Weight as a racer!

vonhelmet wrote:

Do you mean “overweight” in the medically defined sense, or “overweight” by comparison to professional cyclists? One is not entirely fair...

To me, 'overweight' in an 'amateur cycling sense' means: doesn't look good in Lycra. Although in a medical sense I'm within healthy limits and look 'healthier' than most of my non-cyling and non-active friends, I currently class myself, sadly, as cycling-overweight. Working on it though.

madcarew wrote:

So long as you eat a reasonable diet (less processed foods, plenty of Fruit and Veg) then you're not doing anything 'wrong' unless you have a medical issue (hypothyroidism, Crohn's etc etc) George Bennett is 5'7" and 53 - 55 kg. However he has a threshold power of 340W. For your racing, the old adage 'train your weaknesses and race your strengths'.

Ignore your weight. It's not going to be an effective measure of your performance. You can go work in the gym (High return on time spent) and do explosive and high weight/ low rep work to improve your sprinting power which has a knock on effect to your endurance power. You can do lots of high rep intervals (2 min efforts at 105% of threshold with 2 mins easy repeated amrap). On the bike personally I'd select for you lots and lots of sprint  / track style work, for 6 weeks followed by 3 weeks of 5 min Max VO2 intervals with once a week of 3 x 20 min steady efforts as fast as possible. 3 Rotations of this 9 week program should see a significant improvement in your flat speed and ability to cover breaks. 

And eat. Lots.

I think you mean hyperthyroidism, not hypothyroidism.

Simon E wrote:

OTOH most amateur cyclists are significantly overweight, 

Quite a generalisation. Maybe true if you classify commuters as amateur cyclists, but that's not what the OP is talking about. In my circle, cyclists are well below average weight.  

Like the OP, I worry about my weight. At a shade under 6ft, from the age of 19 to my mid 50's my weight increased from 12st4 to 12st 8 in old money - average for my height. I then took up cycling and dropped to my current 10 st 7, which the medical books say is too light. This has mainly come from my midriff, but  I have also lost upper body strength. With Strava telling me I am burning 2000 calories a couple of times per week, that's one day's average extra calorie intake I need each time I take the bike out the garage. I can't drink enough beer or eat enough pasta to make that up. I find it mindboggling that the pros can make up 8,000 calories per day! Equally mindboggling that any cyclist can be overweight.

Griff500 wrote:

Simon E wrote:

OTOH most amateur cyclists are significantly overweight, 

Quite a generalisation. Maybe true if you classify commuters as amateur cyclists, but that's not what the OP is talking about.

Yes it is a generalisation, hence the use of the word 'most'. I was referring to people in lycra and clipless, not commuters in casual clothing. If the majority are overweight then a straw poll could suggest that what is considered 'light' is somewhat skewed.

Griff500 wrote:

I find it mindboggling that the pros can make up 8,000 calories per day! Equally mindboggling that any cyclist can be overweight.

This all depends on your metabolism hey? My ability to gain weight is legendary... however whilst frustrating, that same ability makes it possible to fuel on some massive days out on the bike.