During base: add volume or lose weight?

Training
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I need to up my overall volume as I’m catting up this year and my races will be longer. XC marathon and XCO.

At the same time, I’m racing against guys a bit (sometime a lot) lighter than me, so feel I’m a little heavy to compete near the front.

My lowest weight this last year was 183lbs and I’m currently sitting at a robust 193lbs. Current volume is about 10 hours. Ftp is like 280ish atm, down from my peak of around 320 this summer.

What would you focus on?

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Both. Adding volume and fueling that work as well as the recovery but keeping a very slight calorie deficit on the carb side during the day and rest days.

Key here is fueling the work and otherwise hitting the protein targets. Going and staying catabolic will cause weight loss but not the kind one normally is after.

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Hey @jsiegrist :slight_smile:

To increase volume, you can add 1-2 hours weekly over the next few months, aiming to sustain this increase without sacrificing the quality of your interval sessions. You might target 12-14 hours eventually, incorporating longer endurance rides that simulate race conditions.

To bring your weight down gradually, you can try adding low-intensity, long-duration sessions (e.g., hikes, steady-state cardio) and incorporating strength training. This can help with fat loss while maintaining muscle, a key for power on climbs.

We have a nice podcast about weight loss if you’re interested:

TR also has training plans specifically designed for XC Marathon and XCO. :wink:

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Season 6 Episode 3 GIF by Parks and Recreation

Seriously.

During base, these two goals are not mutually exclusive. Adding volume will help lose weight, if done properly. Arguably, it is the best training phase to do so since the workouts are more sustainable with lower caloric intake.

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I once had a coach who highly discouraged me from trying to maintain or cut weight in the winter. He told me that the lbs will fall off in the summer when the riding is harder, which was true. Seems to also be the case for you, as you were 10lbs lighter last summer. If your weight tends to be 185-200, just let it be if that’s what it is. Going down to be much lighter would be a huge lifestyle change, not just riding your bike a bit more, especially with you already at 10hpw

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