Training & Nutrition - Yo-yo

Some people who don't ride during the winter gain as much as 20 pounds before the cycling season starts again in the spring.

Isn't this bad for the health?

I think what is more unhealthy is those people who then go out and try to lose that weight right away.

Maybe it's bad, but it would be really unhealthy if you didn't lose it between winters! ;)

While I'd gain 5 kg (11lbs) each winter in the past, the difference has become more like 10 kg (22lbs) now I've started cycling more.

Why? As soon as I stop cycling, my appetite increases enormously and I eat, eat, eat, eat..

This is an exercise-withdrawal symptom. I know a guy who habitually cycles 600K/week in season , but would gain 25kg in winter.. he finally stopped that cycle by buying a home trainer and cycling at least 1-2 hrs each day..

I've discovered a non-smoking gym which offers spinning classes. Until I got a foot injury, I went 3 times/week.. It stopped me from gaining more weight, but the damage had already been done, since I only went 1 month after I stopped cycling. How effective it was was shown when I took a 3-wk break and gained 3 kg in just 3 weeks..

Now a foot injury (actually both feet) prevents me from cycling lots. But since it's spring, the weight isn't piling on.

Jan Ullrich was training in South Africa this winter and kept the weight off.. he over did his training though and has a knee prob which prevents him from racing..

Ivana

Originally posted by fietser_ivana
I've discovered a non-smoking gym
:eek: I hope they aren't too rare!

Non-smoking gyms aren't very rare, but smoking is allowed in far too many of them. There is just a very, very limited choice in gyms that offer spinning classes. I'd read about them 3-4 years ago and looked around for a gym that offered them.. sure enough the nearest one, at 7K allowed smoking in the bar which you need to pass when you enter the building.. Great, isn't it, NOT!:mad:

So, I stayed away. I've had to do quite a bit of calling in October to find another gym that offered spinning lessons. Finally I found one at 13K, a large gym which was smoke-free.

So, the problem wasn't so much finding smoke-free gyms, but gyms that offer spinning classes. Now there's one in my home town offering spinning classes, but they are just starting and I definitely dislike the working out gym they have.. incredibly, incredibly cramped for the amt of machines. Plus, they don't have any free weights any more.. simply incredible.

Argument was that most people don't DO free weights. Aaaaarrrgghhh and I had just discovered Krista Smash!s home page in which she encourages women to start weight lifting with free weights.

Anyway, I am afraid the difference between fit weight and winter weight has actually increased to 13 kg/ 29 lbs :(

Ivana

I gained four pounds over my fit wieght at the peak of my winter weight gain this year. I worked out pretty hard all winter at the gym and spinning, so that's probably what kept me from ballooning.

I'm down three pounds now, largely do to long endurance rides, but, but I want to get down about seven pounds on last year's weight this year.

well, i'm not sure what's healthy or not, but i know plenty of competitve riders who gain a bunch (25-45lbs) during the winter and then burn it off again in the spring/summer - although one guy got injured and then stayed fat for 2 years...

i think some weight gain for a cyclist in the off-season is inevitable... i'm high-metabolism skinny type 6'1" and about 170lbs in the winter and near 160lbs in September near the end of biking season...my body fat goes from like 12% at the end of winter to like 6% or 7% at the end of summer... i also concentrate on builiding muscle during the winter and lift weights more than in the cycling months, plus i do lots of winter sports like skiing and snowboarding too but they're not as calorie-intense as cycling.

my guess would be anything less than 20lbs is probably OK although 5-10lbs is better... more than 20lbs i have no idea what it does to your body to loose/gain so much every year ??? it's probably better to reduce how much you eat or ride the trainer or take up some more winter sports...