I am 191 cm tall and weigh approximately 85KG (18% Bodyfat), my FTP based on AI detection is currently 293. I am currently on a structured program for my A event, in late October.
Ideally I want to be as competitive as possible., so I am sticking with my Trainerroad program and cycling outdoors in free rides two days a week ( Criterium training on Thursday nights and a group ride on Saturdays). I am averaging between 350- 400 TSS a week with about 7-10 hours a week on the bike.
I work a full time essentailly Office job and average about 10k steps a day plus training. I train with weights 3-5 times a week for approx an hour with a PPL split focusing on 4-6 rep range for strength. I am coping fine with the volume and continue to adapt.
I am eating between 2,500 Calories and 3200 Calories per day with a focus on at least 170grams of protein per day. I’m losing weight quite quickly (.5 to .8 kg per week) but still adapting. I imagine my ‘Race Weight’ is approximately 80kg.
I want to be as competitive as possible in my A race, what would you tweak in my diet approach to acheive my goals. Am I better off cutting more aggressively getting down to a lighter weight then focussing on performance. Or, should i just keep chipping away. I carry almost all of my fat on my abdomen. My goal is to have my FTP over 4w/KG at my event. I am primarily a Crit Racer.
How long have you been dieting for? It comes off quickly in the first week or two and it becomes a bit of a slog after that. This is what I experienced losing 2kg in the first week and slowed right down after. I am about 6 weeks into a diet and am down from 95kg to 90kg at 190cm also. I am sticking pretty strict at 500kcal deficit every day and have stuck to this pretty religiously whilst also giving up alcohol to have a real crack at this. I train around 12-15 hours per week and find i am on the borderline of feeling comfortable and getting through sessions with that deficit.
I would say if you are brand new to dieting I would think this weight loss would slow but you might also just be a good responder.
I wouldn’t be thinking about an A race in October but i would think you need to up your volume to get there. Do you have more specifics about the event? If it’s really a focus closer to the date i would drop the weights down to 1-2 and make cycling the focus.
In summary with an A event so far away you can definitely get your weight down without losing power. Just keep carbs high through the process.
If you are currently losing weight consistently woth your current plan just keep doing. Trying to get more aggressive right now is probably the worse thing you can do.
Losing weight and gaining fitness is a fine line and you don’t want to slip up and get into a scenario where you are sacrificing your fueling and recovery.
Yeah with how much training you’re doing I would definitely not look to be more aggressive with the deficit.
My first thought here is that if cycling is your primary sport and you have an A race that you want to be competitive for then I’d drop the lifting down soon. 3-5 days of heavy lifting is A LOT. And you’d probably tolerate the deficit better with less intense lifting a several more easy hours on the bike.
With regards to recovery and performance, “calories” is a poor indicator of diet quality or long term outcome or sustainability. Where is the protein coming from? How much fat, and where is the fat coming from? Any fried or processed “snack food”? How many carbs are you eating, and from what?
I don’t want to give this as advice, but I offer it as food for thought (yes very punny) .
I use an app to track my macros. I set my self a target protein intake or 2g per kg target body weight. I then add 60g of fat, this is low , but I cook for myself and have control. After that its carbs up to my target daily calorie intake. On a daily basis I make sure I get my protein, supplementing with whey, in the evening to hit the mark. If I go low on my carbs or fat, well that’s a bonus.
Carb to Ride: Weekends are my big ride days , so I hit my carb allowance for the day before and evening after, but don’t pig out. The trick here is to eat complex / low glycemic carbs, so the body can create glycogen, and not go into panic blood sugar control mode and create lots of body fat.
I do track what I eat on my long rides, but it is always lower (half) that of my powermeter measured count, so I don’t stress about having a full fat coke on the roads - i eat plenty. I dont follow rules like “eat x calories” per 20 min, hours etc. but i do proactively eat.
If you’re primarily a crit racer, I’m wondering if its worth putting that much effort into losing weight. You don’t say much about your training history but I’m wondering why trying to build power (without dieting) isn’t an option?
Agree with this. Cutting weight seems like it would be most beneficial in climbing events and even then, not at the cost of power. I am a big believer in eating well (balanced and real food) and listening to your body. Fuel your training, fuel your recovery and the body composition should take care of itself.