Achieving your optimal cycling weight will make you faster, and fitter. But what is it and how do you reach it?
“Excess body weight is the cyclist’s enemy,” says Matt Fitzgerald, author of Racing Weight: How to get lean for peak performance (VeloPress). “It wastes energy, slows you down, affects performance and stresses joints.”
You can’t change your basic physiology such as height, limb length and even potential for leanness, but, says Fitzgerald, “you can reduce your weight to a level that is optimal for performance given those genetic constraints.” You want to up your power-to-weight ratio by improving body composition through training and diet.
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Fitzgerald warns against using body mass index (BMI), as touted by many doctors to gauge optimum body weight. “BMI charts are designed to identify unhealthy weights for the general population, based on a statistical susceptibility to disease,” he says. “This is far too vague to identify ideal athletic weight.”
Instead, he says, lowering body fat percentage is the key, as it will increase your aerobic capacity because muscle has less competition from fat tissue for oxygen and fuel. (You can use widely available body fat scales).
For cyclists, a body composition monitor is much better than BMI charts. Body fat numbers to compare yourself against are 15-18% for the average male, 8-10% for a well-trained rider, and 4% for an elite cyclist.
Improve your diet quality
Balance your energy sources
Time your nutrition intake
Manage your appetite
Train to burn fat
Measure yourself
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
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