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Weight loss and impact on Riding

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Weight loss and impact on Riding

Old 09-19-20, 08:26 AM
  #26  
DrIsotope
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Originally Posted by cubewheels
Strange. Everything you said here happened in the opposite manner to me.

I lost around half my fat with cycling despite eating more (more of the same foods I've been eating before I took cycling). Most of my 14 to 20 hour weekly training is in z3 to z4 in the 5HR zone system.

I had muscle gain in the legs mostly and some in the upperbody and arms due to high resistance training in the bike, outdoors - staying in the high gears, including long uphill climbs where I had to pedal standing couple minutes at a time and similar high resistance training in the stationary bike indoors. I also pedal out of the saddle with most of my weight over the bottom bracket so I can use higher gear and higher resistance (forces me to pull harder on the handlebar and make more use of my arms and core muscles).

Haven't experienced any issues at all. I even feel a lot stronger now in running now despite zero training in running.
It's unlikely you've gained any muscle at all. You may have cut some subcutaneous fat, so there's the appearance of increased musculature. And as I and others have pointed out-- you're very new. Everybody sees real (and perceived) gains in the first few months as their body adapts. You are absolutely not going to gain muscle in the upper body on a bicycle. Look at any pro. They're scarecrows. Look at any track cyclist... oh, that's right-- they spend as much time in the gym as they do on the bike.

Trying to sustain that kind of training load indefinitely is gonna catch up with you-- ask me how I know.
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Old 09-19-20, 02:29 PM
  #27  
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I've dropped 80 pounds in 12 months.

But I've only been cycling for about half that time, tops.

I'd say since I started cycling again, I've dropped 20 pounds.

I've also done a lot of other exercise including 100 push ups per day, core exercises, running, etc.

With all the changes I've made, I can't say whether weight loss has impacted my riding. I will say that the more I ride, my body is used to it, and I can do 30-40 miles comfortably. A few months ago, that would have been a huge feat for me.
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Old 09-21-20, 05:57 PM
  #28  
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I started biking March....went maybe 3 miles and was spent....dropped 30 lbs with bike and diet....now 25 miles, big hills and 10 mph so far....went from 236 to 204 this morning....I bike every other day...the off days I use an electric bike to go 5 miles and then play 3 hours of pickleball...then bike home. I dropped a lot of carbs ...but not all....morning I do carbs such as wheat bread PP&J or overnight oatmeal nuts and fruit....the rest of the day lower carbs.

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Old 09-21-20, 09:00 PM
  #29  
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Losing weight benefits on the bike

I get that on the flats the loss of weight in of itself does not improve speed. Aerodynamics matter more on the flats.

But I wonder if there are two other ways it may benefit you even on the flats.1) better aerodynamics - both on losing a belly and making you more flexible ( i.e. get lower because the belly is gone). I know it did for me once I lost 60 pounds I rode the drops more and 2) just the overall cardio benefit of needing to support less weight ought to make you able to go at the same speed at a lower heart rate because there is less mass that needs to be supported.so you can go faster at a similar heart rate. I am not claiming any scientific evidence to support these other than my own anecdotal evidence.
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Old 09-22-20, 05:53 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by DrIsotope
It's unlikely you've gained any muscle at all. You may have cut some subcutaneous fat, so there's the appearance of increased musculature. And as I and others have pointed out-- you're very new. Everybody sees real (and perceived) gains in the first few months as their body adapts. You are absolutely not going to gain muscle in the upper body on a bicycle. Look at any pro. They're scarecrows. Look at any track cyclist... oh, that's right-- they spend as much time in the gym as they do on the bike.

Trying to sustain that kind of training load indefinitely is gonna catch up with you-- ask me how I know.
You footnoted "typically" , but I think you really can't generalize validly from your experience. I don't think trained athletes are going to be the only exceptions to your general rule. I have been at this for years, riding a number of miles that is very similar to yours, do absolutely no working out on my leg muscles other than bike during riding season and elliptical machine in the winter. I put on huge muscle mass in my thighs and calfs and kept it on for years. Where I'm sure you and I are different is in our gearing choices. I ride habitually in the highest gears and do so while riding for miles at 20-25 mph on the flat. I also probably take hills on much higher gears than average. This is basically a hybrid between resistance and cardio training. I doubt many people can and will do that, but it does tend to make statements like yours really inconsistent with my experience.
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Old 09-22-20, 12:05 PM
  #31  
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And your experience is every bit as anecdotal, and provides absolutely zero evidence of any actual muscle-building. Perception of such? Sure. Repeated efforts over distance evaluated via power meter data could give a decent indication of gain*, but feel and appearance are equally worthy of being discarded.

As a resistance exercise, cycling is fairly poor. Each leg is only making power for a portion of the crank revolution, so the muscle is only under load for a fraction of a second. It's like doing 1/4" squats.

*Not all "gain" in cycling comes strictly from increased muscle mass; better form on the bike (and therefore power delivery) can make more with less, until the limits of drag are reached
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Old 09-22-20, 12:47 PM
  #32  
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You guys are forgetting about the conservation of energy. I may use more energy climbing but nobody beats my fat butt down the hill. When i'm in group rides, everyone is tucked but i'm sitting straight up riding my brakes. LOL.
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