login
Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results?
-
No new posts
| General Discussion | Triathlon Talk » Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? | Rss Feed  |
 2009-08-01 8:57 PM |
Expert  1010  Greer, SC |  Subject: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results?Just curious about this. I currently weight 182 and am 5'10". In Sept, when I began tri's, I was 188. I know I have made the lose fat and gain muscle transition. My goal weight for my Sept 27 race is 175. This is mainly because I have the theory of - the less I weigh, the less I have to carry for 70.3 miles. Now that I am two months out, I am really focusing on what I eat and drink unlike before. As of two days ago, I was a Gatorade fanatic (2 liters on an average/day). I have now switched to mainly water (b/c of the sugar), but still drink Gatorade after and during a good workout. Anyone feel the same or differently? |
| 2009-08-01 9:02 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
| On your right | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? I agree with you to an extent. At some point you can't get faster by losing weight because you'll have to lose muscle mass. For me, however, I'm way far from that point. I started the year at 297, and now at 247 I'm faster, but is that because I'm more fit, or lighter? Will I also be faster if I got down to 180? Of course, but again, how much to fitness and how much to just being lighter? |
| 2009-08-01 9:17 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
Champion 6046  New York, NY | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? yeah I had hoped to drop another 7-9 pounds for Timberman ,but my body/mind are fighting me too much so will race as is for now. |
| 2009-08-01 10:51 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
Master 1853  syracuse | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? yeah, I often wonder what is the perfect weight, i'm never happy with it. 6 months ago, "if I only could get down to 180" 3 months ago, "if I only could get to 175 by my first race" 1 month ago, "I need to get to sub 10% body fat." $hit....it never stops.... but losing weight will 100% improve results, if you have fat to lose. of course, most of that improvement comes from the fitness you gain to lose the weight, and you'll notice your run times getting faster much more than our bike as a result of weight loss..... |
| 2009-08-01 11:04 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
Master 1402 Highlands Ranch | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? It does. Not at my 'goal weight' but 15 lbs lighter than last year, and ~20 minutes faster on a sprint course. Less to carry, and in better shape to do so. Training more helps too Edited by StMaas 2009-08-01 11:05 PM |
| 2009-08-01 11:13 PM in reply to: #2321948 |
Champion 7233 | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? yes it does help. i am about 8 pounds lighter now than last year, and even at times with the same training load, things are easier, i get hurt less, and i am running WAY faster on the same effort level. mix of less weight to carry around/cook off, and the fitness gained through getting there. i dont have a lot of fat to lose right now (sitting on 6-7% BF), but still carring some extra upper body from rowing that is very slowly coming off. |
| 2009-08-01 11:20 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
Pro 6520 Bellingham, WA | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? I think it makes a huge difference not only for your overall results but for injury prevention. RW magazine had an article a few issues ago where they stated one of the number one causes of achilles tendonitis was a body mass index over 25 coupled with a pace under 9:00. That when runners start pushing to a certain point the body just isn't prepared to carry that load. Extra weight is extra stress on joints and tendons. I started out last year at 185 and 5'9''. I dropped to a low of 165 early in the spring and have hovered around 167. My goal was to get to 162 but I am just stuck. I don't have a whole lot of gut left but there are a few soft places to whittle away. I look back on my best running days long ago when I was about the same height and weighed 140 pounds. My best 13.1 was 1:18 and 10K was 34:00. It would have been impossible for me to do that carrying an extra 25 pounds. Granted I didn't have the muscle mass to swim and bike like I do now but I feel a lot of joint and tendon soreness and recovery would be less if I could shed that last five pounds. I too am a Gatorade fanatic but drink only G2 to keep the calories down. Edited by popsracer 2009-08-01 11:22 PM |
| 2009-08-02 9:35 AM in reply to: #2321956 |
Master 1440 | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? Since April I have dropped 32 lbs. I can now finally run more than 100 yards with out intense pain, as a matter of fact my last race was 1.9 miles and I ran all it except for about 20-30 yards. Also I am not seeing so much of that fat guy in the mirror. |
| 2009-08-02 10:56 AM in reply to: #2321837 |
Champion 7595 Columbia, South Carolina | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? The issue for almost everyone is not whether you have fat to lose -- we all do -- but the extent to which you can lose fat rather than muscle. I'm just shooting in the dark, here, but I'd guess that any male over 10%bf can lose fat without losing much muscle, and therefore might benefit (with regard to finishing times) from doing so. Of course, training will be an important part of losing that weight, and so it will be hard to attribute any increase in pace to weight-loss alone, but who cares? Faster is faster. |
| 2009-08-02 11:13 AM in reply to: #2321837 |
Veteran 393 The Beautiful San Fernando Valley in Sunny L.A. | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? |
| 2009-08-02 11:31 AM in reply to: #2322224 |
Champion 5376 PA | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? Experior - 2009-08-02 11:56 AM The issue for almost everyone is not whether you have fat to lose -- we all do -- but the extent to which you can lose fat rather than muscle. I'm just shooting in the dark, here, but I'd guess that any male over 10%bf can lose fat without losing much muscle, and therefore might benefit (with regard to finishing times) from doing so. Of course, training will be an important part of losing that weight, and so it will be hard to attribute any increase in pace to weight-loss alone, but who cares? Faster is faster. Yeah, I've found that as my training has picked up, my weight loss has slowed. I was dropping pounds early on (235 - 220) but then I started eating more carbs before and after the longer distance exercises. I found that if I didn't it was just too much of a struggle to feel good through the workout. I originally planned on hitting Sept. at 210 but now I'm not so sure. As long as my times and distances continue to improved I'm not too concerned. I figure that after my tri, I'll go back to a focus on weight loss and aerobic, long distance training. |
| 2009-08-02 11:43 AM in reply to: #2321837 |
Elite 3088 Austin, TX Gold member | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? It's definitely not all due to the improved fitness it took to get there. You will be faster with less weight, especially on the run. Go find a 10 lb weighted vest and go for a run. At the same heart rate and exertion level, I'll bet you're at least 10 seconds slower per mile, even on a flat course. On the bike, the terrain will determine the difference. On a flat course, you won't see much difference. On a hilly course, while you'll be slightly faster on the downhill due to more weight, you'll lose that time and more going uphill. |
| 2009-08-02 11:45 AM in reply to: #2321837 |
Regular 82 Northport, NY | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? This is the part of triathlon that becomes more art than science (at least for those of us without high tech gadgets and trainers) - how do we lose weight (ie consume fewer calories than we burn) without losing muscle or causing our training to suffer. I was at 162 when I did IM Lake Placid 2007 and now I am 184 (moving, fatherhood, life etc.). I just got back into Tri's and the extra weight makes a temendous difference, particularly in the run. I have tried to cut out the extra calories that have no impact on my fueling/recovery (mostly beer). |
| 2009-08-02 11:56 AM in reply to: #2321837 |
Master 1826 | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? The rough numbers people throw out is 2 seconds per pound per mile, and 1.5 watts per pound when climbing on the bike. The whole lose muscle/fat thing is mostly an excuse for most people |
| 2009-08-02 1:39 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
Expert 1073 scottsdale, az | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? it's confusing.... When I weighed quite a bit less a few years back I was running 12-13 mm when I started, after I kept running for a while ( lost 5 lbs) I was running 9mm, now I'm where I was last year ( abut 9mm), but weigh 10 pounds more. I know that losing the weight will help me gain speed BUT I my fitness is the SAME as it was when I weighed more, if that makes sense. |
| 2009-08-02 1:55 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
Master 1322 Chicago | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? I was doing between 5-5.5mph (yeah slow I know) last summer and my fitness is near back to the same level as last summer but I'm 20 or so heavier and I'm not able to really keep up a run with any reasonable length over 4.5 or so so it makes a huge difference on my times. I'm also carrying a lot more extra weight at the moment then just that 20... so it might slow me down more then most. I'm still about 60 over for the top weight range of my height. I'm not sure how much a "few" helps but it can't hurt much if it's fat loss and not muscle loss. |
| 2009-08-02 2:37 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
| Member 37 | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? this is one of the strangest questions i've seen asked here. what kind of response are you looking for? Its common sense, of course it helps. how many over weight pro athletes do you see. weight is a runners worst enemy. |
| 2009-08-02 2:52 PM in reply to: #2322436 |
Expert 1073 scottsdale, az | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? sneakerchimp - 2009-08-02 2:37 PM this is one of the strangest questions i've seen asked here. what kind of response are you looking for? Its common sense, of course it helps. how many over weight pro athletes do you see. weight is a runners worst enemy. agree... You can be a GOOD overweight or larger runner BUT losing weight WILL make you faster  |
| 2009-08-02 3:51 PM in reply to: #2322450 |
Champion 7233 | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? gymgirlx - 2009-08-02 1:52 PM sneakerchimp - 2009-08-02 2:37 PM this is one of the strangest questions i've seen asked here. what kind of response are you looking for? Its common sense, of course it helps. how many over weight pro athletes do you see. weight is a runners worst enemy. agree... You can be a GOOD overweight or larger runner BUT losing weight WILL make you faster as long as it is healthy for you to do, being lighter is going to be faster, and i am not sure there is a case where this is not true for running. for cycling, prob a bit more of a balancing act, swimming again a bit more goes into this. |
| 2009-08-02 4:03 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
Master 1741 Chapel Hill, NC | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? As others have said, you will be faster if you can drop some weight. However, you can also get faster by improving your technique and fitness. I got down to 132 several years ago after starving myself to get as lean as possible. I was 17% body fat at that point. I couldn't maintain that weight, tho, and now weigh 144, still a decent weight for me, but not as athletically lean as I'd like. I am now running about the same speed as I was back then, due to improved fitness. I keep trying to shed the weight, but the problem is, working out makes me so damn hungry, and if I try to starve myself lean again (I'm talking no more than 300-500 calorie deficit per day), than I am tired all the time, and don't have energy for my workouts. That is worse than a few extra pounds, imo. What I do now is 1 month prior to my "A" races, I do the starving thing to drop a couple pounds. Then I go back to normal eating for the taper - don't want to go into a race with a calorie deficit!!! Seems to work okay for me. Edited by keyone 2009-08-02 4:05 PM |
| 2009-08-02 4:59 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
Expert 1073 scottsdale, az | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? Knowing I WILL be faster is the reason I want to lose the 10lbs I gained, it's nice having real curves, but Id rather have speed.. |
 2009-08-02 6:06 PM in reply to: #2321837 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2009-08-02 6:23 PM in reply to: #2322585 |
| Champion 5376 PA | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? gymgirlx - 2009-08-02 5:59 PM Knowing I WILL be faster is the reason I want to lose the 10lbs I gained, it's nice having real curves, but Id rather have speed.. That's why men like curvy girls.. they are slower and easier to catch.  |
| 2009-08-03 7:10 AM in reply to: #2321837 |
| Master 2946 Centennial, CO | Subject: RE: Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? I picked this up off another site last year. And it's true:
Losing Weight The trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. Then you know your within 10 lbs. If they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, they you're within 5. When they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight. This is the weight lost that helped me get fast enought to qualify for nationals last year. I got down to a weight that I haven't seen since my first year of college. ~ 140. Saw almost 2 minutes drop off my 5k time and my bike and swim were faster. Now part of that was the training, but I know my runs felt a lot better at a light weight. Now 12 lbs heavier, I am about 1-1.5 minutes slower for a 5k. When your racing, and you are close to your potential, the weight loss can help you squeeze out the last little bit. With that said, unless you are really competing for a specific goal, I wouldn't put your body through it, just for kicks. The last few pounds are tough. |
| General Discussion | Triathlon Talk » Anyone think losing a few pounds will help your overall results? | Rss Feed |
|
|
|
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK