One would think that with the kind of training I am doing I should be able to eat whatever I want and not gain weight. Well, I can certainly eat a lot more than other people! But there is definitely a limit; and that limit comes a lot quicker than one may expect. Between leaving for Nicaragua and leaving for Minnesota I managed to pack on about 4 extra pounds. They all seem to be in my belly. I didn't actually gain weight on this last trip--despite a diet heavy on beer (Light beer though!) and cheese-filled beef sticks! But I certainly didn't do myself any favors.
Besides not wanting to be a triathlete running around town with a floppy little beer belly, there are more important reasons for me to lose these new pounds (not actually new pounds; more like old pounds that came back for a visit) and in fact lose more weight beyond that.
Studies have shown (I love studies! Remember, I believe everything I read!) that body weight, and more importantly body composition, are very accurate indicators of triathlon performance. Basically, they tested a lot of high-placing triathletes and found that without exception, the highest performers had the lowest body fat, and of course low body weight overall. This is true to the point that, for example, in a race 1st place had 8% body fat, 2nd place had 9% body fat and 3rd place had 10% body fat. The correlation is that clear and definitive! I mean, the actual results are more technical and much better worded, but for our purposes the bottom line is this: Triathletes who weigh less and have very little body fat are the most successful.
The fact that lighter people move faster may seem obvious, but there are a few surprises. First of all, I was surprised how much faster they move. Statistics indicate that if I lose 10 pounds I can run 6% faster with the same amount of effort! That means I could run more than 30 seconds faster per mile just by losing 10 pounds! Do you know how much work and training it takes to cut 30 seconds per mile off race pace?! Simply put, weight loss (specifically fat loss) is the easiest way to get faster.
Secondly, there is an art (or science) to losing weight effectively for performance gains. I could lose 10 pounds pretty quickly by significantly cutting calories and maintaining my heavy cardio load, but I would likely lose a lot of muscle and keep a lot of fat. That would leave me skinnier, but also weaker. The key is to keep lean body mass and lose only fat. Fat is just extra baggage your body is dragging along on rides and runs. It contributes nothing, whereas muscle, while it weighs more than fat, is of course, what powers you through runs and rides.
I have been putting in the time and effort to improve my performance for months now, and while my overall fitness is significantly better, my performance gains seem pathetically minimal. The simple fact is that losing a good deal of body fat would do as much, if not more for my performance than possibly any other single factor in my training.
That is where this comes in:
I will be implementing the things I learned in this book to attempt to reach what I feel is my ideal performance weight; which is the body weight (and body fat %) at which I perform best. It is different for everyone, and is determined by losing weight in a healthy way while monitoring performance gains, until you reach the body weight and composition where you reap the most performance benefits. Basically keep losing fat as long as you keep getting faster, then when you stop getting faster, stop losing weight.
Besides not wanting to be a triathlete running around town with a floppy little beer belly, there are more important reasons for me to lose these new pounds (not actually new pounds; more like old pounds that came back for a visit) and in fact lose more weight beyond that.
Studies have shown (I love studies! Remember, I believe everything I read!) that body weight, and more importantly body composition, are very accurate indicators of triathlon performance. Basically, they tested a lot of high-placing triathletes and found that without exception, the highest performers had the lowest body fat, and of course low body weight overall. This is true to the point that, for example, in a race 1st place had 8% body fat, 2nd place had 9% body fat and 3rd place had 10% body fat. The correlation is that clear and definitive! I mean, the actual results are more technical and much better worded, but for our purposes the bottom line is this: Triathletes who weigh less and have very little body fat are the most successful.
The fact that lighter people move faster may seem obvious, but there are a few surprises. First of all, I was surprised how much faster they move. Statistics indicate that if I lose 10 pounds I can run 6% faster with the same amount of effort! That means I could run more than 30 seconds faster per mile just by losing 10 pounds! Do you know how much work and training it takes to cut 30 seconds per mile off race pace?! Simply put, weight loss (specifically fat loss) is the easiest way to get faster.
Secondly, there is an art (or science) to losing weight effectively for performance gains. I could lose 10 pounds pretty quickly by significantly cutting calories and maintaining my heavy cardio load, but I would likely lose a lot of muscle and keep a lot of fat. That would leave me skinnier, but also weaker. The key is to keep lean body mass and lose only fat. Fat is just extra baggage your body is dragging along on rides and runs. It contributes nothing, whereas muscle, while it weighs more than fat, is of course, what powers you through runs and rides.
I have been putting in the time and effort to improve my performance for months now, and while my overall fitness is significantly better, my performance gains seem pathetically minimal. The simple fact is that losing a good deal of body fat would do as much, if not more for my performance than possibly any other single factor in my training.
That is where this comes in:
I will be implementing the things I learned in this book to attempt to reach what I feel is my ideal performance weight; which is the body weight (and body fat %) at which I perform best. It is different for everyone, and is determined by losing weight in a healthy way while monitoring performance gains, until you reach the body weight and composition where you reap the most performance benefits. Basically keep losing fat as long as you keep getting faster, then when you stop getting faster, stop losing weight.
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