Training & Nutrition - gained a little weight

This might be an odd one...throughout this season i have been weighing in around 143 pounds. just before the last stage race i was in i noticed my weight was creeping up...and right now i'm at 148.

- i haven't slacked on my training (6 days a week)...my mileage is actually up a bit and according to my polar i'm burning about the same amount of calories each week.

- my diet has remained clean, but i have been consuming a bit more carbs throughout the day (it seems i am always hungry lately...lots of muesli, granola, soy nuts, stuff like that)

- my performace seems to have increased a bit too over the last couple of months - during my last FT i knocked a minute off my climb up cheyenne canyon.

what concerns me the most is the weight issue...could the increase in carbs cause me to carry around more water, thus making me weigh more? i am not doing any weight training. just trying to get to the bottom of this.

thanks - paul

It really sounds like the guy has added an inch to his thighs and he's complaining about it.

:)

Muscle weighs more than fat. :)

Wea re in the same boat. I have noticed I am eating more and my weight is up a bit to. But I am riding better than I have all year. I figure it has to be more muscle.

You're probably gaining muscle. You don't need weight training to gain muscle, biking will do that.

I bet you'll plateau out after a few constant weeks.

It could be water weight. I know some people fluctuate 5 pounds everyday. 5 pounds sounds like no biggie, but then again I'm not a racer so I don't know if that's crucial or not.

What would probably be a good idea is to go to your local fitness club and have them measure your bodyfat. I prefer the body caliper method, pinching at at least 5 sites over the electronic bodyfat scale. The bodyfat scale runs a small electrical current through you, and if you are retaining water, or if you have a higher amount of muscle, then the current will run though you slower, and the numbers will look as though you have more bodyfat. So go with the calipers.

It's difficult to say why you've gained the weight without a comprehensive analysis of what you're eating, how many times you're out there training, what else you're doing, etc.... if you kept a food diary and a training diary for the entire racing season, it may be easier to pinpoint why you're gaining the weight. So I'd hate to speculate here. So the next best thing I can think of is for you to have your bodyfat taken, and if you can have a bodyfat analysis at least once every 8 weeks, keep a food journal and a training journal, that would help you to keep track of weight fluctuations and see what you've been doing to get to that point.

Koffee

Koffee,

You took all the fun out of this one. But you are right of course.