gaining weight during off-season...

eortiz said:

Anyone here who gains weight during the off-season? I feel like J. Ulrich right now 😄 Although I try to ride 1 - 1.5 hrs during the week on a trainer and longer on weekends on the road. I ride easy (cadence 90+) on any gear as long as my cadence is high. No question really but just wanted to open up a forum/conversation.

My weight fluctuated between 10 and 15 during off season until I started riding year round and lifting more often. I dropped by body fat an easy 5% and put on more lean weight. So my suggestion, if you're not already, hit the weights. It will make you a stronger rider.

I ride all year, regardless of weather, except ice, snow i can handle on mountain bike, ice i handle on my butt.

Anyway, its a difficult time what with christmas and new year - alot of celebrating for some. I think its normal to put on a little - just dont get raiding the fridge at midnight (like JU !) and get out and ride as much as possible, even an intense 30 minutes can help. 🙂

Bikerbill98 said:

My weight fluctuated between 10 and 15 during off season until I started riding year round and lifting more often. I dropped by body fat an easy 5% and put on more lean weight. So my suggestion, if you're not already, hit the weights. It will make you a stronger rider.

Thanks for the reply/ies. I am trying to ride as much as I can. Though work is really getting in my riding time 😠 But I try to ride on my trainer for 1 hr. just spinning. The same when I ride outside (even when it is cold). SInce i figured, spinning (90-100 rpm in low gear) will develop some speed and I can just worry about strength when Spring comes around. I also do sit-ups and push-ups because I'm worried that I might get bulky when I lift weights. I have the tendency of getting too big since I lifted weights before I started falling in love with cycling 😄

The hardest time for me with regards to my weight is around November and December. This is where all the holidays come after the other. In my case, I try to ride as much as I can from an hour (on spinbike) to 5hrs (70-85miles) concentrating on building endurance. In this way, I burn off those extra calories gained during the parties and such. Good luck!

🙂

eortiz said:

Anyone here who gains weight during the off-season? I feel like J. Ulrich right now 😄 Although I try to ride 1 - 1.5 hrs during the week on a trainer and longer on weekends on the road. I ride easy (cadence 90+) on any gear as long as my cadence is high. No question really but just wanted to open up a forum/conversation.

i don't know what your other goals are (maybe it's just weight loss??). However, to lose weight you should ride at the *highest* intensity that you can maintain for the period of time that you have available, and allow yourself to recover to train as frequently as your schedule allows.

In other words, riding easy at a high cadence isn't likely to be conducive to weight loss (as it's likely to low an intensity). artificially trying to raise your cadence probably isn't the best use of your time either!

ric

This is an interesting point, I have recently returned to cycling after a number of years break and have read a fair amount of info with a view to making weight loss and fitness improvements with relatively limited time.

I understood that due to the way we use fuel, working at lower intensities (60-70% Max HR) was the most efficient way to burn fat, obviously the greater the duration of excercise the more fat burning is encouraged.

The way I remember things from my racing days short low level work was used just for recovery, so you recommend that if someone has limited time to train, working at a high intesity will promote more weight loss. This makes sense to me as I cant really see the point of spending all my time at a low level if I dont have the time to spend many hours in the saddle.

atduk92 said:

This is an interesting point, I have recently returned to cycling after a number of years break and have read a fair amount of info with a view to making weight loss and fitness improvements with relatively limited time.

I understood that due to the way we use fuel, working at lower intensities (60-70% Max HR) was the most efficient way to burn fat, obviously the greater the duration of excercise the more fat burning is encouraged.

The way I remember things from my racing days short low level work was used just for recovery, so you recommend that if someone has limited time to train, working at a high intesity will promote more weight loss. This makes sense to me as I cant really see the point of spending all my time at a low level if I dont have the time to spend many hours in the saddle.

At low intensities of exercise the body will use a higher percentage of fat compared to carbohydrate, and at higher intensities will use mainly carbohydrates. However the percentage of fats used at a high intensity will be greater than that used at the lower intensity. 30 mins at 85% VO2 max uses more fats than 2hrs at 65% VO2 max.

Hmmm... Ok, since I am also press for time (I work 12 hrs a day including Sat. 🙁 ) I can only put in 1 - 1.5 hrs of riding. But since it is the off-season and less daylight, now that is winter. Wouldn't I peak too early? I can only ride my trainer due to less daylight. My goals...... I really don't have time to race, although I would love to. I just want to get stronger (climbing and sprinting - am I asking too much 🙂 ) like I will be racing, just in case I find that little time to join a race. Thanks in advance for the reply

ric_stern/RST said:

i don't know what your other goals are (maybe it's just weight loss??). However, to lose weight you should ride at the *highest* intensity that you can maintain for the period of time that you have available, and allow yourself to recover to train as frequently as your schedule allows.

In other words, riding easy at a high cadence isn't likely to be conducive to weight loss (as it's likely to low an intensity). artificially trying to raise your cadence probably isn't the best use of your time either!

ric

atduk92 said:

This is an interesting point, I have recently returned to cycling after a number of years break and have read a fair amount of info with a view to making weight loss and fitness improvements with relatively limited time.

I understood that due to the way we use fuel, working at lower intensities (60-70% Max HR) was the most efficient way to burn fat, obviously the greater the duration of excercise the more fat burning is encouraged.

Many people quote this, and this is erroneous. While it *is* true that the proportion of fat expended is highest at these low intensities, what *actually* matters is that energy expended is greater than energy input, to create a negative energy balance for weight loss. where and what the actual substrate is, is on no importance.

ric

NJK said:

At low intensities of exercise the body will use a higher percentage of fat compared to carbohydrate, and at higher intensities will use mainly carbohydrates.

Right, but....

Quoted post said:

However the percentage of fats used at a high intensity will be greater than that used at the lower intensity.

I think you have it mixed up here. The percentage of fat oxidized for energy at high intensities (>/= 85% VO2 max) will be less than the percentage of fat oxidezed at moderate intensities (~65% VO2 max).

At high intensities (85% VO2 max), the percentage of fat utilzed for energy hovers around 10-15%, but there are other factors that can make this range go from 0% to around 15% such as the type of exercise, state of training of the individual, and diet that the individual is on.

At moderate intensities (65% VO2 max), the percentage of fat utilized for energy is closer to 45% (approximately 30%-40%), but again, there's a range that an individual can fall into dependin on the above mentioned factors.

Quoted post said:

30 mins at 85% VO2 max uses more fats than 2hrs at 65% VO2 max.

see above explaination - 30 minutes at 85% VO2 max will not oxidize more fat than 2 hours at a 65% VO2 max. Since the contribution of fat to energy production is greater (% wise) at 65% VO2 max, and fat yields approximately 9kcal/gram and carbohydrate yields approximately 4kcal/gram, over 2 hours you will oxidize much more fat than you would after only 30 minutes at 85% VO2 max.

steve007 said:

I ride all year, regardless of weather, except ice, snow i can handle on mountain bike, ice i handle on my butt.

Anyway, its a difficult time what with christmas and new year - alot of celebrating for some. I think its normal to put on a little - just dont get raiding the fridge at midnight (like JU !) and get out and ride as much as possible, even an intense 30 minutes can help. 🙂

I doubt it really matters that much if most of us who use this website put on a few pounds during the off-season; it's not like we'll be losing out on team sponsorship if we don't maintain a certain weight and training schedule! Seems to me like those of us who are non-professionals / competitors can sometimes be a little too obsessive about our weight, more so at this time of year - it's really not the end of the world if you pig out and eat over the odds over Xmas, so enjoy the short break while it lasts!