Training & Nutrition - Losing upper body muscle mass

I am 5'8" 158 lbs. I am a colligate cyclist and my life seems to revolve around that. I eat very smart but still have way more upperbody muscle then i would like. What can i do or avoid doing to drop down below 150lbs?

For the most part, you can't spot reduce muscle any more than you can spot reduce fat. There is ONE method that I know of, but you will hate it. You will also lose some mass in your legs and the rest of your body, but not as much.

First, you have to be hypocaloric - taking in less calories than you expend, and lower your carb intake dramatically. next, go to the gym and lift a medium heavy weight a LOT of times with your upper body. Doing 3 sets of 20 ought to do it. Lift this way for each body part. Do not work out the legs at all.

Your on-bike performance will suffer dramatically until you're done with this. I don't recommend it in-season though. Truthfully, I wouldn't recommend it at all. It's suffer witht he extra muscle mass. Bt it's about the only way I can think of to make your body eat itself.

If you don't use it, skeletal muscle goes away in a matter of weeks.

If you want to lose upper body muscle, don't lift anything.

If you don't use it, skeletal muscle goes away in a matter of weeks.

If you want to lose upper body muscle, don't lift anything.

Yup. The "use it or loose it" theory is oh so true. Don't ask me how I know. :eek:

... Brad

I lost 30 pounds in about 3 weeks a year ago- almost all muscle. I did that by laying in a hospital bed recovering from a brain aneurysm- not something I would recommend. I gained most of it back once I started walking and riding again but still have less upper body muscle as I haven't worked those muscles out like I have my legs.

Unless you have a lot of upper body mass to lose loosing it through disuse is near impossible. Normal daily use will keep most of it even if you never stress those muscles. If your talking about a lot of mass then simply not lifting weights will decrease the amount of those muscles. If you can drastically decrease using a muscle its mass will decrease after a couple of days. Not using those muscles is the difficulty.

Yup. If you've got 22" biceps, then sure, a few weeks of inactivity will shrink them down a bit. But if you've got 15" guns, even scratching your butt is enough work to keep the mass around.

Want arm atrophy? Stop typing on your keyboard. :)

5'8" 148lb collegiate cyclist here. I used to lift before my road bike came along. Give it a year with no lifting and lots of riding the bike and it will come down a lot. I dropped from 155 with mostly upper body strength to 148 with a lot more leg strength.

Long distance rides at endurance pace is what you need. I used to be fairly muscular at 5'8" 168. I stopped working out the upper body, and after about 10,000-12,000 miles I'm at about 5'8" 143. Really, if you just keep riding and don't work the upper body, the muscles will atrophy in good time. The trick is long rides, 2-4 hours. Usually it's during those rides when the body begins to feed off muscle.

Whether or not that is a good thing is open to debate. Yesterday I had difficulty opening a jar of pickles. :o

two broken arms and have the doctor make a full chest casts so you can still ride the trainer.

what would happen if i started these 2-4 hour rides hungry? Would that make my body eat more muscle? How do you concentrate that muscle that is being "eaten" on my upperbody?

what would happen if i started these 2-4 hour rides hungry?

You would ride weak and slow, or you might even bonk.


Would that make my body eat more muscle?

Maybe, but you wouldn't be getting a workout.


How do you concentrate that muscle that is being "eaten" on my upperbody?

You don't, your body is not selective.

As I wrote earlier, skeletal muscle atrophies from disuse. If you want to lose upper body muscle, don't lift anything.

What is the need to lose upper body weight? Aesthetically or do you think you'll perceive some speed gains as a result of the 8 lb weight loss?

What is the need to lose upper body weight? Aesthetically or do you think you'll perceive some speed gains as a result of the 8 lb weight loss?
Probably wants to climb better.

Personally, I would make my body weaker only if I stood to make a lot of money, like with professional cycling. Or at least a good shot at the Olympics.

Amateur cyclists are fools if they sacrifice overall fitness and health just to (maybe) climb marginally faster than the other morons in their club or college team. But to each his own.

Not everyone can be built like a T-Rex! :D

"I have a big head - and little arms..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWoM8Fr1z4w

Probably wants to climb better.

Personally, I would make my body weaker only if I stood to make a lot of money, like with professional cycling. Or at least a good shot at the Olympics.

Amateur cyclists are fools if they sacrifice overall fitness and health just to (maybe) climb marginally faster than the other morons in their club or college team. But to each his own.


Climbing is the main reason that i would want to loose the weight. I feel i have some to loose. I dont care that im not being paid to race. It is what I love to do and i love to do it well. Behind family and school racing is the most important thing to me right now. Im not saying i want to sacrifice my health, i just belive i could race better without large biceps.

I do toddler curls and military presses quite a bit. There's no getting around that with a two year old.

So is this why Levi refuses to carry his own groceries and makes his wife do it?

Get yourself one of these babies:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/psychlist43/halloween-straight-jacket.jpg

Bonus is developing mad no-hands skills.

tell you what: I'll give you the REAL secret if you stop saying "loose" when you meant "lose." :)

loose= the opposite of tight.

Consider this my friend. If you go on an upper body atrophy program and lose all of that mass (Oh yes, and BONE DENSITY), what are you to do in the case of a bad accident that resluts in the breaking of weak bones? Your on bike training goes to crap and you riding will suffer in a big way. My suggestion would be to do bodyweight upper body exercises to keep your body strong. It my cost you a few seconds this season, but in the long run it may cost you a few minutes from injuries.
That is why I love to Deadlift. It is a posterior chain focused lift, but it uses the upper body enough to be well above strength maintenance.

tell you what: I'll give you the REAL secret if you stop saying "loose" when you meant "lose." :)

loose= the opposite of tight.


thats why im not an english major!

i know what you mean, in high school i played football at 150, in college i started riding a bike and i am now 135. basically just switched from bench press type stuff to riding all the time (but also do huge amounts of pushups and crunches) and give it time. also people will say that every body type is unique and could respond differently

Climbing is the main reason that i would want to loose the weight. I feel i have some to loose. I dont care that im not being paid to race. It is what I love to do and i love to do it well. Behind family and school racing is the most important thing to me right now. Im not saying i want to sacrifice my health, i just belive i could race better without large biceps.
How much do you think this drastic measure will help your speed? My guess is that it won't make much difference if you lose a couple pounds of arm muscle. Concentrate on increasing power and improving technique. There are more gains to be made there, IMO.

How much do you think this drastic measure will help your speed? My guess is that it won't make much difference if you lose a couple pounds of arm muscle. Concentrate on increasing power and improving technique. There are more gains to be made there, IMO.

As much as I love climbing, and as much as I have enjoyed losing (my excess) weight, this is a big +1. The Rasmussen school of obsessing over upper body weight is rare even among top climbing professionals.

As I lost weight (about 25lbs), naturally I noticed a difference in climbing. But as I approached my levelling off point, I noticed that the risk/reward is significantly different. That is, the chances of benefitting from a couple pound loss is extremely minimal, while the chance of that loss making me weaker overall is relatively high.