What weight for a 6ft 2' ( 185cm) rider?



Tim Benham

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Mar 11, 2004
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I'm 6'2 - 185cm rider - aged 34 and I am weighing in at 72kg. I have returned to the sport as a 'mid life crisis' being an average junior - then discovering beer and ladies

I bought a little gizmo that tells me my body fat is 24.5% - don't know how accurate this could be - anyone got any comments?????
 
What is the little gizmo?

Bodyfat calipers?
Bodyfat scale?


Bodyfat testing

Hydrostatic - more accurate method
Calipers - fitness club standard - moderate accuracy with a skilled operator
Bodyfat scales - less the moderate accuracy

Something doesn't sound right though. Sounds high compared your height and weight.
6'-2" at 72kg and 24% bf

If you were down to 4% bf you would be very light for your height.
 
Something is off. At 6'2", 72 kilos (165 lbs) is very lean. I am 6'2" and 165-170 lbs., my body fat is around 10%.
 
i'm 6'1" (~186 cm) and about 73 kg (~160 lb) and by Tanita I'm usually between 3.9 % and 5.5 % bf, depending on time of day.

Your bf reading is waaaaay off, unless you've got absolutely no muscle mass! :eek:
 
It seems like it's a crappy little electronic thing - probaly cost about 1 euro - and guess what - everybody has the same, standard measurement - niave to imagine that it would be all singing and all dancing I s'pose.

Where would I get hydrostatic - when I get to 65kg I'm normally so tired that I couldn't chase down the cat next door - let alone a break in a race - so 73 to 75 suits me best I think - still haven't won anything - having another try tomorrow - where are you all by the way - I'm in Portsmouth, England

Bikes I own are a Ciocc Airone with 9 Ultegra - got it in 98 and De Rosa Merak, with Record 9 - what about you guys?


Felt_Rider said:
What is the little gizmo?

Bodyfat calipers?
Bodyfat scale?


Bodyfat testing

Hydrostatic - more accurate method
Calipers - fitness club standard - moderate accuracy with a skilled operator
Bodyfat scales - less the moderate accuracy

Something doesn't sound right though. Sounds high compared your height and weight.
6'-2" at 72kg and 24% bf

If you were down to 4% bf you would be very light for your height.
 
Hi Tim, I'm in Canada, Victoria, BC to be precise. Sounds like you have some sweeeeet rides there; my rides are nothing like that, won't post them here. :D

I'd suggest contacting the Dept. of Physical Education (or Exercise Physiology) or whatever department deals in sport science at your local university. Usually you can get those sorts of tests done at such institutions.

To tell the truth though, if you ask someone who has been around cycling a long time, and has been through many seasons, they can probably eyeball your bf pretty accurately. Bodybuilders are incredibly accurate at this as well.

But, beyond that, you intimated in your last post that you 'feel best' at around 73 to 75 kg, and I think this is ultimately the most important thing. As cyclists, we tend to be far too absorbed in numbers and other superficialities. Go with what feels right, trust your body. And various other more or less truthful clich[font=&quot]és I could throw in there. :eek:[/font]
 
You're right - we do get hooked up on numbers - haven't set foot in anything like a 'gym' or other such place with weights and stuff since I was 14 - might as well give it a go for some kind of reassurance that cheap, small plastic devices aren't the most accurate recording devices.

Judging by what falls out of the local university from me, the chief study subject is narcotics, of what kind and another - might just try the gym instead....



Catabolic Jones said:
Hi Tim, I'm in Canada, Victoria, BC to be precise. Sounds like you have some sweeeeet rides there; my rides are nothing like that, won't post them here. :D

I'd suggest contacting the Dept. of Physical Education (or Exercise Physiology) or whatever department deals in sport science at your local university. Usually you can get those sorts of tests done at such institutions.

To tell the truth though, if you ask someone who has been around cycling a long time, and has been through many seasons, they can probably eyeball your bf pretty accurately. Bodybuilders are incredibly accurate at this as well.

But, beyond that, you intimated in your last post that you 'feel best' at around 73 to 75 kg, and I think this is ultimately the most important thing. As cyclists, we tend to be far too absorbed in numbers and other superficialities. Go with what feels right, trust your body. And various other more or less truthful clich[font=&quot]és I could throw in there. :eek:[/font]
 
I had hydrostatic done once at Georgia State University, but I decided it wasn't worth doing again. I would rather use one of my friends at the gym who are skilled with calipers to measure.

I second what Catabolic Jones says that you should go by performance rather than bf %. If you are training hard and eating right you will get lean enough.

I use a Tanita at home.
I measure in the evening because it does fluctuate so much and I only use it as reference number.
 
The problem with hydrostatic is that it is truely accurate and will count brain matter, which I believe is a fatty tissue so your count will be higher, but painfully for the ego more truthful.

When I had the hydrostatic test performed I really expected low numbers because you could barely pinch any loose skin, but the test came out to be like 9% and I was bummed out until I found out that my brain was fatty tissue.

However, finding out that I was 9% meant nothing and I ended up winning that bodybuilding competition anyway. So standing in my boxers in front of a bunch of university students and professor was all for nothing. Except for experience that I can share with others.
 
:D
Thanks to you both, I haven't been into this forum for ages, now I'll bookmark it again - I probably know the right person to do the bf check by eye - but like you both say - how you 'feel' and where you finish makes the difference - I'm not a pro bike rider afterall!

It's just the thought of riding the lightest bike you can afford, and lugging around extra piles of kilos on your body - that makes almost no sense at all!

Felt_Rider said:
I had hydrostatic done once at Georgia State University, but I decided it wasn't worth doing again. I would rather use one of my friends at the gym who are skilled with calipers to measure.

I second what Catabolic Jones says that you should go by performance rather than bf %. If you are training hard and eating right you will get lean enough.

I use a Tanita at home.
I measure in the evening because it does fluctuate so much and I only use it as reference number.
 
Tim Benham said:
:D
Thanks to you both, I haven't been into this forum for ages, now I'll bookmark it again - I probably know the right person to do the bf check by eye - but like you both say - how you 'feel' and where you finish makes the difference - I'm not a pro bike rider afterall!

It's just the thought of riding the lightest bike you can afford, and lugging around extra piles of kilos on your body - that makes almost no sense at all!

Tim,

If you're interested, at RST we can offer body fat assessment (skinfold measurements) using accurate calipers and trained personnel. We can also offer other testing as well, which as a complete package would make more sense to give you a full understanding of where you currently are and to help you set future goals. We can offer maximal aerobic power testing (MAP), skinfold assessment, lung function etc.

feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] or by private message

ric
 
ric_stern/RST said:
Tim,

If you're interested, at RST we can offer body fat assessment (skinfold measurements) using accurate calipers and trained personnel. We can also offer other testing as well, which as a complete package would make more sense to give you a full understanding of where you currently are and to help you set future goals. We can offer maximal aerobic power testing (MAP), skinfold assessment, lung function etc.

feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] or by private message

ric
Tim,

This opportunity is something to consider.

If you feel that there is some worth to have further assessments consider the following.

If I were a competitive cyclist I would rather be accessed by a cycling consultant over a fitness consultant. The fitness consultant can provide you a single number which is bf %. Any advice they give you beyond that would doubtly be applicable to competitive cycling. I say that coming from the fitness consultant side of the discussion.
 
Tim Benham said:
I'm 6'2 - 185cm rider - aged 34 and I am weighing in at 72kg. I have returned to the sport as a 'mid life crisis' being an average junior - then discovering beer and ladies

I bought a little gizmo that tells me my body fat is 24.5% - don't know how accurate this could be - anyone got any comments?????
That body fat measurement is probably wrong. 158 lbs (72 kgs) for 6'2'' is about what I weigh (I'm also 6'2''), and I had my bodyfat measured at 5 percent. I'm not all that muscular, and it seems like fat clings to my midsection. I am pretty thin, however. I think that for our height the weight of everything in our bodies is around 140-150 lbs. So, maybe this helps.
 
OCRoadie said:
Something is off. At 6'2", 72 kilos (165 lbs) is very lean. I am 6'2" and 165-170 lbs., my body fat is around 10%.

72 kg is 158 lbs. (72 kg * 2.2 lbs/kg=158.4 lbs, exactly)
 
I'll be a cynic and say that it might be close. I along with other have no idea what you look like. I am 1.85 too (which is more like 6'1" than 6'2") and when I was 225 (102kg) most people thought I was at 15-18 percent when in fact I was closer to 25-28. Now at 93 kg (204.6lbs) and roughly 20-22 percent everyone guesses that I am at 10-12. I have significant muscle too which accounts for weight. Not every cyclist has single digit fat no matter what their ego's tell them. Who cares, just ride.
 
I'm 6'2" and currently 174lbs, with a goal of 170. If you are 72kg (158lbs), you are very lean and could be a good climber in cycling. Some top pros such as George Hincapie and Tom Boonen are both around 6'3" 175lbs.
 
I do the 'just get on and ride' thing - but I don't appear to be getting any better - work and home committments make it tight to train - and I think I would get a psychological benefit out of knowing that it's not cos my poor old legs can't move the fat thing - whatever % that is - any faster! Though I despise horse racing - a thoroughbred race horse doesn't have much fat on it, and racing cyclinsts are meant to look much the same - aren't they?

Still enjoy racing - a result or two would be nice - I missed the winning break on Saturday, I wasn't quick enough to recover, when the break I was in got caught - and finished in the bunch. Still there is always this weekend!
 
You could always go out and buy a some fat calipers and monitor yourself. I find diet and supplementation influences my cycling greatly as well. Good luck.
 
I'm 6-2 and I weigh 170 lbs. I'm down from 190 (3 months ago), and I generally feel the best at the 165-175 range.
 
That's quite a range though - I wanted to go out and 'do a ride' today, woke up, felt great, got into a break in an 88k road race, got caught and at the finish had ABSOLUTELY nothing in the tank.....help - getting severely frustrated. Next race I'm thinking of going from the gun, just to see how far I get before my heart explodes.

BTW, weighted myself just now - 11st 2lb. Still 6ft 2 aswell!