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Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight
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 2013-10-02 3:31 PM |
 Seattle |  Subject: Caloric Deficit and Racing WeightWhen is the best time to drop some pounds and get closer to "racing weight?" Is this before you start your event specific training or during? If it is during, what is a safe caloric deficit to have while training at a high level? |
| 2013-10-02 3:36 PM in reply to: Asalzwed |
Expert  3145    Scottsdale, AZ | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight IME it's really hard to do it during and you're better off going at it before you move into race specific work. I'm currently doing the same thing, officially start the Boston ramp in December so spending now til then trying to kick some 10 pounds. |
| 2013-10-02 3:43 PM in reply to: Asalzwed |
Pro 4578 Vancouver, BC | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight I agree with the previous poster. I'm trying to do it now. |
| 2013-10-02 4:45 PM in reply to: Asalzwed |
Expert 2355 Madison, Wisconsin | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight first question would be how do you know your race weight? |
| 2013-10-02 5:15 PM in reply to: bcagle25 |
| 64 | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by bcagle25 first question would be how do you know your race weight? Easy: if you're have a lot higher body fat % than most tri-people you can probably afford to lose some :-) Hard: Only racing at different weight can you actual determine your race weight.. I know at ~21% body fat male, I'm nowhere near race weight and can lose some.. Don't think my belly is doing me any favors bouncing around on the run or flapping in the wind on the bike. |
| 2013-10-02 5:20 PM in reply to: bcagle25 |
| Seattle | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by bcagle25 first question would be how do you know your race weight? I have a ballpark of where I have been and how I performed. It IS trial and error as it works different for different people but I know for a fact (based on BF%) that I can safely lose a certain amount. How much exactly IS the experiment. |
| 2013-10-02 5:31 PM in reply to: Asalzwed |
Master 1858 Salt Lake City | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight I don't have any science to back it up, but assuming you'll have to restrict calories and won't lose the weight just by increased training volume I would think it will be easier on your body and to your training to drop the weight early during a base phase. |
| 2013-10-02 6:11 PM in reply to: JZig |
Regular 673 SF Bay area | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight I worked on it last pre-season and during training. I found that going into a calorie deficit situation (500 cal/day) resulted in a lack of energy. I felt tired all the time and during extended workouts would feel a lot more tired at the end than I had previously. I upped my calorie intake and got back to feeling 'normal' and could train per the plan without pooping out. |
| 2013-10-02 8:44 PM in reply to: Asalzwed |
Master 10208 Northern IL | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight It's been stated a few ways already, but again, outside of when your training load will be pushing the most. You'll need the replenishment to recover well during that. Some weight loss can still happen then, but making it a focus would likely be too much. |
| 2013-10-02 9:18 PM in reply to: brigby1 |
| 1055 | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight I would say 95% of us are not training hard enough to worry about replacing calories. Unless your workouts are greater than 2 hours at a time, water is sufficient. I can only speak for myself, I start training in January, and lose weight until hitting race weight around June, then hold it until Nov. Then I drift upward in December and start over again in January. |
| 2013-10-02 9:54 PM in reply to: ziggie204 |
Regular 5477 LHOTP | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by ziggie204 I would say 95% of us are not training hard enough to worry about replacing calories. Unless your workouts are greater than 2 hours at a time, water is sufficient. I can only speak for myself, I start training in January, and lose weight until hitting race weight around June, then hold it until Nov. Then I drift upward in December and start over again in January. The OP is most definitely training hard enough to worry about calorie replacement, as are many others who have posted in this thread :) Salty, from what I've read, anything more than 500 calories a day, day after day, could be big trouble for performance. One of the strategies I've read is to restrict evening calories a bit. Not so much that you have trouble sleeping, but not doing an after-dinner graze that endurance athletes can tend to do (present company excluded, of course). Another strategy to this can be eating a normal amount of calories, for 2-3 days, and doing a bigger restriction on the fourth day (so roughly twice a week), of 1000 calories or so, again, primarily in the evening, if possible. Trying to line up your low cal days with your lighter training days. 2000 total caloric deficit for the week (so a little more than half a pound assuming a pound is 3500 cals), could equal weight loss of 1lb/2weeks. Over the long haul, not too painful... Finding race weight is tricky. I am technically very lean, but am heavier than I think is ideal for endurance racing. So mine is a bit of a different situation in that my body fat shouldn't go any lower, but I am still "probably" carrying too much LBM to perform at my optimum levels in triathlon. |
| 2013-10-02 9:55 PM in reply to: ziggie204 |
Master 1484 Sedona, AZ | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight I think it's more mental than anything, unless you're running a pretty big deficit. Most people don't notice a couple hundred calories a day one way or the other, regardless of training. You'll notice it when you tell yourself you can't have it though. NO SOUP FOR YOU! |
| 2013-10-02 10:51 PM in reply to: MonkeyClaw |
| 81 | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight I'm a big guy who constantly battles his weight. If I lose more than 1lb a week, I can start to feel it. I was an AVID weightlifter/bodybuilder. When I would cut for the summer, I'd just starve myself and realize my workouts would suck. I can't imagine going into the deep parts of your race mileage on a big calorie deficit. If you've got to cut, cut now. |
| 2013-10-03 6:08 AM in reply to: Asalzwed |
Pro 5892 , New Hampshire | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight In the off-season... much easier to control your caloric intake when you don't need to worry about racing performance. If you're talking a few lbs., then that can be done during the season, I wouldn't recommend trying to lose weight right before a longer race (HIM/IM... you simply need the energy to finish). It's very easy to be in caloric deficit during the season... especially the weeks we have longer distance training on the schedule. |
| 2013-10-03 8:30 AM in reply to: audiojan |
| 7 | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Greetings,.. Long time lurker, 1st time poster here. You may find some good answers in the book "Racing Weight". http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/193403... I read the book last off-season, and it has helped me drop 20lbs while keeping performance intact. |
| 2013-10-03 9:49 AM in reply to: bmetjb |
Regular 5477 LHOTP | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by bmetjbGreetings,.. Long time lurker, 1st time poster here. You may find some good answers in the book "Racing Weight". http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/193403... read the book last off-season, and it has helped me drop 20lbs while keeping performance intact. nice! Now that you've broken the seal, post more  |
| 2013-10-03 10:00 AM in reply to: switch |
Veteran 2842 Austin, Texas | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Big drops, before. Minor tweaks you can do during. Saw a study (can't find ref but will look) in cycling - talk about weight obsessed... the pros make supermodels look like pigs - that compared dropping weight to building power to trying to do both. Either alone resulted in net improvements to W/kg, but combining them sent them backwards (or had much much smaller net gains). Different sport, same idea... You can likely run a minor deficit during training (couple hundred to a few hundred kcal per day), but much more than that and you'll likely feel like carp. Just remember to fuel/recover from the workouts (and not graze at night) and you can fine tune your weight, but any bigger deltas probably are better done before the meat of training. iow, what ^^^ they said. Matt |
| 2013-10-03 10:09 AM in reply to: bmetjb |
| Seattle | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by bmetjbGreetings,.. Long time lurker, 1st time poster here. You may find some good answers in the book "Racing Weight". http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/193403... read the book last off-season, and it has helped me drop 20lbs while keeping performance intact. Yeah, I have the book and HIGHLY recommend it. I just don't have it accessible at the moment (ie was being lazy.)Thanks for all the feedback everyone. |
| 2013-10-03 10:11 AM in reply to: mcmanusclan5 |
| Seattle | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by mcmanusclan5 Those are some great points Matt. And speaking of weight obsessed ... Yeah it can be a bit of a slippery slope and something I'm very conscious of. Big drops, before. Minor tweaks you can do during. Saw a study (can't find ref but will look) in cycling - talk about weight obsessed... the pros make supermodels look like pigs - that compared dropping weight to building power to trying to do both. Either alone resulted in net improvements to W/kg, but combining them sent them backwards (or had much much smaller net gains). Different sport, same idea... You can likely run a minor deficit during training (couple hundred to a few hundred kcal per day), but much more than that and you'll likely feel like carp. Just remember to fuel/recover from the workouts (and not graze at night) and you can fine tune your weight, but any bigger deltas probably are better done before the meat of training. iow, what ^^^ they said. Matt |
| 2013-10-03 10:14 AM in reply to: mcmanusclan5 |
Veteran 706 Illinois | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Calorie deficit is a tricky thing. I've lost about 115 pounds, and I've been stuck at 185 for about a year now - committing to getting rid of those last 15 to 20 is hard, since almost any non-controlled meal is a week's setback. My goal is around 9% or 10% bodyfat, where I'm at about 17% now. One thing to pay attention to is that, even if you eat at BMR during the week, or at a base deficit, a big meal on the weekends, or birthday cake, or a night of drinking, or a special event can pretty easily wipe out all the gains you made in those workouts. For me, running a 600 to 800 deficit doesn't seem to have a noticeable impact on training. That's basically eating at BMR and then 1 good workout a day. Going to doubles or long workouts though, and all I want to do is eat, eat, eat. My plan and goal is to base-build this winter (bike-focused), and cut the weight now, so that when I ramp up for full-distance training, I can eat and build real power. |
| 2013-10-03 11:16 AM in reply to: Asalzwed |
Extreme Veteran 1018 | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight I'm 30 days out from IMFL. I'm in week 2 of a big build phase. I'm 5'11 and I tend to race around 160-165. A month or ago I was at 175. This morning I'm at 170. I'm eating everything in the house. However, the weight is still coming off. I feel fine...now. However, I'm not sure how\why I'm losing it since I'm eating more. I wonder when I will see the performance drop. |
| 2013-10-03 12:48 PM in reply to: switch |
| Seattle | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by switch Originally posted by ziggie204 I would say 95% of us are not training hard enough to worry about replacing calories. Unless your workouts are greater than 2 hours at a time, water is sufficient. I can only speak for myself, I start training in January, and lose weight until hitting race weight around June, then hold it until Nov. Then I drift upward in December and start over again in January. The OP is most definitely training hard enough to worry about calorie replacement, as are many others who have posted in this thread Salty, from what I've read, anything more than 500 calories a day, day after day, could be big trouble for performance. One of the strategies I've read is to restrict evening calories a bit. Not so much that you have trouble sleeping, but not doing an after-dinner graze that endurance athletes can tend to do (present company excluded, of course). Another strategy to this can be eating a normal amount of calories, for 2-3 days, and doing a bigger restriction on the fourth day (so roughly twice a week), of 1000 calories or so, again, primarily in the evening, if possible. Trying to line up your low cal days with your lighter training days. 2000 total caloric deficit for the week (so a little more than half a pound assuming a pound is 3500 cals), could equal weight loss of 1lb/2weeks. Over the long haul, not too painful... Finding race weight is tricky. I am technically very lean, but am heavier than I think is ideal for endurance racing. So mine is a bit of a different situation in that my body fat shouldn't go any lower, but I am still "probably" carrying too much LBM to perform at my optimum levels in triathlon. Thanks, love! And very interesting strategy. I hadn't though of it over 2 weeks and cutting on the easy days. Probably the biggest hurdle I see is that easy days are usually "recovery" days and solid nutrition is a very important part of that. Lots to think about. |
| 2013-10-03 1:24 PM in reply to: 0 |
Extreme Veteran 2261 Ridgeland, Mississippi | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight There was a good blog post I saw about this. Gimme a sec. Edit: Found it! Pretty interesting stuff! http://twobordens.blogspot.com/2013/05/nutrition-strategy-and-racing-weight.html Edited by msteiner 2013-10-03 1:24 PM |
| 2013-10-03 2:40 PM in reply to: msteiner |
Expert 2373 Floriduh | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by msteiner There was a good blog post I saw about this. Gimme a sec. Edit: Found it! Pretty interesting stuff! http://twobordens.blogspot.com/2013/05/nutrition-strategy-and-racing-weight.html Oh man, I love this line from this blog: If you want to look better in a bikini, go for muscle hypertrophy. If you want to be faster, think concentration camp refugee with cancer. |
| 2013-10-03 3:41 PM in reply to: Oysterboy |
Champion 10018 , Minnesota Bronze member | Subject: RE: Caloric Deficit and Racing Weight Originally posted by Oysterboy Originally posted by msteiner Oh man, I love this line from this blog: If you want to look better in a bikini, go for muscle hypertrophy. If you want to be faster, think concentration camp refugee with cancer. There was a good blog post I saw about this. Gimme a sec. Edit: Found it! Pretty interesting stuff! http://twobordens.blogspot.com/2013/05/nutrition-strategy-and-racing-weight.html A key point to this blog post is the follow-up at the end. Interesting! |
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