The 6,000 Calorie Challenge - A Lesson in Sports Nutrition

At the end of June I completed a double century bike ride and in the process ate as much as I possibly could without feeling sick. What I ate was nothing compared to what a professional cyclist consumes during the Tour de France which I've been watching every morning for the last couple of weeks. Just how much does a cyclist eat during the Tour de France? Generally, 6,000-8,000 calories per day.

What does it look like and feel like to eat like a professional cyclist? That's what the Wall Street Journal's Joshua Robinson set out to discover in his 6,000 calorie challenge. Take a look at the video below to see how he did it. Pay attention to the professional cyclist at the 2:40 mark in the video for commentary about energy gels.



If you want to get into a bit more of the science of nutrition of cyclists, take a look at this video featuring the team nutritionist for EF Education First's professional cycling team.


Applications for Education
Both of these videos could be useful in a lesson about nutrition. They could be helpful in showing students why many of the energy drinks that are marketed to them aren't necessary or even good for them to consume on a regular basis.

As always, if you want to create a flipped lesson with these videos, I recommend using EDpuzzle. This video provides an overview of how to use EDpuzzle.