I wouldn’t stress too much about losing some fitness. It sounds like you have a good foundation of riding over several years so even if you do lose fitness it’ll rebound pretty quickly once you ramp up again.
1 Like
That’s encouraging and gives me the perspective I need to keep going with this. I’d rather be heavy and strong than heavy and weak, which is how I feel right now, but but I won’t mind being light and weak in, say, February if that means I can be light and strong in July.
1 Like
Things I remind myself about to stay motivated (I’m also weighing up the same balance)
There are a couple of GCN videos that put this into context. I’ve no idea how to find them, they turn up on my fb feed. But one demonstrates how much extra power you need on the flat when a cyclist wears a weight vest (simulating being heavier) the other demonstrates the time difference climbing at different power outputs. I dont want to be corrected if my memory is wrong but weight makes a big difference on the flat and power isn’t quite as much uphill, or at least compared with what I gained in power over the course of last year.
Cycle uphill with a heavy rucksack/luggage - that reminds you how much of a difference it makes.
The other is Tyler Hamilton’s observation in his book. He reckons EPO isn’t as effective as weight loss. But obviously not one to actually test. 
Hey @AndyP just want to say a thanks for this post- v informative… looks like almost exactly what I am (should) be following myself… I just need the discipline to stick to it -especially the lack of intensity during build phase) until I’ve reached that target weight goal and realise that upping FTP etc… can all wait and to avoid destroying myself by trying to do too much too soon. At the moment I’m on a sub 400 calories + doing (non-Systm) Strength programme through to end of the year… 2 questions if that’s ok Why the refuel after as opposed to ‘for the effort’ and Be good to hear how that approach has served you since?
On the first question a couple of factors.
-
If I eat well after exercise and have a good dinner i should largely replenish glycogen supplies (the window directly after exercise is proven to be best for glycogen replenishment) = except for very long/difficult rides should not need any specific pre fuelling.
-
Personally I find I feel a little bloated on the bike if I eat anything more than a snack before a ride. Typically i’d want to eat ~2.5hrs before training if I was trying to eat a substantial meal in advance, which i find not very practical to fit around life.
For the second question:
The whole experience was good, but it’s undeniably tiresome tracking kcals all the time.
I arrived at my season goal event (a multi day trip across the alps) in great shape and was still riding strong by day6.
Now i’m into end of season break and not making any attempt to track kcals.
I will absolutely follow a similar season structure in the future (although would prefer to not actually need to lose weight next time!)
2 Likes
Very interesting posts. A couple of questions.
What is MFP?
How do you know how many calories you need without a professional? I mean there are a lot of specifics like gendern current weight, metabolism, trainingintensity,…)
MFP = MyFitnessPal
You tell the app your age/gender/weight and your level of activity.
The app will then use this info to calculate your daily requirements.
Don’t count cycling in your activity level, but do take into account your job. I have a desk job so told it I was sedentary.
You then use your power data from each session to manually add kcals burned from exercise.
This estimate will never work perfectly, but should work well enough for most people.
1 Like
Tx, I will give this a try. I believe I have a MFP account via my Withings smartwatch.