Losing weight, Gaining speed.

pyrowill

Hi guys,

I'm a 16 stone guy, I've been cycling on off for about 5 years now but never really got my diet under control or did it seriously regularly enought o make a huge difference to my waistline other than a few fluctations. However I would say cycling wise I am pretty damn fit for someone like me. I did the London 2 Brighton in 3.5 hours this year. I ride to work about 3-4 times a week (26 miles a day total) and cover the journey there (13 miles) in about 40-45 mins. So I'm not BAD. My legs are like tree trunks lol

However, I'm obviously on the heavy side. In this game of weight is everything, gravity etc. I'm curious to hear stories or read info to perhaps foretell what sort of gains I could see in my cycling if I lost say 3 stone. Perhaps anyone has any personal stories? If I hold 3 stone in my hand it's bloody heavy. I can imagine taking that off my bike must yield amazing increases in speed. I know it will be obvious that losing weight SHOULD mean I should get faster. just curious to hear of any stories from people.

Thanks in advance

imposter2.0

Are you in some way undecided that losing three stone of excess weight would be a good thing..??

Grill

You will be much faster going up and slightly slower going down. Plus you'll look and feel better and may not die of a coronary in the next 10 years.

pyrowill

Imposter wrote:

Are you in some way undecided that losing three stone of excess weight would be a good thing..??

Not in any way. nor am I disputing the health benefits of losing weight. That would be astronomically stupid.

I was more after hearing maybe some cool stats or some past experiences of speed/performance increases.

pyrowill

Perhaps I should reword to simply "Any former fat guys wanna share their stories of how much better they are at cycling since they lost the weight". Thats all I meant.

izza

I started cycling at 16.5 stone and now am 13.25. Average speeds have climbed from 15 mph to 18 mph whilst distances have gone from 25 miles in a day to 350 mile multi-day sportives.

Personally, I found it was the raiding of the biscuit tin and fridge coupled with finishing off kids meals.

My self discipline is poor, so I beat it by betting someone I could do a fad diet - juicemaster's 7lbs in 7 days. DId it and afterwards had trained the stomach not to hanker for the cheese and mayo nibbles. Now where did I leave the Maryland cookies........

imposter2.0

izza wrote:

I started cycling at 16.5 stone and now am 13.25. Average speeds have climbed from 15 mph to 18 mph whilst distances have gone from 25 miles in a day to 350 mile multi-day sportives.

How much of that 'progression' is attributable to improved fitness, as opposed to weight loss..?? In principle, being 16.5st is not incompatible with cycling fast, or riding long distances on multi day events.

drlodge

Imposter wrote:

izza wrote:

I started cycling at 16.5 stone and now am 13.25. Average speeds have climbed from 15 mph to 18 mph whilst distances have gone from 25 miles in a day to 350 mile multi-day sportives.

How much of that 'progression' is attributable to improved fitness, as opposed to weight loss..?? In principle, being 16.5st is not incompatible with cycling fast, or riding long distances on multi day events.

Kind of agree there...on the flat weight loses will gave marginal improvement (assuming fitness remains the same). Its going uphill where weight losses really make a big difference.

izza

drlodge wrote:

Imposter wrote:

izza wrote:

I started cycling at 16.5 stone and now am 13.25. Average speeds have climbed from 15 mph to 18 mph whilst distances have gone from 25 miles in a day to 350 mile multi-day sportives.

How much of that 'progression' is attributable to improved fitness, as opposed to weight loss..?? In principle, being 16.5st is not incompatible with cycling fast, or riding long distances on multi day events.

Kind of agree there...on the flat weight loses will gave marginal improvement (assuming fitness remains the same). Its going uphill where weight losses really make a big difference.

Fair comment. Yet if (as I did) you lose sight of the friends I was cycling with on inclines then it is demotivating. Once you can hang on up a hill/incline then the losing weight/improving fitness actually become part of the same virtuous circle.

markos1963

I was riding pretty well at 14.5st. Able to ave 18mph+ on solo rides and a mid 25m for a 10mTT. I lost two stone over the winter and without any specific TT training my 10TT time is now in the 23's. I would say some of this gain is due to the weight loss(less to drag up hills) some is due to being more aero(smaller area to push through the air) and some due to me being more flexible(able to get lower without gut getting in the way) So I would say it's worth it even if you don't get any stronger.

okgo

It will obviously help most uphill, its possible to be big and fast on the flat as long as you're fit.

I have lost 3 to 4 stone and obviously it has helped hugely, but so has increasing my fitness.

Graeme Jones

Generally speaking fitness and weight loss are linked to a degree. You will be fitter and stronger if you loose flab and not lean muscle mass. I was 16stone before cycling then got down to about 15stone through portion control and cycling has then taken me down to 12st 12lb I was unfit before so its hard to say exactly how much it has helped but my averages are all up, my resting heart rate is 48! And max is 202 at 30yrs young.

I still feel I could loose a further half to a full stone but that's when it gets difficult at 6ft 2inches tall

BigFatBloke

Started training again about a month ago. Feeling good and getting fitter but unlike when I was younger it is really hard to lose the weight. At 90 kilos I need to shift about 17 kilos. My fat percentage has gone down from 22% to 19% but I have only lost a kilo in the month.

I know a lot about diet and nutrition and am counting calories doing what I always did in the past. Eat 2500 per day and rely on the training. But this time it isnt working.

Any ideas?

markos1963

BigFatBloke wrote:

Started training again about a month ago. Feeling good and getting fitter but unlike when I was younger it is really hard to lose the weight. At 90 kilos I need to shift about 17 kilos. My fat percentage has gone down from 22% to 19% but I have only lost a kilo in the month.

I know a lot about diet and nutrition and am counting calories doing what I always did in the past. Eat 2500 per day and rely on the training. But this time it isnt working.

Any ideas?

What's your riding frequency? I found I was quite fit and fast but heavy as I was riding about three to four times a week but when I started commuting(17m each way) and went up to ten rides over five days a week the weight dropped off much faster. Also on the morning commute I went fasted, that is to not eat or drink anything other than water until I got to work where I had a normal amount for breakfast.

BigFatBloke

markos1963 wrote:

BigFatBloke wrote:

Started training again about a month ago. Feeling good and getting fitter but unlike when I was younger it is really hard to lose the weight. At 90 kilos I need to shift about 17 kilos. My fat percentage has gone down from 22% to 19% but I have only lost a kilo in the month.

I know a lot about diet and nutrition and am counting calories doing what I always did in the past. Eat 2500 per day and rely on the training. But this time it isnt working.

Any ideas?

What's your riding frequency? I found I was quite fit and fast but heavy as I was riding about three to four times a week but when I started commuting(17m each way) and went up to ten rides over five days a week the weight dropped off much faster. Also on the morning commute I went fasted, that is to not eat or drink anything other than water until I got to work where I had a normal amount for breakfast.

Short commute only 3 miles each way or so but I extend it a few times a week and do a 30 minute ride home. I also do 3 or 4 visits to a gym a week where I do 2 x 20 on a bike or 20 min bike and 25 min run. Also some free weights. Sometimes I ride home lunch time as well. I am actually losing weight, but at a much slower rate than last time I made a big effort which was 7 or 8 years ago. I'm 56 now.