Calories burned in recovery.

disgruntledgoat

After a year away from proper racing and training last year, I find myself for the first time having to lose weight and count calories.

Now then, i've got my calorie coutner on my CS600 as a rough guide to what i'm burning when i'm trianing. I know that i'll burn roughly 2500 just by going about my daily business and i'm eating accordingly.

However, do I burn extra calories the day after i've trained in recovery? It would seem logical but i can't seem to find anything to confirm this in the, admittedly brief, googling i've done on the internet. And if so, how many...

ut_och_cykla

Weight training (or any hard anaerobic /break down training) is said to give an 'afterburn' of raised calory use. But i've never seen anything to scientifically support the idea either. It woudl make sense that if replenishing /rebuilding is needed this would take place at a calorific 'cost' - but such exercise is often relatively short and perhaps the total calory loss compared with longer more gentle exercise is negligible?

mclarent

I think the recovery point is valid, but should be seen in terms of nutrition not calories? Carbs and (to a lesser extent) protein are required for recovery, so certainly an increase in the % of your diet that is carbs would benefit recovery, but not sure that the calorie count should be increased - where would you be burning these? In terms of timing, the "get your carbs down in the first 20 mins" advice implies (to me) that the most work is done post training?

Infamous

mclarent wrote:

I think the recovery point is valid, but should be seen in terms of nutrition not calories? Carbs and (to a lesser extent) protein are required for recovery, so certainly an increase in the % of your diet that is carbs would benefit recovery, but not sure that the calorie count should be increased - where would you be burning these? In terms of timing, the "get your carbs down in the first 20 mins" advice implies (to me) that the most work is done post training?

I believe that is to do with insulin levels. After exercise, the body will absorb nutrients quicker, so it's best to have your carbs and protein then.

Muscle mostly repairs when you are asleep, and can take up to 72 hours. I doubt it burns many calories though.

disgruntledgoat

Drat! Another excuse to eat more falls by the wayside!

Lost 2.5kg in 2 weeks though... So must be doing something right!

pbt150

I've always thought that after hard sessions your metabolism is higher than basal rate because your muscles are being repaired. Something like SiS Rego would help you get some good protein and carbs straight after exercise if you're looking for a well balanced recovery drink. I think generally though your basal rate will rise if you're taking regular exercise, so your calorie requirement will go up above and beyond the amount you're burning on the the bike.

Be careful not to lose too much weight too quickly if you do start counting calories, especially if you are still training regularly. About 0.5-1% of your body mass per week is a safe amount to aim for, otherwise you'll risk injuring yourself or getting ill.

Al_38

pbt150 is about right I would say, if you are more active - training etc then even when you are doing nothing (like a rest day) then your metabolic rate is increased over what it would be if you did no exercise.

You can't lose more than 0.5kg of fat a week. This equates to roughly a 500calorie deficit a day. Any increase in loss beyond this is most likely dehydration which will have big detrimental effects on your performance. for every gram of glycogen in your body you need 4grams on water to support it, so if you are loosing more than 0.5kg a week then you are dehydrating and so reducing your glycogen stores. Hence you will feel a bit irritated and grumpy, more knackered and have less energy for doing exercise. In the long run you will also get ill too.

Also if you try to reduce calorie intake too much then your body will think it is starving and will really fight any weight loss (by dramatically reducing you metabolic rate), which will make it almost impossible to lose more.

Al