Does being overweight mean you're slow on a bike?

[MattMM]

You are such a rebel. Think how much faster, fitter, healthier, etc. you'd be if you weren't obese! You became obese to annoy thinner normal people. This is an unorthodox reason I've not heard before for being fat.

I can average 20-22mph and I am not obese. Think what more you could achieve if you lost some lbs.

Uh huh. BMI obesity measurement falls down as it doesn't take into account fat or muscle mass. Ergo, a lot of sprinters or pro rugby players would be classified as obese but be very fit guys. I'm a similar build to the "obese" poster. According to the last 2 occupational medicals I had, I was described a "very fit guy" with a resting pulse of 50. I've hit 44mph peak and can average up to 17mph in hilly terrain in Scotland, if I was fortunate enough to live in Cambridge/The Fens, it'd be higher.

The Obese argument is way too knee-jerk and generalistic.

 

[JasonHolder]

I havent said what I can achieve when not commuting . but am happy enough being medically obese ( same as most of Wales rugby team , and TBH most proffesional teams) I think the Resting heart rate , and how quick mine returns to resting after pushing it hard as well as a sensible blood pressure and sensible cholesterol level are better indicators of fitness and health rather than ap.

Blood pressure and cholesterol levels are better indicators of fitness?? WTF are you on? Fitness means performance, and blood pressure/cholesterol are meaningless other than if you are measuring them you are fat and underperforming compared to a thin normal weight person. End of.

that is the most profoundly stupid brain spasm anyone has ever put on the Interweb.

 

[PK99]

Blood pressure and cholesterol levels are better indicators of fitness?? WTF are you on? Fitness means performance, and blood pressure/cholesterol are meaningless other than if you are measuring them you are fat and underperforming compared to a thin normal weight person. End of.

that is the most profoundly stupid brain spasm anyone has ever put on the Interweb.

he was referring to fitness and health not just fitness

 

[Andy Jeffery]

All I know is that I was 17.8 stone when I started a few months back. I started cycling to get fit and lose weight which is working and have gone from an average of 12.5 mph to 15.4 mph on the same ride so I guess it does matter. But who cares I have found that I love this sport so does speed really matter?

 

[jefmcg]

Blood pressure and cholesterol levels are better indicators of fitness?? WTF are you on? Fitness means performance.

No, it does not. For example look at Tom Simpson: his performance was excellent, until he died suddenly. was he fit?

Physical fitness generally means suitability for a task. That can mean lots of things, and it certainly encompasses having physical measurements that are indicative of a long life.

And in biology, survival of the fittest is survival of those most suited to the environment. If the environment is hunting caribou, speed is a factor. If it's a herbivore in the canopy, less so.

 

[Kiwiavenger]

On an 80 Miler the other day I was with a 5'8" 35 year old triathlete who mush weigh 11 stone who was riding a triple, and a 6 foot 50 year old again about 12 stone on a carbon jobbie who's training for lejog. I'm a 6'2", 15 stone ex rugby player riding an entry level allez with 2300 gearing

Lots of hills, lots of fast roads, who would you think got up them the easiest?

I soon learnt that I had to sit behind the triathlete just to keep a speed with him otherwise I was off into the distance (more than once) and descended a lot quicker on my entry level allez. My legs where also very fresh at the end and without a dodgy knee I'd have pushed for a ton without them. They where spent when we finished

 

[Kiwiavenger]

One thing I forgot to mention is the triathlete is doing a half iron man this coming weekend so would regard himself as fit.

 

[screenman]

One thing I forgot to mention is the triathlete is doing a half iron man this coming weekend so would regard himself as fit.

Sorry but those two posts mean nothing, apart from the fact you are a fit guy, compared with the other two maybe.

A high percentage of body fat is seldom good for anybody.

 

[jefmcg]

Actually, there's a good example in the US press at the moment, Taylor Townsend. She was asked to not compete in the US Junior open 2012 by the US tennis authorities, because they thought she was too fat when she was the world'd number one junior.

 

[mickle]

An old friend of mine - who weighed upwards of 30st and who'd been picked on all of his life for being a fatty - used to do one of those foreign sponsored bike rides once a year (I don't know if he still does). He stepped off the bus on the eve of one in Arizona to the sniggers of a group of blokes who found his size hilarious. He set off in the morning - from the back and at his own pace and picked them off one by one within the first couple of hours. After the evening meal one of them approached him to apologise profoundly for their earlier behaviour. Deep inside all that lard was/is an amazingly strong (and surprisingly healthy according to his GP) man. On the few times I went out with him I ended up sucking his wheel - if he didn't drop me. Like a train he was. He proved that you can't judge a book by its cover - but it's kind of a shame that he had to 'prove something' to get their respect.

In an age when we've positively reconstructed society's attitudes to homophobia, racism and misogyny it's somehow still ok to take the p!ss out of fatties.

 

[ayceejay]

Does being overweight mean you're slow on a bike?
Now this is a question to deconstruct for sure and the opinions offered up here seem to show how many ways we could take a stab at it.
I can tell ya that worrying about how you compare with others can slow you well the way down even if you are training for the 'limpics.
I have two dogs, one is far from slow at feeding time and often eats his food quickly so that he can get to the others bowl so what do we do? We favour the slow eater. So who is manipulating this situation and proving to be the fittest for the task at hand?
So - does being slow on your bike mean you're overweight well maybe.

 

[ColinJ]

Wiggins 5ft11 12 stone

Wiggins is only 69kg according to sky website, so that's 152lbs

And he is 1.90 m tall, and that's 6' 3"!

 

[jack smith]

That is seriously impressive; perhaps you would like to join our challenge:- http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/100-miles-in-5-hours-challenge.154680/

Ill take a look cheers!

 

[nickyboy]

Let's consider the science a bit more carefully here.

If you have two guys with the same cardiovascular capacity (VO2), one weighs 70kg and the other weighs 100kg. They have the same fat % ie the extra 30kg is muscle & fat in the same proportion

Now who goes faster on a flat course?

It's the 70kg guy. The number of watts they can maintain is dependent on their VO2, not on their muscle mass. The 70kg guy has a smaller frontal area so he encounters less wind resistance. It's this that allows him to go faster than the bigger guy.
Up hills this difference is much greater

The question then is does a 100kg guy have a higher VO2 than a 70kg guy if they train in the same way? Answer is yes. His cardio system is physically bigger than the smaller guy. But it isn't 100/70 bigger. It's less than that. So on flat courses the big guy may be able to compete; his extra watts counters his extra frontal area. But going up a hill he's on a hiding to nothing. His extra watts won't counter his extra mass, so the 70kg whippet wins every time

 

[jack smith]

Not neccarily you can get some right scrawny dweebs but they cant neccacerily push a big gear or really put the power down just cause they are light , on the downhills bigger guys ususally tend to pull away too, on the flats around where i live the bigger guys seem to always overtake the smaller ones, its totally about your body type and your body fat percentage, ive been classed as dangerously obese before and that was when i was at my fittest training for the para's weight really dosent matter on fitness as much as you would think.
people think oh look theres a fatty i bet he/she is slow but remember they are going a hell of alot faster than the ones sat at the buffet. (Unless its all you can eat amd theres a limited amount of food)