about getting better.

Thanks to Alec for all the info. Alec Donahue is a Senior Associate Coach with Cycle-Smart. He lives in Easthampton, Massachusetts where, when not hard at the training, his attention shifts to chocolate and espresso. Click here for more info .

Photo via flickr by by enggul

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