bmontgomery87

I guess we just had different ideas of what high/low intensity were. I consider sprinting high intensity, you're gasping for air after 45 seconds.
Any pace that I can comfortably hold for more than a minute or two isn't high intensity in the way I was thinking.

Rowan

You are talking about extreme cases which rarely if ever affect anyone posting in this forum.

The likelihood is that at low intensity, a rider who normally posts here would stop exercising before s/he has depleted all glycogen stores as well as fat stores.

Weatherby

This is very true. Also........

It is very difficult to do high intensity work while being in a state of losing fat.

I changed my workouts from long steady distance rides where I was constantly in a low state of ketosis and losing 3 pounds per week over about many months to adding quality workouts (intervals) and Brevets. These types of rides need to fueled by gyclogen (at least for me). The interesting result is my weight loss has stopped.

I went from losing 3 pounds per week with no hunger to nothing lost per week and being hungry.

Once I finish the 600k ride, I am going back to my full Paleo diet and long steady distance exclusively.

My fitness has improved doing hill intervals and I am not overtrained but this plateauing on my weight loss goals just confirms what I already knew about my body. I can burn predominently fat at lower intensities and the weight loss is fairly easy. Higher intensities and weight loss don't work for me. YMMV.

bmontgomery87

^^For losing weight it's calories in versus calories out. 3 pounds per week is a bit on the high side of being able to lose fat without dropping some muscle mass and strength.

You weight loss has probably stopped because:
A. Your interval workouts are shorter and don't burn as many calories as the longer rides did
B. Your weight has dropped, your body now needs less calories to maintain it's current weight, but you haven't made the adjustments.

You can get absolutely shredded while doing high intensity workouts, you just need to eat properly.

I do agree that different things work for better for different people. If I go gluten free, low carb, or paleo my performance suffers. Other people may feel amazing while doing those things.

Weatherby

I have been riding 250-350 miles per week recently compared to 150-225 at lower intensity. My volume and intensity is higher. I think I put a little muscle on if I can trust my skin fold caliper measurements. But, I stand by my view that losing weight is much easier on so many levels using lower intensity workouts.

bmontgomery87

geeze thats a lot of riding.
How many calories per day are you taking in?

I only get about 100-150 miles per week along with strength training and I eat pretty much whatever I want.

sprince

People have different ideas about what is "easy".

You can lose weight by starving yourself, doing endless low intensity workouts and becoming a life long slave to cardio. For someone with a general aversion to weights and high intensity work, this might be easy. Or maybe you are lucky enough to have a spare 18 hours a week and like spending it on your bike (not everyone is so blessed).

But if you control your weight with a healthy diet, strength training, plenty of sleep, you really can eat whatever you want. For me, this is easy.