Road Cycling - I can't lose weight!

I'm trying to lose weight so I can be a lighter rider. I started riding at 5'10, 175 pounds with really no fat to lose. I've cut back on the mass building type weight training, but I've really hit my legs hard for strength gains this winter. Now I'm 180 pounds, it's gotta be 5 lb of muscle added onto my legs because I know I didn't put it on my upper body. I don't know what else I can do to get some pounds off. My mother tells me that I look like I weigh 160. Does the rider's body weight even matter that much?

do a body mass index calculation... i think you can get your doc to do it. then you'll see if you have any fat to lose. some people are limited by their bone mass.... if you have thick bones, that will be extra weight that you have no matter how much fat you lose. I'm big boned too, so I understand.... I'm 5'7" and shooting for a goal weight of 145.

It may very well just be an issue of your build per the previous post. Get your body fat percentage calculated to verify this. If you are in the single digits, you're doing well. If you are down around 5%, you are doing very well - in fact, perhaps too well.

Weight, in itself, means very little. The composition of that weight is where you need to concentrate. Finding your ideal body fat % is a good place to start.

Good luck! :)

I'm a bit taller than you and the same weight (175 -180). People are always surprised if weight comes up in conversation (But you look so skinny!). I remember when Armstrong emerged as a rider, everyone commented to the effect that he was "over-built", etc. - he was the same size we are. Cancer chewed off his muscle mass and he's commented to the effect that shedding his natural bulk made him a better endurance rider. I generally only race cyclocross and xc events, and podium the majority of the time. At an amateur/semi-pro level, I wouldn't worry about your weight as long as you aren't carting around pudge.

cruc - I am in the same boat. I am 5'9" and weigh about 178-180 lbs. I have little to no body fat whatsoever, very broad shoulders, thick legs and extremely dense bones. I think my weight is perfect for me. I was built this way and I am going to make the best of it riding. I always have wondered what it would be like to look like Armstrong and if it would be an advantage in my riding. But that is short winded because I ask myself if I would like to look like Armstrong or Nelson Vails. My choice goes to Vails!!

Hey, you're built like a sprinter- go with it! Be a proud member of the big thigh club!

Thats right wabbit, I have MTBed for numerous years and now I am getting into road riding. But I would absolutely love to get into sprinting!!!!!

hmmm, you know, I never thought about sprinting. My whole goal has been hill climbing since I enjoy it so much. So how does one become a good sprinter?

I have exactly the opposite problem. I can't gain too much weight. I usually go around 53-55 kg. Hoping to go up to 58 kg or so though. I'm around 175cm tall.

Strength training with weights will add muscle size particularly if you have a lot of white muscle(speed) fibers.If you want to lose this size drop the weights, up the aerobics and run at least a slight calorie deficit .Of course the trade off is that you will lose your strength gains and as others have said you may be better structured for speed/strength given the ease you put on size.

I play a lot with different foods and push my weight up and down to see how it effects my performance on the bike I found that at 5-10" - 175 - 180 pounds I am the fastest and the strongest, when I weigh less then 175 my endurance suffers, when I'm over 180, my hill climbing suffers. Of course, I'm an old 48 years.

This is probably a very bad idea (health issues), but a very low protein diet would for sure significantly reduce your muscle mass… But there is a risk of injuries… So this probably is a way, but not a way to go!!

I ride 5 days aweek,12-20 miles aday,at least 100 cadence and i dont lose weight.I dont gain any either so i know if i worked on my eating habits which are preety good i could lose 5-15 most likly.

I'm in the bigboy club as well. My racing weight usually runs 185-190 at 5'11". Since my bodyfat is in the single digits, I've come to the realization that it will be very hard to get my weight much lower than it already is. I'm constantly hearing about how I don't look like a cyclist.. with my big arms, shoulders and massive thighs. :p

I hear you though.. as much as I like to climb (and I really *love* climbing the mtn passes here in Idaho), it's tough for me to be at the front. I have to be content with my natural strengths: short TTs, sprinting and the kilo.

Heck, I'm 'overweight' according to my BMI. :roflmao:

G'luck.

BMI is not an accurate measure of body composition for athletes in my experience. As someone mentioned, body fat percentage is a much better guage, especially for those with a lot of muscle mass. BMI doesn't discriminate between fat and muscle, making it a sad way to judge your fitness or what weight you might be able to drop.

I am overweight just looking at my beer belly and i dont drink.

Focus on body fat percentage. That's the dead weight you have to drag up the hill or accelerate to speed.

Totally agree with ImprezaDriver. BMI is the grossest of fitness indicators. I think I read somewhere that it was invented for large statistical surveys but it somehow got turned into the fitness number that popular media (like the lame local 10pm newscasts) focus on.

I'm built like you: 5'10 (178cm) and 183lbs (83kg) and according to the BMI, I'm overweight. But my BF is 11.5%. I'm gunning for 8-9% by June. Hopefully, just riding more and cutting out the crap in my diet will get me there. That's usually worked before but now that I'm getting older (36 in May), more drastic measures may be called for.:(

crucifixion12, you're not the long ranger... and that's obvious by all the supportive posts.

@53, I am 5'10, 208lbs, 35" waist, was 220lbs from weight lifting. I've worked out all my life, dense large bones, thick barrel chest @45" with wide shoulders and Eric Heiden thighs. In HS, I played football and weight 170lbs. I can't remember weighing less, nor can I imagine how I would look, aside from sickly... :eek: Guess I am nothing more then that ole farm bread stock. My only thought would be to start loosing muscle weight.

Here's a pisser :mad: ... I was recently told by our insurance company that a man over 160lbs @5'9 + is considered obese... go figure :(

Just for fun...
Caloso is @ 11.5% now. BMI 26+
That is 161.95# lean mass.
If his BF% went down to 8% (without any change in lean mass), then his weight would be right around 174.9. That equates to a BMI of about 25 which is on the edge of overweight.
Seems like the chart may not be THAT far off.
In this case anyway.

Yeah, but do it the other way. Let's say I gain 5lbs of muscle (without any change in fat), then I'd be 188lbs, 8.9%bf, and a BMI of 27.0 (solidly in the NIH's overweight category!).

Hmm. I'm going to have to spend more time in the gym! :)

I'm on the heavy side too, even though I'm only 15. Most of my problems in weight lies in my obsession with lifting weights. If I get off the bike for longer than 3 weeks I automatically start pumping iron. I am 5'11'' and 190 pounds, I am also built heavy in the upper body with wide shoulders and big arms. I think I carry my weight alright, I run a mile in 6:55 and can bench 270 lbs which I believe to be ok in the fitness range (the BMI disagrees with me though lol). This winter I have gained 10 pounds mostly from lifting but I'm sure with the increased riding I've been doing lately around summer time I should be down to about 180. Cutting all the crap out of my diet should help too. Hey its ok to be big as long as it does not put a physical strain on you and there are always ways to use your physique to your advantage. Plus we get to call ourselves clydesdales lol.

why don't you just spend $1200 for some lighter weight carbon fiber stuff on the bike. that can shed at least 1 pound!!

Well, I've found a very effective way to lose weight over the last couple of days or so. Unfortunately, diahorrea and vomitting probably don't really help your training all that much.

There are a gazillion models that wrap their arms vomiting as a worthy method... I can only image by adding diarrhea to the equation, the lbs must flush away... :lol:

The reason you can't lose any weight is because the god of body-mass (fatgod to you) is punishing you for being a crazy right-wing, knee-jerk reactionary.

My apologies. I should have noted that I was talking to Garbear.

Wow, ParamountScapin. I think you should apologize to the entire Forum for that ad hominem attack.

Not cool.

Hmm, it seems that there are several issues here.

It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

Before I started riding, a good weight for me was 180 and I am 6' 0" tall. Now I could have been lighter, but at that weight, I looked pretty good. I started cycling and my quads got larger and now my weight is about 190 when I am at a decent weight. Don't get me wrong, I could get lighter but not a whole bunch.

Now it sounds to me that you are not doing this for visual appeal if your mother says you look like you are 160.

So just why do you want to weigh less ANYWAY?

I ask this because at one time I realized that if I wanted to become significantly "better" as a cyclist in performance, I would have to get very disciplined in my training. I realized that I already HAD A JOB and although I am a very strong recreational rider (personal best in the century is 4.5 hours at age 50 - yeah I drafted), I realize I just don't have the talent or youth to ever make money at the sport professionally.

Would you be a better rider at 160? Probably. You would climb hills faster and probably accelerate faster. Most proriders are in teh 160 lb range. I remember reading the Lance Armstrong could not lose weight, then he got cancer and went through chemotherapy. When he got back into training, he had lost 10 lbs permanently, which made him a much better climber. But I would not recommend the Armstrong method.

A normal person with training can do things on a bike that are almost unbelievable to the noncyclist (like do centuries). Unless you are a freak of nature, you will never make a dime cycling. The proriders are just incredible. Shoot Cat 2s are incredible.

To me bike riding is not about that. Sure it is fun to be the first one up a climb, but if I am not, that is no big deal. I know there are faster riders out there. The thing is that by cycling I keep fit, I have fun and I can set challenges that I can even achieve. What more can one ask?

Originally posted by Pat
I remember reading the Lance Armstrong could not lose weight, then he got cancer and went through chemotherapy.

sounds simple to me, crucifixion12, chemotherapy! just kidding.

interesting fact, did you guys know that the average american male is 5'10", 175? I thought it would be heavier, but i suppose that those 100 pound climbers and marathoners offset the balance.

Well, I think I'll pass on the chemo option! The reason I want to lose weight is because I want to be a very competitive rider whether I ever make any money at it or not. I'm in school right now and it's a field where I know I'm going to graduate and not have to hunt for a great paying job. So I'm not looking to cycling in hopes of having a career, God has blessed me with medicine for a career. I'm used to being a competitive athlete, either winning, or if you beat me, you had to work your can off to do it. That's the kind of cyclist I want to become. I'm looking for competition again, I miss it since I've been in college. I spent years doing distance running (started when I was 13), and my build was 5'10, 160 pounds running cross country and road races. I've lifted a lot of weights over the last couple of years, and put this weight on, though I still continue to run, and I want to get back to where I was again. I have so much fun riding the bike, and when I get to race, I want to be sprinting to the end with the guys up front.