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weight watchers?

For cycling, I'd say squats are your bread and butter but deadlifts are also very beneficial. Both have high risks of injury if you don't know what you're doing though. That always puts me off a bit.

By the way, were you at Uni in Sheffield? My brother is 30 and went to Sheffield Hallam so may have been there at the same time as you. More likely to meet him in the Leadmill than the gym though!

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
:cry: This thread is seriously depressing for a rebounding 80 something kilogram
Suck it up, Simon.

I tried an 'I-Speak-Your-Weight' machine at the local spa. Put my 100 yen and stood on the scales. It said "One at a time, please." :mad:
 
@Andy - the link is great. I checked the Kusatsu model and its very encouraging to me, since it marked the first event I did after only riding for 5mo. I was at 74kg then and when I tweak the power to get my time (just under 58min) I come up with about 170watts. This matches with the FTP test I did at the gym last year as well. I've come alot farther since last April - now hovering 66kg and can sustain closer to 250 now - so my FTP should be in the 300 or so, with VOmax hitting me at about 350 or so. I'll do my test next month and then compare. Based on the numbers, I should be able to get around 32min this year at Kusatsu.
 
Suck it up, Simon.

I tried an 'I-Speak-Your-Weight' machine at the local spa. Put my 100 yen and stood on the scales. It said "One at a time, please." :mad:

i stuck my head in that gym for a look last Wednesday, my butt got in on Thursday!:eek:uch:
 
A stupid question maybe but...

Everyone keep mentioning about how many kilos they plan to reduce, what I don't understand is how you find what is the optimum weight you should be? Is just the normal BMI (in that case what BMI value?) or is their any other way to find this?

I am 170cm and ~67kg. Is it being overweight?
 
A stupid question maybe but...

Everyone keep mentioning about how many kilos they plan to reduce, what I don't understand is how you find what is the optimum weight you should be? Is just the normal BMI (in that case what BMI value?) or is their any other way to find this?

I am 170cm and ~67kg. Is it being overweight?

It all depends on what type of cyclist you want to be. Overall weight is relevant for a climber (watts per kg) but for a time trial overall power (total watts) is the important factor. That`s why Cancellara can wipe the floor with anyone in a time trial but gets left behind on the climbs. For climbers, I remembered a comment somewhere that reckons about 2lb an inch. I found it: (from Joe Friel`s blog)

`In road racing the best male climbers are typically 2.0 pounds per inch (0.36 kg/cm) or less. Top female climbers are under 1.8 (0.32 kg/cm). Of course, there are always exceptions such as Lance Armstrong who is about 2.1 pounds per inch (0.38 kg/cm). He overcomes his greater weight by having even greater power.`

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/04/power-and-weight.html

So in terms of competing with climbers you would need to weigh 170 x 0.36 = 61.2 kg. Good luck!
 
`In road racing the best male climbers are typically 2.0 pounds per inch (0.36 kg/cm) or less. Top female climbers are under 1.8 (0.32 kg/cm).

Wow. Just wow. I'm currently in the middle of healthy BMI and though I'd like to lose a maybe 5 more kilos to be at the lighter end of healthy, I would still be no where near this ratio--which is fine, as I'm not a competitive racer and devote more time to my day job than training. If I did ever hit that ratio my BMI would be solidly underweight.

I wonder how body fat percentage play in to these figures, too, as even athletic women normally carry more fat than men.
 
Koribeyer; nothing more ugly than a hyper-skinny broad. Don't sweat it. :D
 
In my 'super prime' condition when I was sub 30yr old I was at 59-61kg . I'm 176cm tall. If I dropped more weight than that, I could attack hill like crazy - but had poor stamina. At 61kg the hill suffered a bit, but I could at least hang in the grupetto. Also - at the lowest weight I was oftentimes sick, always in pain and generally just training cycles-to-race. It was a 24hr job that was none too fun. Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph body types will be different. I lived w/a kinesiology grad student (UW) all through College, so was subject to all sorts of testing and brain dumping at the time. Very interesting. Balancing power with weight is likely the best overall stratgey for weekend warriors and those who wish to have a healthy lifestyle. At the end of the day, don't sweat it too much - if you ride consistently and do a few other cross excercises (even walking), you will naturally lose the excess bodyfat and gain muscle and power. The body does a pretty good job of this on its own. Same old advise since forever. Eat healthy, balanced diet, get plenty of rest and excercise regularly. That will put you in the 88% of peak performance range. From there on up it's slicing and dicing.
 
Balancing where strength is held is also something I've been thinking about. After 200km my legs have certainly slowed down but are generally still happy to keep going. My neck and shoulders suffer. This is probably in part do to poor form but also different bodies build muscle differently. Im not strong enough to do push ups:eek: but am working on it--for cycling and otherwise. However, after my summer tour the gym did some muscle analyses and told me I had lost muscle in my upper body.

Point being, some types of weight may or may not be good to lose. :cool:
 
`In road racing the best male climbers are typically 2.0 pounds per inch (0.36 kg/cm) or less.

Wonderful, I'm right on target... :p

I posted my response to Andy's initial question in the old thread. Let me copy and paste it here.

Losing more of my own weight is not really an option lest I want to find out what it is like being an anorexic. Of course when I gained 2 kilos through lots of good food in Austria this summer, I was keen to lose this again (and I felt the gain on the climbs!), but knew I wouldn't need to do much to lose it over time (and so I did).

For me it is about minimizing the weight of what I carry around with me. E.g.

- Lightest possible rinko bag, no unnecessary parts like straps etc.
- One 1l bottle and only one bottle holder, rather than two
- Actually none on some rides in winter! And basically never anything in my bottle for the first 50km or so when I won't feel like drinking any liquid anyhow
- No extra camera when I don't expect great photo ops - the phone camera will do for emergencies
- Lightest possible lights, and only if really needed (mostly in winter and on trips with major tunnels)
- Lightest possible repair kit
- Never a rucksack, not even on 2-3 day rides
For sure carry around nothing I will not need.

Maybe there are some hints here for people who struggle to shed their own pounds? :)
 
One thing everyone is getting caught up on is weight, really you should be focusing on average power Vs weight. You could be perfectly in line with the weight ratios listed but lack the muscular capacity to perform in climbing or sprinting which therefore totally negates any benefits of being lighter.

If you are looking to have the weight ratios of a top level climbers of 0.36 kg/cm or less then you should also be aiming to maintain 6-8 Watts-per-Kilo which means a rider who weighs in at 67kg will need a continued average of 460watts.

It's all very good to get caught up in the Pro Tour Peloton numbers and ratios but unless you are competing on a professional level I would forget about the weight ratios listed, these guys are supported by a whole host of dieticians, health professionals and trainers to make sure they are healthy, they make sudden weight gains and then shed it again and these are huge strains on the body.

The majority of us here are amateur riders that are doing this for fun on the weekends with the occasional race thrown in during the season so my recommendation is, enjoy riding, don't get so caught up in the numbers unless you know exactly what you are doing and are supported by trained professionals and unless you are planning a career as a professional rider don't take it so seriously.
 
I actually don't do anything in particular to maintain that magic ratio. In fact, I've been on it ever since coming to Japan many years ago, and cycling has not changed it. :) I eat a healthy diet, but that's because I just don't enjoy other food and drink. I don't have any desire to fill myself up with heavy or greasy stuff, or to go on binge drinking.
 
Have a low fat/Carb cookie then Ludwig for a job well done! :D

Unfortunately I need to work my bloody arse off to meet the magic ratios fortunately Im not on the squad going to France in Feb 2nd to race (can't get time off in the real world), so have another 2 months to either crank up the power or drop the weight hopefully in time for the Professional OCBC Singapore Criterium.

For those interested we will be racing the following:

- 05/02 : Boucles Catalanes, French National Elite
- 06/02 : Circuit Mediteraneen, French National Elite
- 12/02 : La Tramontane, French National Elite
- 13/02 : La Ronde du Canigou, French National Elite
- 19/02 : Grand Prix de Puyricard, French Nationale Elite
- 20/02 : Grand Prix du Souvenir Jean Masse, French National Elite
- 27/02 : Grand Prix de Valreas, French National Elite.
 
My main aim is to snap my bike in half through sheer power on the sprint.

I can deadlift 200kg now, and have been employing the power lifting techniques I have acquired on my bike; giving my bike some serious lower back agony power.

My Dura-Ace crankset now rubs against my front mech on both pedal strokes (when I stamp on the left, and when I stamp on the right). Seems it can't take the HAMMER.

I am probably doing it wrong, but the frame has not snapped yet. Making some clicking noises though.

BMX was a hell of a lot stronger. George French would do road bikes a hell of a service.
 
In my 'super prime' condition when I was sub 30yr old I was at 59-61kg . I'm 176cm tall.

I was working that out - around 1.9lb an inch - sorry, us British are used to weights in imperial measures. That was thin! Same for me, I was around that weight in my prime but am about 10cm smaller than you and I decided I was underweight at the magic figure of 2lb an inch.

Anyway, back to the original point...as I`m not racing or competing I don`t bother about weight as no need to save watts for some non-existant sprint or conserve energy for the next day. Between me and the bike I could probably easily shed 5kg these days but let`s see...on Wednesday`s ride which was about 65K with 800m of climbing I reckon I`d have got home about 2-3 minutes earlier which to me is not a significant figure to worry about.

More aero appeals to me, but with all the hairpins when descending it just means more braking which kinds defeats the point and more potential for over-heating rims...:eek:
 
A couple of goodies arrived today to help me shed some grams ...

Titanium Skewer Set - at 97gr. Though I only need the front one. My rear hub uses hollow Ti bolts and hollow Ti axle.

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Ultra Light Titanium Water Bottle Cage - at less than 25gr this weighs about the same as the old alloy fixing bolts alone!

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