How much weight can you lose while building power?

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Shrike
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by Shrike

Realistically, in your own experience? Can be in terms of weight or % bodyfat or whatever.

I know personally that going sub 500 cals a day for weeks on end just buries me. Trying to find a balance at the moment while doing my threshold building block now. Going around 200 to 400 cals under, but not sure how that will work out a few months down the line.

coriordan
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by coriordan

Depends how heavy you're starting out and your target weight.

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mattr
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by mattr

And how much time you've got.

mattr
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by mattr

And do you want to actually build power, or improve power/weight ratio, or just go faster generally?

Shrike
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by Shrike

mattr wrote:
Tue Jun 26, 2018 1:03 pm
And do you want to actually build power, or improve power/weight ratio, or just go faster generally?
All three :)

mattr
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by mattr

Train more then, the weight will fall off.

And sub 500 calories is getting into idiotic territory, even sub 1000 is, if you are training. TheGreatGatsby got right into that. :(

Just halving the carb content of my evening meals for a week while on a lightish week (6-8 hours) was enough to shed 2 or 3 kilos (about 62 to just under 60) so probably what you are talking about with 2-400 under. Power was broadly the same (for the time of year, increased into the season proper)

But that was done off the back of several seasons of similar behaviours, racing, training and eating. (Single life does have it's benefits.)

Shrike
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by Shrike

mattr wrote:
Tue Jun 26, 2018 1:18 pm
Train more then, the weight will fall off.

And sub 500 calories is getting into idiotic territory, even sub 1000 is, if you are training. TheGreatGatsby got right into that. :(

Just halving the carb content of my evening meals for a week while on a lightish week (6-8 hours) was enough to shed 2 or 3 kilos (about 62 to just under 60) so probably what you are talking about with 2-400 under. Power was broadly the same (for the time of year, increased into the season proper)

But that was done off the back of several seasons of similar behaviours, racing, training and eating. (Single life does have it's benefits.)
Oh no, I don't mean eating less than 500 calories a day. I mean, 500 calories less than my expenditure :lol:

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Lewn777
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by Lewn777

Surely it depends on how much you are training. If you are doing light four hour rides (2000 cals expenditure) plus your basal rate 2000 cals expendiure, you could eat 3000 calories and have a 1000 calorie deficit and be getting all the nutrition you need. Obviously things might catch up with you after a week or two and you'll get fatigued unless you have a rest day or two.

Generally my guess is (and I'm not an expert) to eat about 25% less calories than your basal plus activity requirement.

Shrike
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by Shrike

Yeah so on the endurance days, you could go under more, as more calories should be burned purely from fat stores right?

To be safe you're using around 30% for a non fat adapted person, I'm assuming. I work with the same numbers myself when calculating my cals.

At the moment I'm doing about 200 under on high intensity days (short 1hr AC, FTP or MAP workouts), and around 400 under on longer endurance days. Training plan has me under 500 TSS per week at the moment which allows for a lot of recovery. Every 4th week is an easy week too.

That's my safe approach at the moment. Do you reckon I could decrease calories on endurance days even further for up for a few months if say I had two rest days a week? Day off and one day 30min recovery ride. Or would my power at the end of the 3 months be lower if I did that. Technically speaking the major cal deficit endurance days shouldn't have any other negative effect or is there some other effect of a calorie deficit, even if burning cals from fat?

Reason I'm playing it safe at the moment is that I've dug myself into a hole previously when doing long base miles on low cals and trying to become fat adapted. Wasn't pleasant at all.

If it helps at all, I've got a bit of fat to play with still. In the 12.1 to 12.5% range right now and weigh around 74 to 74.4kg in the mornings.

mattr
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by mattr

At that sort of weight and body fat, if you aren't racing elite or pro, I'd leave it where you are, unless you are only 160cm tall.....

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Lewn777
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by Lewn777

74kg? What height? If you are 180cm or over I wouldn't stress over loosing much more. I'm 183cm and 79kg, I feel like I could lose another 5kg, but I'm fairly happy where I am.
Still I think you could go further under on endurance days, but it does depend somewhat you feel is enduro.

Shrike
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by Shrike

@mattr I hold a weird amount of fat on my upper back compared to anywhere else so would love to drop down a bit more to see if it'll go. Just a personal hangup I guess :oops:

@lewn777 5ft 10.5 so that's about 178cm I think in your parlance?

I on an easy week now and have two 1.5hr endurance rides scheduled for the weekend so will try going lower on cals on Sat and Sunday and see how I feel generally on Monday then 8)

If I have a bad week on my intervals next week though, I'm blamed you Lewn :lol:

mattr
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by mattr

Not going to tell you what weight i used to race at then.........

Shrike
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by Shrike

Ah go on :lol:

Lots of guys around here over 90 kilos and they could care less what weight they're at :P

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mattr
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by mattr

:D
Comfortably under 10 stone. And 5'9"

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