Seedy J

I'm a 5'7", 28 year old guy. I used to be nearly obese (approaching 200 lbs.) until I got into cycling a few years ago. Now I weigh around 154 lbs. with between 14.5% and 16% body fat (at least according to my cheap Tanita scale) and I want to lose a bit more weight, but I don't want to overdo it. There aren't many opportunities to race where I live now, but I'm moving back to Florida next year and plan to get into it seriously. Most of my riding now is commuting (~127 km a week), but I'm increasing my mileage.

What's a good weight/body fat percentage for me to shoot for? I'm thinking around 145 lbs. (?).

chrisvu05

121 -153 lbs is the range for ideal BMI at your height so you could lose some weight but don't lose too much or you'll lose power on the bike.

UmneyDurak

Depends on your goal. *shrug Make sure to do strength training so you won't loose muscle mass.

UD

Seedy J

Are you sure? The BMI calculators I use say that 158 lbs. is the upper limit for someone my height. I'm certainly Too Fat For This Sport, but didn't think I was overweight anymore. I definitely don't want to weigh anywhere near 121 . I'm more interested in holding respectable speeds on the flats and sprinting than climbing.

DataJunkie

There is no hard and fast rule.
I say strength train and drop 5 pounds here and there until you are happy. I am 155 at 5'9" and doing just that. Strength training seems to be overlooked quite a bit.

hemprider

If you plan to race serious you do

ericm979

Not too many big climbs in Florida. Unless you are doing races with a lot of climbing you don't need to get rid of that last couple percent of body fat. Concentrate on building your base, and then on increasing your threshold power.

kidonabike

I wouldn't say a particular weight but a % body fat would be better. I generally aim to be between 7-10% bodyfat during competition season for my sport and off season let myself float around 12%. Staying at <10% isn't actually too hard I'm just a fatty and enjoy food/drink way too much

Also be careful with those scales, in my experience they are calibrated to err a bit high. i.e. you 14% may actually be 13% or as low as 12.5%

black_box 

another less technical approach: don't worry about your weight, BMI, or bodyfat percentage. Do some exercises to get your muscles pumped, then flex in front of the significant other (or mirror?). See what needs work and go from there.

I'm 5'5" and ~135 lbs, but everyones numbers will vary depending on your torso/leg ratio, width of shoulders/hips, etc.

Lamp-Shade

Its really as simple as:
1. Dial in your diet (this is #1 for a reason)
2. Do something that requires the body you want
3. Wait.

For example, dial in your diet for cycling, do alot of climbing, and all you have left to work on is patience before you look and perform like a climbing specialist.

LT Intolerant

If you want to be a climber the rule of thumb is 2 lbs for every inch of height. As an all-arounder probably closer to 2.2 pounds per inch of height. Either way my guess is as a "competitive" rider you'd probably want body fat to be < 10%.

The real benchmark is watts/kg. If your one hour power is around 4.2 w/kg you'd be "competitive" in most tough group rides and lower Cat races. If you are > 4.5 you most likely would be up front with the better riders.

Caad 8

So I'm 6'3, 2.2 per pound, so I should weigh 165, but I only weigh 141 right now, no wonder I'm so good at climbing.

Woodyg3

BMI testing should be abolished, IMO. Muscular, large framed people in great physical shape can come out "obese" on the scale, and small framed people with high body fat and clogged arteries can still test out as okay. It's a bad test.

Body fat is the test that matters, and so even though your scale with body fat analyzer may not be exact, it is way better than BMI testing. Elite athletes can have ridiculously low body fat, but for most male athletes 6-10% is a pretty good goal.

DataJunkie

Meh

standing naked in front of a full length mirror > body fat > BMI
Cost= a full length mirror

Seedy J

Now that would be awesome! I know mine is pretty inaccurate. Sometimes I'll weigh myself, get 14.5%, immediately weigh myself again, and get 1% or more higher.

Sounds like my initial guess of 145 lbs. was about right for a non-climber. 10% body fat is still a long way away, but I've already cut down by about 5% since April without even doing intervals or many long rides.

Thanks for the replies!

rumrunn6

it doesn't matter cuz women are only interested in getting money and children from us ...