Weight Loss vs Race Time

Last year some friends got me into Mountain Bike Racing and I fell in love with it! Since last season I have been spinning 3 days a week, running once a week and have been seriously watching what I eat. I have lost about 15 lbs of what I weighed last season. Does anyone know approximately the percentage of time I can expect to make up in my racing time, all other things being equal, with this 15lbs of weight lost? Is there anyformula to figure this out?

Thanks!!

Well losing weight will definitely help you climb better. It wont help you on the flats unless it makes you more aerodynamic. It should make you sprint better. But its hard to say how much faster it will make you in a given race (in some races it might make only a few seconds difference, but that could be the difference between winning and finishing with the rest of the pack).

To know for sure go to www.analyticcycling.com . It helps to know your power output, but you can guestimate to get an idea about how much time you will save.

Losing weight will help you on the flats when you have to accelerate repeatedly - provided you didn't lose any power output along with the weight loss. Less weight to accelerate over the course of the race/ride will mean less fatigue.

I would imagine that losing weight would have benefits simply based on the fact that your heart has to pump blood to less mass. not to mention the fact that power is the ability to move mass over distance at speed. if power remains constant, and mass decreases, guess what...

I have also lost 15lbs since last season. I see dramatic improvement in my ability to maintain a high intensity out of the saddle with an overall lower heart rate.

What would you all suggest to increase weight loss? My reason to get into the sport of cycling is that it is a lot more entertaining than running and easier on the knees. My overall goal is to lose weight and change my lifestyle.

Ride your bike and eat less...Do a "search" for "weight loss" and I'm sure you'll find many threads relating to this topic...

I lost about 50 lbs (i have some threads here on the subject) and I'll tell you what-cycling in general is a lot less work. Not only climbing, but acceleration, endurance, breathing, you name it.

Think about when Lance became dominant. He lost a ton of weight but kept his power.

So all of your improvements was from weight loss? It nothing to do with training? Just lose weight and bingo, you got endurance, better breathing, and acceleration, you name it.

Truthfully? Things got a lot easier once I lost the weight. I've been riding for 3 years, including 1 year of club rides at 20 or so mph. I've also been one to seek out climbs-after all, I live in Utah.

I thought I was a decent rider at 245-250. I rode centuries in 5:15. I climbed pretty nasty hills. All in all, I was in decent shape. I was just eating way too much. I rode to support the eating; now its the other way around. I've made a bunch of changes with respect to food, and its paid off.

Physics are physics. Its a lot easier to move 195 lbs than 250. It just takes less work. So yes, that translates into endurance, acceleration, and breathing.

Your improvements sound like adaptations to training to me., not because your lighter.

How's this? My adaptation to training was to quit eating like a damn pig. I was over-loading. I also wasn't really keeping track of what I ate. With all of the miles I was riding, I was always hungry. The difference was, I would just eat until I was stuffed. All the time. If you'd like me to go into more detail, I'll be happy to. I completely changed my relationship with food.

I guess we are just missing each others point. Congrats on your weight loss.

Eat clean,if it doesn't grow it eats something that grows, nothing prepacked. This worked for me and I didn't change my work outs at all. Last year I started off at 195 and now I just under 170. I ride twice a week ,throw in a run and try to swim once in a while on the weekends

Josh

hehe Ive lost 130lb - i dont go quiet as fast down hills now ... but getting up them is a crapload easier!

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If talking about MTBing, it will make a substantial difference indeed. The hillier the course, the more benefit from losing weight. On a 100% non-elevated flat course, you won't notice.