SteveFromNY

When I swapped my old MTB bike for a road bike (and consequently found this forum) I began looking forward to 60 mile rides. I went from 27%+BF to 10%BF because I found cycling so addictive that I literally could not stop. So...thanks y'all for getting me fit! My next goal is to be able to do a century.

EDIT: I used to lift heavily, the biking only accelerated my fatloss - I obviously didn't gain muscle biking alone. The fatloss revealed what I'd built up over the years.

Clipped_in

This guy did

rkwaki

Steve I don't think you are telling the entire story...

SteveFromNY

who's bradley wiggins?

SteveFromNY

not much more really. i hurt my back badly about 10 years ago lifting weights and ballooned 60+ lbs. got back into biking and lost most of it.

cvall91

Well I fit the first part of losing weight, but not super fit. I went from 245 and am currently at 195. The skinniest I'll ever be (for my body type) is probably 180. The performance difference is night and day though. I went from crying after a 5 mile/9mph ride to riding almost 200 miles a week with each ride being at least 18 mph (flats help). Once I get to 180, I'll start building muscle as I don't want to look like Sir Brad. Haven't done a BMI or BF test though.

Oh and congrats

amit_shah25 

Were you pedaling with your hands ? You will loose weight over all, go down in Body-Fat, but I can't see how you could get those guns by bicycling ! Quads/Hamds/Calves is explainable, but not biceps ..

rkwaki

But it wasn't just cycling that did it, you also had a dedicated workout regimen

rkwaki

What he said...

I'm a gym rat so I 'know things'

SteveFromNY

LOL, now I understand what rkwaki was saying. I was a heavy lifter in college and packed on some muscle over the years. When I hurt my back and couldn't move for 2 years, I ate the same way I always had and gained a ton of fat instead. I still retained some of the bulk, but biking got me back on track for sure.

kiddcline

Started road biking last year in May at 250 pounds. Ended the season at 217. I am 6'4". I contribute it all to the bike.

SteveFromNY

50 lbs is awesome progress! and I completely agree. when I started riding my MTB, I got winded after 3-4 miles. I just kept pushing forth.

rkwaki

I have two loves in life:
1. Working out
2. Racing bikes
Unfortunately at my level of racing one doesn't completely compliment the other.
WHen I started training on the bike last April I weighed 227, I was 182 by June.
I packed in racing in mid October and went back to my weight regime.

I was 231 yesterday - squatted 605 on Saturday (all drug free for the haters)

seymour1910

all the weight I'm losing is in the wallet

Commodus

Looking good Steve

I have a very hard time mixing riding with lifting...have to figure out how to balance the intensity better.

SteveFromNY

damn that is badass! and yes, I'm completely drug free as well. I started lifting when creatine started hitting the market and I never touched it- never even drank a protein shake. my genes were good though as I gained strength rather quickly by lifting and eating lots of bbq lol.

completely agreed. I originally thought my $500 MTB was expensive. Now I think $1500 is "decent" for a set of nice wheels.

thanks- I appreciate it. I actually did lose a lot of strength over the years, so I was a lot bigger in college. I honestly couldn't care less about getting big anymore. My priorities have completely shifted to endurance riding, so I'll have to face losing more mass in the coming years. But I love it!

SempreCycling

Cycling has made me look more like the picture of Wiggins than your "after" pic. I think if cycling did that to me my wife would probably buy me 100 bikes. LOL

Genaro

You've had to do some work in the gym.... picture is taken at a gym dude.

SteveFromNY

yep- i replied after the post. i used to lift, so i held on to some of my muscle I gained over the years. I started to lift again, but biking definitely takes priority nowadays.

ericm979

I went from 23% BF and totally out of shape at age 40 to <7% BF, 9000 miles and a million feet of climbing a year at 53.
In that time I have finished 9 Death Rides, 4 Everest Challenge stage races and more races and centuries than I can count.

Even when I was spending a lot of time in the gym I did not have a problem with building mass, so I only had fat to lose. Now I look a lot like the guy in the second pic only skinnier, no tats and less hair.

krobinson103

Dropped 30kg over a year and built killer legs. I can ride 220km at a.stretch and maintain a 28kmh overage over 110km. Fittest I've ever been but my upper body looks positivly unbalanced compared to my legs and core. Not that I care... feels like walking on springs these days.

koolerb

I've never been fat, but have had a roll around the middle for a long time. I've mostly been running for the last four to five years with no effect on the "roll". I started cycling in August and it was gone by late September. There's something different about cycling; maybe the intensity? I don't know.

surgeonstone

Now if you got 80% of those arms to wour legs you would look like a biker and not a boxer.