"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Focus for the winter training period?

It has become apparent to me that I need to lose weight in order to maximize my abilities. As I am no longer doing manual labor as a research tech/assistant, I think it is possible to trim down my upper body a bit.

While I am not abandoning development of my aerobic capabilities, I figure this won't hurt the power to weight. At the same time, it might slow my aerobic gains.

Is there a question in there? ;)

It's hard to lose weight , and eat enough to fuel intense work outs at the same time. Thus my vote (and my own plan) is to really concentrate on wieght loss during the "off" season.

Is there a question in there? ;)

I think the Duke is asking if he should lose weight, or try and gain fitness, as it is hard to do both at the same time.
I say, lose the pounds in the early off season, then when it's time to ramp it up 2 months before the season proper starts, you'll be able to fuel properly for your weekly workouts.

I think the Duke is asking if he should lose weight, or try and gain fitness, as it is hard to do both at the same time.
I say, lose the pounds in the early off season, then when it's time to ramp it up 2 months before the season proper starts, you'll be able to fuel properly for your weekly workouts.

the poll wasn't up when i initially posted.

My take: I find I drop weight best with SST training, just b/c it plows through a lot of calories/hour. And it's not so intense that a little calorie deficit hurts too much. AND it happens to be one of the best ways (for me) of boosting my FTP for the next season. So I guess my answer is do SST and try for both (lower weight and higher FTP).

I wouldn't try to lose weight during the season. It's hard to eat enough calories to feel good AND go negative to lose weight.

So far, having moved back home a month ago, I've lost around 1kg, yet I've been riding less than I did (17hr/wk then, 15 now) and have only raced once since then. I find I lose weight fast and hard when I'm racing all the time. Of note, my body fat is actually slightly higher, so that means I'm losing muscle mass.

I think 3kg is doable without any real intense dieting on my part, nor any loss of power.

I was going to start a similar thread - I think the real key is, what BF% do should you train at, noting that you're going to probably want to bring it down slightly for racing?

Up until now, it's been a moot point, because I've been so obviously overweight (for a cyclist). Now, at ~13%, I'm still a little too fat, but I'm getting into the area where it's conceivably an optimization question.

Thoughts?

It's hard to lose weight , and eat enough to fuel intense work outs at the same time. Thus my vote (and my own plan) is to really concentrate on wieght loss during the "off" season.


Mine too. For the very same reasons. Except I have about 15kg + to lose. I'll be happy (and crit and TT competitive) if I manage to lose 10kg.

My big goal for winter is to just stay motivated enough to keep training.

Is increasing power over the winter a common goal? Seems like quite a bit of intensity. I would figure people would try to maintain some power over the winter and start building again come February.

lose weight in the off season.

I'm not going to turn this into a bodyfat thread, because that just becomes a pissing contest.

My main goal is to lose muscle mass, not worry about my body fat percentage. I honestly don't care what my fat % is, as long as my watts are high and the kilos low. If I had 30% body fat and was capable of my goals, that would be all that mattered. I realize that the two (body fat and total mass) are forever linked, but I'm not worried about that now. Fat comes off quickly compared to muscle.

It's hard to lose weight , and eat enough to fuel intense work outs at the same time. Thus my vote (and my own plan) is to really concentrate on wieght loss during the "off" season.

+1.

I've found that I can't lose weight at all when on a cycle of intense workouts because if I don't feed the engine, the engine sputters at the wrong time. But I've found that I can shed weight pretty easily during periods where I'm doing base type workouts. This has held true for both running and cycling.

Oh, my diet starts on October 11th. :)

Yup, I can lose weight through base and build periods, but not during racing season. Learned that lesson this year. When riding hard with some frequency, I just need tons of calories.

Is increasing power over the winter a common goal? Seems like quite a bit of intensity. I would figure people would try to maintain some power over the winter and start building again come February.

lose weight in the off season.

For my particular needs and goals, I don't really have any other options. I need to build power and lose kilos, and be ready to go from the first race.

Besides, I don't really do that much intensity now anyways. If I'm not racing, I ride hard for MAYBE an hour and a half total a week. If anything, I consider myself to be undertrained at this point. Plenty of room for expansion.

I think I've prepared myself well to take it up a notch; I've put in the time on the bike, done the base and tempo miles. Two years on the bike, the last one, almost exactly, with a power tap. Huge gains in FTP and 20MP. With the proper training and nutrition, or hell, any training plan, I think I can hit the magical numbers I want.

VO2Max. I need oxygen baby.

Timely thread. I've been almost static all year long, within perhaps 3-5 lbs, and I've pretty much eaten whatever the heck I wanted or moved too slowly.

My dietary goal this winter is to come down about 10 lbs. I need to eat more like "The Paleo Diet for Endurance Athletes" and cut out a lot of the bread and starch calories this winter. Train well, eat in a timely manner to support that training but don't just binge whenever I feel like it. Then (I hope!) the composition of the weight loss will take care of itself. If your body fat goes up while you're training hard and losing weight, there's something radically wrong with your diet, IMO.

I've found that I can't lose weight at all when on a cycle of intense workouts because if I don't feed the engine, the engine sputters at the wrong time. But I've found that I can shed weight pretty easily during periods where I'm doing base type workouts.)
yes, I agree entirely, and this is why it is easier to lose weight during the winter [although most people think such a thing is counter-intuitive].

-bullseye

I ticked the second option, MORE POWER!!!! If you feel you've got the base, and you're not feeling the burnout coming on from racing, then why not.

My plans for winter (well, summer here, but road racing season is in the winter, so summer is the off-season :rolleyes:) would make you cry. Suffice to say, I'm 5'10" and 136 lbs, and I plan on being ~ 6 lbs lighter by the start of next season :D

Hilly stage races, baby, hilly stage races.