Not Much Improvement?

[beancounter]

It's exactly one year since I took up cycling again after a gap of several years.

I started off doing regular half hour sessions on an old turbo trainer, then I started going out on the road but on my old mountain bike, then I bought a new road bike, then I got a commuting bike. In all I've done about 3,500 miles in the year.

On the plus side, I've lost a stone and a half in weight (down to 12 stone), my resting pulse has dropped by about 10% (now low 50's) and my blood pressure has dropped a little to 120/80 (about normal, I think).

Slightly disappointingly, my longest ride has been about 60 miles and I just don't seem able to get beyond that. Also, my turbo trainer sessions indicate I'm only about 10% fitter than when I started (measured by how far I go in a half hour session for a given effort i.e. average heart rate).

I expected better. Was i wrong to do that? Perhaps I'm now just too old to see a marked improvement (obviously I'm sticking at it, though).

Any ideas or guidance would be appreciated.

bc

 

[jay clock]

my longest ride has been about 60 miles and I just don't seem able to get beyond that.

is that a physical thing? are you so knackered at 60 miles that you cannot go on? sounds more mental than physical to me. Do an organised ride? Arrange to cycle to a pub 35 miles away and then cycle back after a nice lunch?

 

[beancounter]

is that a physical thing? are you so knackered at 60 miles that you cannot go on? sounds more mental than physical to me.

No, it's a physical thing - I'd ride all day if I was able to!

My initial intention was to "force" my body to use as much fat as possible during a ride. So I was doing 3 and 4 hour rides without eating anything before or during the ride. This is how I lost the weight/fat. I got very tired but didn't actually "bonk" - I do know what bonking feels like!

Now I'm eating something during a ride but the least I can get away with.

bc

 

[jay clock]

eat more. I weigh about 88kg and am trying to shift another 10 kg (was 105 at peak)! If I cycle 60 miles, that is about 3300 cals for me (see here http://www.bikejournal.com/calories_calc.asp )

In terms of weight loss, each pound of weight lost requires a NET reduction of 3500 cals. So assuming you are male and weigh about what I do, eating the recommended 2500 cals per day and cycling 60 miles(thus burning 3300 cals) you would lose a pound.

There is more to it than that, and I would suggest not massively decreasing your intake. If you keep the NET consumption at 2000 cals that is 500 a day deficit and a pound a week weight loss. That would mean that on a 60 mile day you could an extra 2800 cals over your base 2500 and still lose weight

Do eat little and often, and don;t underdo it! Also on days when I do a long ride, or when touring, I find the hunger stays for the next day or more (or perhaps I just get into the habit of eating and want to repeat it.

In summary on a 60 mile ride with little or nothing extra to eat I would bonk quite readily.....

 

[jay clock]

Just to add that if I log every calorie I consume, and keep it about 2200, I do something every day which burns about 700 cals and lose weight consistently. I swim 3 times a week (about 2km each time), run 2-3 time (running for me is 100cals per km, and I typically run 7-8km) and I cycle about 22km 2-3 times a week. On Saturdays I often do a 45km round trip to swimming and make sure to eat plenty to catch up.

 

[beancounter]

Yep good advice, and I do understand the calculations around calories in/out.

I'd like to lose another half stone or a stone, but will need to address my eating habits again!

The major disappointment was the level of fitness, though - only 10% improvement? I really expected better.

bc

 

[cheadle hulme]

I did 62 miles yesterday, longest ride for a while, and felt tired all day and was constantly yawning. I struggle to do these distances on my own.
If riding with others though, I can easily reach over 100, so the distance thing is purely in my head.
Have you tried entering an event or something so you HAVE to go the distance?

 

[tyred]

I must admit that I'm disappointed with the weight loss from my cycling. I bought my cycle computer in July and have apparently covered 900 odd miles since then but have only lost about 2 lb. My diet is pretty much the same as before I started. But I do feel so much fitter than before I started which I suppose is the important thing

 

[beancounter]

Have you tried entering an event or something so you HAVE to go the distance?

No I haven't, but I'll tell you what else I do - my rides tend to be a basic 40 mile loop with other 5 or 10 mile loops tacked on, depending on how I feel on the day. That means I can cop out pretty much any time.

I must force myself to do 40 miles out, then I'm obliged to do 40 miles back - hey presto, 80 mile ride.

bc

 

[jay clock]

only 10% improvement? I really expected better.

I think if you have lost 1.5 stone, reduced your RHR to low 50s and can cycle 60 miles on few (prob too few) calories, that is a massive improvement.

 

[cheadle hulme]

my rides tend to be a basic 40 mile loop with other 5 or 10 mile loops tacked on,

bc

Accountants eh? always thinking about the figures!

Cheadle Hulme ACMA

 

[jimboalee]

Beancounter.

What you were doing was "Fasted Lipolysis" or 'running on fat'.

This is only good for TWO hours if you are keeping Randonneur pace.
At a slower Populaire pace, you will get through 100km without need for food, but you WILL feel knackered. Knackered enough for eating to be uncomfortable.

This is how I lose 1lb of fat weight in an afternoon.

I have developed a distance - kCals curve where short rides don't need food, to long rides which require 100% energy replacement.
100km requires approx. 50% of the theoretical kCals demand. So if the books say 2500 kCals, I eat 1250..

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

I must admit that I'm disappointed with the weight loss from my cycling. I bought my cycle computer in July and have apparently covered 900 odd miles since then but have only lost about 2 lb. My diet is pretty much the same as before I started. But I do feel so much fitter than before I started which I suppose is the important thing

There's a lot of variables involved, I guess .. how heavy / fit you were before you started, how good / bad your normal diet is and so on.

For example, I've lost around 10lb this year (covered a little under 2000 miles having taken up commuting in March), which isn't really much. But, I do eat a lot and I think I was building up quite a bit of muscle in my legs in the earlier weeks which offset the loss of fat to some extent ... I think this because much of the weight loss has come in the last few months, whereas I have been losing my waistline during the whole period. I'm now 3-4 inches less around the middle than I was a year ago.

And I feel much fitter, too. Many of my colleagues tell me I walk too fast now. And that's despite little short-ass legs.

 

[Ravenz]

The improvements are there and are real.. but there is a danger here of getting despondent and demotivated.. so plan of action... can you get yourself a formal fitness assessment from somewhere.. a good PT at a local gym .. you need to set a few baselines and on that foundation perhaps a new training/weightloss plan, so that you continue to lose weight and encourage stamina.
Don't rely on technological gizmos to state how 'fit' you are .. a fitness professional has a wealth of fitness assessments he or she can carry out to give you a truer picture and also help with correct nutrition.

You have cracked 1 massive hurdle - give yourself a prize and don't allow any transitory disappointment to spoil the party!

 

[beancounter]

The improvements are there and are real.. but there is a danger here of getting despondent and demotivated.. so plan of action... can you get yourself a formal fitness assessment from somewhere.. a good PT at a local gym .. you need to set a few baselines and on that foundation perhaps a new training/weightloss plan, so that you continue to lose weight and encourage stamina.
Don't rely on technological gizmos to state how 'fit' you are .. a fitness professional has a wealth of fitness assessments he or she can carry out to give you a truer picture and also help with correct nutrition.

You have cracked 1 massive hurdle - give yourself a prize and don't allow any transitory disappointment to spoil the party!

Take your point but...

I have quite a chronic lower back problem which means that cycling is all I can do, and I'm damn lucky to be able to do that at all, never mind for hours at a time. So gym work / weights / running etc. are all out.

I just need to persevere with the cycling and reassess my eating habits which have slipped back a little (and christmas approaches!)

bc