"warren" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:040320031606529937%[email protected]...
> In article <
[email protected]>, Kurgan Gringioni
> <
[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > A 15% bodyfat racer is so much faster at 7%. You don't know the
difference
> > until you've tried it.
>
> This assumes they have maintained an appropriate amount of strength while losing the weight. How
> much faster are they because of the weight loss? Or are they less fat as a byproduct of training
> more? Or are the faster guys always 7%?
I can't really answer that question authoritatively (from a scientific perspective), but I can
answer it empirically.
Generally, leaner is faster. I've only met one serious full-time rider who got lean beyond the point
of declining returns. The Ultimate Masters Racer, Vic Copeland, has told me that the leaner he gets,
the faster he gets, even in sprinting. That is what I noticed from my own experience also and some
other pro riders whom I've talked to about this concur. One of them won the climbers jersey at USPRO
championships a few years ago while in the middle of a severe personal crisis during which he
scarcely ate in the month ahead of that race (but he was still doing the racing). He went in at 128
lbs. and won something like 15 out of 20 of the KOMs.
Of course there is such a thing as the point of declining returns, but that is a very hard thing to
reach in our overeating society. Bad habits are hard to break, especially when they are so
pleasurable.
> > As an aside, being fat is accepted in our society.
>
> I am disgusted by the stomachs hanging out of short shirts. Don't these people have a mirror? All
> these 20 year olds who already have 15 lbs of too much fat... What will happen when they turn 30?
>
> > Even "athletic" bike racers accept the 1-2 lb. weight gain per year as an inevitability.
>
> Inevitable, or just much harder to avoid as a person ages?
>
> > Given the long-term health risks involved, it's a mistake.
>
> 10 lbs in 10 years isn't too bad. 20 lbs in 10 years is. And then 30 lbs in 20 years... Most of
> the decent 50 year-old racers I've seen seem to stabilize at about 10-15 lbs of gain compared to
> when they were 30 years old. Maybe the ones who get fatter stop racing.
What I am getting at is there isn't a reason (except for overindulging our appetities) to weigh more
at 50 than one does at 20.
It is completely accepted that it's OK to get bigger as one gets older. I used to have that
attitude. But now, after reading the health data, it doesn't seem to be right. We should stay lean
our entire lives if we wish to optimize health.
This is assuming that it is desirable to optimize heatlh. If someone isn't interested in making that
sacrifice, then by all means, eat up, couch it, drink it.
Since this is a bike racing newsgroup, I'm running on the assumption that 1) performance
optimization is desirable and 2) health optimization is desirable. Those 2 are directly opposed to
hedonistic optimization.
