Weight gain = muscle gain?

patentcad said:

I'm 5'11", 173 lbs currently, trying to get back into racing. 48 yrs. old.

10,000 miles over the last 11 months, lost a lot of weight (went from 205lbs+ to as little as 162 last October). I've been riding all winter and lifting weights (legs) in the gym. Leg press, calf raises (can't do squats, pelvic issues). I've been ramping up my mileage lately (265 miles last week, 230 the previous week) trying to burn fat. But I'm not losing weight.

But looking thinner, more muscular/athletic. I find it astonishing with the kind of rides I'm doing that I could be 10lbs heavier than 4 months ago, but I'm feeling better on the bike, looking fitter/thinner. Could I have really added THAT much muscle in the gym this winter? I'm pushing out 400lbs+ on the leg press (final set, 3 x 10 reps, after 2 earlier sets with lighter weight).

Feeling better on the bike, even on hills, even 10lbs heavier. Go figure. Trying to get out on that razor. Hope to be >165 by May, but at this point, I wonder. I rode 130 miles this weekend and didn't eat that much and didn't lose weight. I'm not sure what difference it makes really. As long as my riding is coming around and I appear to be getting leaner. Go figure.

I do notice that I have an surprising amount of natural upper body musculature. No more curls in the gym. Forget it. Now I understand why Lance was afraid to build that rock wall on his Texas property for the past five years. He didn't want to gain upper body bulk. Looks good in the mirror. Does jack **** for you on the bike however.

I'm seriously considering putting my scale away. What difference does it make? I'll keep doing what I'm doing. I'll tell you one thing: if I feel this good on hills @ 173lbs, I've added quite a bit of power. God help all those other weenies if I DO lose that last 7-8lbs : ). Oh well. I'll ride again today, just like every other day : ).

As long as I have my racing bike and my iPod, who needs a friggin scale?

.. sure you know the answer. You've been around a little bit. Other than that, what's the question? And yes, throw the scale away unless you are trying out for a spot on a pro team.

You've basically addressed all of your own concerns ..

FrankBattle said:

.. sure you know the answer. You've been around a little bit. Other than that, what's the question? And yes, throw the scale away unless you are trying out for a spot on a pro team.

You've basically addressed all of your own concerns ..

But I've never experienced this before. Very strange. Curious if anyone else has...

patentcad said:

But I've never experienced this before. Very strange. Curious if anyone else has...

Yeah I've experienced it. I seem to only lose weight when my riding volume reduces drastically. The key is how much I'm actually eating when my riding volume is high. When on a rest week I lose weight because I simply do not eat much at all.

What kind of riding are you doing? Any interval training? Is all your riding so far just easy endurance based? You may be so efficient at endurance based cycling that you simply do not burn a lot of calories doing it.

Try to catalog exactly what you are eating for 1 week. Figure out how many calories you are consuming each day versus how much you are riding.

mattv2099 said:

Yeah I've experienced it. I seem to only lose weight when my riding volume reduces drastically. The key is how much I'm actually eating when my riding volume is high. When on a rest week I lose weight because I simply do not eat much at all.

What kind of riding are you doing? Any interval training? Is all your riding so far just easy endurance based? You may be so efficient at endurance based cycling that you simply do not burn a lot of calories doing it.

Try to catalog exactly what you are eating for 1 week. Figure out how many calories you are consuming each day versus how much you are riding.

I've given up on trying to figure this out. Intervals? Where I live it's so hilly/windy that you could ride easy EVERY day and STILL be doing intervals (you'd have to see the hill I have to climb every day just to get to my driveway to appreciate it, suffice to say it's a 5-8 minute massive interval daily). I'm not heavy into power intervals/sprints quite yet. Within 3 weeks or so. Trying to do longer rides on weekends now to burn fat. 266 miles last week. It will get easier to ramp the miles up even more with longer days and warmer temps.

I'm not really that far off here. If I lose 5-8 lbs. I'm there. No CHANCE that weight stays on between 250+ mile weeks AND warmer temps. I'm convinced that several lbs of this is retained water (I do tend to sweat buckets once temps go over 70º) and muscle gain from the gym. And some fat of course. I'm convinced this falls into the 'getting older sucks' dept.

No crisis. I'll be eating LIGHT between now and May however. And riding heavy. Hell, I lost 48 lbs between April 1 and Oct. 30 last year. I only have about 8lbs to go this season. The trick is to see if I can squeeze that off my bones by May 1. I'm trying : ).

Congrats on the progress! Let us know how the racing goes.

Just out of curiosity, are you saying that you're going to try to lose the last 8 pounds before starting to race? IMO, that weight difference will be a smaller effect than the extra few weeks of racing and hard training that the other guys are doing now. It sounds like you're ready to give it a go, now.

frenchyge said:

Congrats on the progress! Let us know how the racing goes.

Just out of curiosity, are you saying that you're going to try to lose the last 8 pounds before starting to race? IMO, that weight difference will be a smaller effect than the extra few weeks of racing and hard training that the other guys are doing now. It sounds like you're ready to give it a go, now.

I'm not sure I'll actually race this year. When I say 'race' (which I used to do 20x + annually) I mean more hang WITH the racing dudes on the long, tough training rides out here - which are of course weekend 'pick up' races without entry fees with all the usual suspects - all of whom race. You know the drill. If you can hang on those competitive (very) rides, the races are really easier. At least most of the ones I'd do around here. Actual racing? We'll see. More of a 'I don't feel like driving 50 miles and paying a $30 entry fee' when I can get my fill of competitive riding for free - on rides that are longer and essentially tougher.

But that being said I'll be reporting back. The rides I want to do involve power climbs (about .75 mile, 5-8% grades), but they ARE climbs, so that last 5lbs might make or break a guy like me who's on the edge. I could get away with being soft around the edges when I was 35. I'm not 35 any more : ). So I'm hoping that by getting out on that razor (thin-ness), weight training and being as lean as possible - I can get there. It's fun trying (or horrible, depending how you look at it). I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Most days. That 78 mile death march on the 25º*windy day 8 days ago kind of sucked. But it was much warmer the past couple of days. What a relief.

We'll find out soon enough. The hammering should commence in earnest within a few weeks : ). And racing IS fun. I'm planning on taking out a USCF license for the first time in six years this season. And maybe the club I join - they may talk me into doing some of those 50 mile drive/$30 entry fee excursions.