- [Daniel] Legal cheats, this sounds like a paradox, an oxymoron,
a contradiction in terms, and to some extent it kind of is.
Oh, and if you put your preconception to one
side, just for a few moments and listen to the following legal cheats you could find
they provide you with just the edge you've been looking for out on the open road.
- [Matt] Sneaky.
- Number one on our list is caffeine, which through a multitude of studies has
been proven to have a performance benefit. Now caffeine is an ergogenic aid and as
such, it means that it can mobilize fat stores, which means that you're working
muscles can use fat as their source of fuel, and it's also a brain stimulant,
which means that you can concentrate harder, think clearer and that can delay
the onset of fatigue.
- Yeah, given the many benefits of caffeine, and believe you me,
there is far more than we've got time to mention in this video, you would have
thought that it would be banned. Well, it was for a while before,
in 2003, WADA, The World Anti-doping Agency decided to lift the ban.
Although caffeine is still monitored. And of course you can take it during,
before and after exercise, but be very, very careful,
because it's a strong diuretic.
Nitrites, nitrates, nitrates, that's the buzzword of recent years when it comes
to improving exercise performance, with the humble beetroot, at the very center.
That's now become the vegetable of choice. Now if you introduce beetroot into your
diet, generally in the form of beetroot juice, it has proven ergonomic benefits,
including improving muscle efficiency by lowering the cost of oxygen
at submaximal exercise levels.
- [Simon] Now that is quite some cheat. The difficulty is getting enough beetroot
into your diet. The research has shown that you need between 300 to 600
milliliters of beetroot juice per day for five days before an event,
which is going to take a lot of juicing
and it's also actually going to turn your wee purple.
Now, unfortunately, the GCN juicer has broken,
so Matt is having to go old school. How many is that, mate?
- I've only had two. How many do I need?
- Probably about 18 more.
- Eighteen? - Yeah, that's right, mate. Come on.
- Bloody hell!
- Think of the cheats, think of the cheats, it will be amazing.
No, I don't want any.
- Beetroot.
- There appears to be no limit as to how aerodynamic your clothing can be,
and believe it or not Dan here was absolutely vanguard of the aero clothing
revolution. A long time ago now, when he rode for a certain test team.
and they rocked up to start lines wearing gear that was previously only socially
acceptable at time trials.
- But, as has now been officially confirmed by scientists,
aero is indeed everything. Well, almost everything. So if you're looking to get
the edge without having to press on the pedals any harder, you might want to
invest in some clothing which is as tight fitting as possible.
Then perhaps the next step is to vacuum pack yourself for every ride.
How far you take this is entirely up to you.
♪ [music] ♪
- Is using tactics cheating? Some may say that the overbearing use of tactics,
especially setting on, sandbagging, not doing a turn is against the unwritten
rules of cycling or against the moral code of cycling, that harks back to a different
era. Back then racers would be happy to get on a train to beat their rivals.
Naughty. But what they would never do is miss a turn.
- Yes, hard men, old schoolers, purists, and aficionados are going to hate this
one, but it is legit. You all know the stats by now, it's 30% easier to
sit on someone's wheel on a flat road. So why would you stick your nose in the wind
when you could save that much energy if you don't?
- Thirty percent right there.
- Drafty.
- #Rude.
- Getting the most up-to-date latest, newest fangled,
aero-est, lightest, least rolling resistances pieces of equipment
will be expensive, there's no doubt about that.
But again, they will make you go faster.
♪ [music] ♪
- There are a whole host of stats out there on the Internet ,
which you can look at and rub your chin over. There's also no doubts that the race
to produce the most efficient equipment is continuing at a very high pace.
- If, however, like most of us, you don't have bottomless pockets,
then the key is to develop a speed strategy,
trademark Matt Stephens,
all of your own, where you invest
in the kit that's going to make the biggest difference.
So for example, the lowest rolling resistance tires, or the fastest wheels.
Now if legal cheats aren't completely your thing,
and actually you just want a plain cheat-cheat,
then why not check out our Top 10 Devious Tricks to Beat Your Mates video?
Well, technically they're not illegal, but they're certainly shady.
You can get through to it just up there.
- On the other hand, if you'd like to know How to Go Faster For Free
you can find out that just down there.
- That's legal, isn't it?
- Yeah. Oh, and you might want to subscribe to GCN as well.
It's that little box in the middle which says subscribe on it.
Now, if you enjoyed this video give it a thumbs up.
- Sneaky.