Why are there so many cyclists with potbellies?
 

I've always wondered about this phenomenon. I have a fast metabolism and don't drink so I've been slim and @160lbs for the last 30 years. Couldn't get a potbelly if I wanted to. But I see guys on charity/group rides, club members who ride all the time and they keep their freaking potbelly. They usually wear club cut jerseys with loose sleeves but it doesn't hide anything. No, they usually aren't that fast but if someone rides all the time how does the potbelly not get burned off? Heavy drinking maybe?

You eat more than you burn.

They are slower than you and buy bikes that are priced disproportionately to their average speed

Desk job, poor diet, too many carbs/sugars, no cross training, etc. many reasons and variables.

Doesn't even have to be all that heavy. Metabolically, beer is silly nonsense. It's got plenty of calories and doesn't satiate hunger much.

Drinking isn't the only source of hard-to-burn shenanigans either. Extra sugar especially can cause you to pile on the pounds.

How tall are you?

none of the people I ride(age 31-63)with have pot-bellies, but most are lifelong athletes that compete in a few marathons or IM length events each year. One guy does the GDMBR every summer.

This thread brought to you by a guy whose handle is "Lazyass"

See any thread in the 41 on what to eat.

There's a stupid idea/myth that you have to stuff a lot of carbs to cycle also.

Confirmation bias? Please tell us the proportion of people on charity rides with pot bellies and then the proportion for the population as a whole. Then we might know if you're on to something or not.

Uh, also, a lot of people take up cycling TO LOSE WEIGHT and just haven't lost it all, yet. Sheesh!

old rich guys who are office workers who sit behind a computer and eat fast food. They commute to work in expensive BMW's and Mercedes.

On weekends, they dress up like Robin Hood in spandex and ride their very expensive carbon bikes ... Often, they ride in groups with their friends who work with them. You never see them riding in winter though, or when the weather is bad

all good though, as they are at least making an effort to get fit.

Processed food

Diet is 90% the problem. You can't exercise yourself thin if your still eating a bad diet.

Look at all the marathon runners that finish over 4 hours. They still trained and ran a marathon, but lots of pot bellies there too.

Its a larger gas tank to sustain us for those longer rides. Duh!

Mine's not a pot belly, it is an airfoil shaped mid-body. If you knew your aero you would understand.

Yeah, but I mean I'm talking about guys who do century rides. Most human beings can't ride 100 miles. I mean how do they still have a potbelly? It's just weird.

Cycling really isn't that hard. It can be, if you make it, but you can soft pedal and coast a lot too and you don't have to be very fast. Also, you get to sit down while you do it. You see more heavy cyclists than heavy runners because of all that.

Plus, all kinds of phone apps say you burned 30 million calories on your ride to McDonalds.

Mine is an aero belly.

I know calories in < calories out = weight loss, but some people also just have different body shapes. A teammate is a fast Cat 3, in his late 40s, rode 13,000 miles last year and still has a paunchy looking stomach. Sometimes genetics win.

For the majority of people you're talking about, yeah. They just eat too much after rides. I don't think calorie counting apps that dramatically overestimate your burn do people much good either. Oh, your 16 mile ride where you didn't exceed 130 bpm burned 900 calories? Ok.

6 hours centuries are no big deal. Are any of those potbellied cyclists riding 5 hour solo-centuries?

Potbelly just means they have a relatively high body fat percentage. Cycling is just cardio, which doesn't really help lower body fat percentage. A healthy diet and lifting weight is what does help.

Can shed pounds off by lifting my face off. Cycling hasn't done TOO much for me quite yet. But I enjoy it more I think.

I've sort of been wondering about this myself.
And some of these pot bellies are OLD, too...and they STILL are fairly strong cyclists.
In fact, out of curiosity I asked one of these guys how long he's been riding. He said about 7 years. The guy is a very strong rider...but is a dumpy little guy.
He said he rides a lot - in the winter he's on the trainer.
I've concluded that there is a such thing as being in "cycling shape"...which means your legs are strong and you are in good aerobic condition. You might still have a belly, but you're actually "in shape" otherwise as far as cycling is concerned.

So, while also being "in shape", they also like to eat...plenty! :thumb:

Sure it does. It increases your metabolism, which in turn will help lose weight (all other things being equal).