Winter weight gain



C

Chris M

Guest
Most if not all of the posts related to winter weight gain have been
sarcastic in nature (which is much more important than my post...but) I
am curious to hear real guesses as to how much Ullrich and any other
pro fatties gain. I have been struggling with sever injuries related to
a collision and gaiend 30 pounds (after my jaws were unwired) and have
only 10 to 12 pounds left to lose. It has been really hard but when I
look in the mirror or at photos from even the peak weight gain, I think
I still look leaner than Ullrich does during his winter and spring
training periods. I am really close to his size and weight during the
racing season but I have no idea really how much weight he gains. It
looks like more than 15 kilos to me but can that really be true?
 
Chris M says...

>I have been struggling with sever injuries related to
>a collision and gaiend 30 pounds


You had a body part severed in a wreck and gained weight in the process?

>It looks like more than 15 kilos to me but can that really be true?


Go chug a dozen large bottles of that good German weiss beer a day and see what
happens to your gut!
 
Chris M wrote:

> am curious to hear real guesses as to how much Ullrich and any other
> pro fatties gain. I have been struggling with sever injuries related to
> a collision and gaiend 30 pounds


Don't know what Ulrich gains, but gaining weight happens because of
eating too much... so it varies a lot. Of course, if you are at a
dangerously low body-fat level it would be good to add a little fat...
but that wouldn't necessarily be a weight gain.

I stopped riding completely once, after riding/training about 300 miles
a week, and I *lost* 25 lbs in 2 months. All my leg and butt muscles
shrank, but I stayed lean.
 
"Ron Ruff" wrote:
> Don't know what Ulrich gains, but gaining weight happens because of
> eating too much...


So **that's** what causes it!!! I always wondered...

> I stopped riding completely once, after riding/training about 300 miles
> a week, and I *lost* 25 lbs in 2 months.


Lucky you. I just got back on my bike after a few weeks off and I gained 5
lbs.
 
Ron Ruff wrote:
>
> I stopped riding completely once, after riding/training about 300 miles
> a week, and I *lost* 25 lbs in 2 months. All my leg and butt muscles
> shrank, but I stayed lean.


Really? That sounds far from the "normal." If you were training at the
1200 mile per month rate I'd think you were running a BF % of ~10 (or
less). So unless you are unusually large you'd need to be losing almost
all of your body fat and then another several lbs. of muscle. Unless
you were drastically calorie resticted that just is way beyond what
would happen to most folks.
 
On Thu, 3 Nov 2005 19:00:08 -0500, "psycholist" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I got hit by a car and was seriously injured three years ago. Went from
>riding 300 miles per week to zero for the next 3 months ... and a very slow
>build back after that.
>
> Finally, I did every single exercise
>I could manage in my diminished capacity. I invented stuff I could do in
>the chair I was confined to. I invented stuff I could do when I could move
>around on crutches, but couldn't bear weight on my broken leg. I know part
>of my weight "control" was through muscle atrophy, but because I stayed
>lean, when I was able to start working to get back into shape, it came
>remarkably quickly. The folks I train with were amazed. So was my doctor.
>


Very cool.

JT

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************
 
gds wrote:
> Ron Ruff wrote:
> >
> > I stopped riding completely once, after riding/training about 300 miles
> > a week, and I *lost* 25 lbs in 2 months. All my leg and butt muscles
> > shrank, but I stayed lean.

>
> Really? That sounds far from the "normal." If you were training at the
> 1200 mile per month rate I'd think you were running a BF % of ~10 (or
> less). So unless you are unusually large you'd need to be losing almost
> all of your body fat and then another several lbs. of muscle. Unless
> you were drastically calorie resticted that just is way beyond what
> would happen to most folks.


I thought it was pretty weird myself. I wasn't calorie restricted at
all... and my body fat when I quit riding was probably 5% or less
(@6ft, 165lbs... dropping to 140lbs). The only thing I can figure is
that my metabolism stayed high for some reason. I wasn't injured BTW,
my living circumstances just made cycling very inconvenient. I stayed
lean and skinny for several years (no cycling), and then my weight
climbed up to 165lb and stabilized again for no apparent reason (sadly,
not so much muscle).

So... when I said weight gain comes from "eating too much", I didn't
mean that there aren't other very significant factors... but eating
less or better can always solve the issue. People tend to get into a
habit with eating regardless of how much they need, plus our bodies
seem to want to seek a certain composition, and the metabolism can vary
hugely to achieve that. I'm riding about 200 miles a week now, but I'm
not any where near as lean as I used to be... though I still weigh
165lbs like I did before.
 
Remember that Jan grew up in the East German society with strict limits
on everything including the food you could eat and what you could
drink.

Now as a super hero he believes he has the right to enjoy himself.

And unless you could keep up with him perhaps he is correct?

I didn't see anyone else that could finish second in the Tour de France
so many times, win once and finish no lower than 4th. You certainly
can't fault Ullrich for not being able to beat Lance. No one else could
either.
 
Tom Kunich wrote:
> Remember that Jan grew up in the East German society with strict limits
> on everything including the food you could eat and what you could
> drink.
>
> Now as a super hero he believes he has the right to enjoy himself.
>
> And unless you could keep up with him perhaps he is correct?
>
> I didn't see anyone else that could finish second in the Tour de France
> so many times, win once and finish no lower than 4th. You certainly
> can't fault Ullrich for not being able to beat Lance. No one else could
> either.
>


An alternate explanation is that the East German system removed the filter of personal
motivation from reaching the top level, as candidates were sought out and recruited,
rather than having to seek it out themselves. So if he'd have grown up in the
US, he'd not have been more disciplined, he just wouldn't have reached the top levels
of cycling in the first place.

Dan
 
I don't believe that. MOST of cycling is training and not motivation.
Jan has always been physically up to the task and all you have to do is
watch the Tour DVD's to see that Armstrong simply had the ability to
jump away on steep climbs that Jan never had.

We can make all these dumbshit claims about wanting to win but the fact
is that Freddy Rodriguez wanted to win Milan-San Remo a hell of a lot
more than Cipolini and yet he lost.
 
Tom Kunich wrote:
> I don't believe that. MOST of cycling is training and not motivation.
> Jan has always been physically up to the task and all you have to do is
> watch the Tour DVD's to see that Armstrong simply had the ability to
> jump away on steep climbs that Jan never had.
>
> We can make all these dumbshit claims about wanting to win but the fact
> is that Freddy Rodriguez wanted to win Milan-San Remo a hell of a lot
> more than Cipolini and yet he lost.


dumbass,

the main (and hardest) part of the "motivation to win" is being
motivated to do all the things to be best prepared for the race.

everyone really wants to win when they're in a big race.
 
Is it just me or do other people assume that what you're saying is that
Jan lost because he wasn't motivated enough to be the strongest?

Who was stronger? Was that because he was more motivated or because he
has a physical ability to generate a whole lot less lactic acid and so
have less pain for any specific output?
 
Tom Kunich wrote:
> Is it just me or do other people assume that what you're saying is that
> Jan lost because he wasn't motivated enough to be the strongest?
>

He wasn't as motivated as Armstrong. Once Lance got a taste of winning
in the Tour, he wouldn't accept anything but winning... 2nd place would
have seemed like a total loss. He *needed* to win. That kind of
determination will affect not only the attitude and performance of
Lance, but others on the race as well... and maybe the very fabric of
the universe.

Ulrich wanted to win for sure, but his attitude seemed to be more
ordinary... as in "I'll do the best I can". Also, he would show up for
the Tour a little overweight (so they say)... not something a really
focused person would ever do.

> Who was stronger? Was that because he was more motivated or because he
> has a physical ability to generate a whole lot less lactic acid and so
> have less pain for any specific output?


I doubt that pain has much to do with it... but certainly there are
differences in physical ability. Maybe Armstrong had better genetic
gifts... but if you look at how they performed when they were younger,
it doesn't seem likely.
 
Ron Ruff wrote:
> gds wrote:
> > Ron Ruff wrote:
> > >
> > > I stopped riding completely once, after riding/training about 300 miles
> > > a week, and I *lost* 25 lbs in 2 months. All my leg and butt muscles
> > > shrank, but I stayed lean.

> >
> > Really? That sounds far from the "normal." If you were training at the
> > 1200 mile per month rate I'd think you were running a BF % of ~10 (or
> > less). So unless you are unusually large you'd need to be losing almost
> > all of your body fat and then another several lbs. of muscle. Unless
> > you were drastically calorie resticted that just is way beyond what
> > would happen to most folks.

>
> I thought it was pretty weird myself. I wasn't calorie restricted at
> all... and my body fat when I quit riding was probably 5% or less
> (@6ft, 165lbs... dropping to 140lbs). The only thing I can figure is
> that my metabolism stayed high for some reason. I wasn't injured BTW,



That is interesting. By your figures you lost at least 15 lbs. of
muscle. Probably more as without riding you may have actually gained
fat. That is a huge loss in just two months. It really rivals semi
starvation. You must have some sort of reverse metabolism. If you could
figure it out you'd make a fortune selling the formula ;-)
> my living circumstances just made cycling very inconvenient. I stayed
> lean and skinny for several years (no cycling), and then my weight
> climbed up to 165lb and stabilized again for no apparent reason (sadly,
> not so much muscle).
>
> So... when I said weight gain comes from "eating too much", I didn't
> mean that there aren't other very significant factors... but eating
> less or better can always solve the issue. People tend to get into a
> habit with eating regardless of how much they need, plus our bodies
> seem to want to seek a certain composition, and the metabolism can vary
> hugely to achieve that. I'm riding about 200 miles a week now, but I'm
> not any where near as lean as I used to be... though I still weigh
> 165lbs like I did before.
 
"Ron Ruff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Tom Kunich wrote:
>> Is it just me or do other people assume that what you're saying is that
>> Jan lost because he wasn't motivated enough to be the strongest?
>>

> He wasn't as motivated as Armstrong.


When did you meet him? How's your German?

>> Who was stronger? Was that because he was more motivated or because he
>> has a physical ability to generate a whole lot less lactic acid and so
>> have less pain for any specific output?

>
> I doubt that pain has much to do with it.


A real racer are you?
 
Tom Kunich wrote:
> Is it just me or do other people assume that what you're saying is that
> Jan lost because he wasn't motivated enough to be the strongest?
>
> Who was stronger? Was that because he was more motivated or because he
> has a physical ability to generate a whole lot less lactic acid and so
> have less pain for any specific output?


ullrich seemed less motivated based on the fact that he's gotten off to
a bad start every season since 1998. he's often pulled out of early
season races or delayed the start of his season, so he's always playing
catch up in May and June.

After the Tour he's killing everyone. He killed everyone at the Vuelta,
after losing the Tour.

He needs the external motivation of racing to get into shape.

he's a professional cyclist, so how can he gain 15 lbs or more over the
winter before he starts taking some action ?

armstrong on the other hand has really never embarrassed himself in
early season races. i can recall only one early season DNF in his last
few years.

armstrong's statement is that ullrich is the "most talented", that's a
backhanded compliment because he obviously feels ullrich could've
beaten him if he'd done things better.
 
"psycholist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I got hit by a car and was seriously injured three years ago. Went
>from riding 300 miles per week to zero for the next 3 months ... and a
>very slow build back after that.
>
> I maintained my weight within a range of 5 pounds throughout the
> process ...


-snip-

> It took discipline, but it wasn't that hard.


The above sentence tells why you didn't gain weight - you paid
attention, you made a project out of it for yourself and you managed it
well. Good for you. I had a similar circumstance and came back to
where I'd been in terms of fitness and kept right on going, and I'm in
the best shape of my life now at age 50. I know it's a cliché but
sometimes a near-debilitating setback is a gift, and sometimes it's
difficult, if not impossible, to explain your perspective on things to
someone who hasn't been through something like this - at least for me it
is.

> "Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."


Word.

-S-
 
"amit" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Tom Kunich wrote:
>> Is it just me or do other people assume that what you're saying is that
>> Jan lost because he wasn't motivated enough to be the strongest?
>>
>> Who was stronger? Was that because he was more motivated or because he
>> has a physical ability to generate a whole lot less lactic acid and so
>> have less pain for any specific output?

>
> ullrich seemed less motivated based on the fact that he's gotten off to
> a bad start every season since 1998. he's often pulled out of early
> season races or delayed the start of his season, so he's always playing
> catch up in May and June.


The guy likes to eat and has put on a ton every winter. Have you ever tried
to take off some 15 lbs? I'll tell you I think that he has to have a LOT of
motivation to do that.

> After the Tour he's killing everyone. He killed everyone at the Vuelta,
> after losing the Tour.
>
> He needs the external motivation of racing to get into shape.
>
> he's a professional cyclist, so how can he gain 15 lbs or more over the
> winter before he starts taking some action ?


Does it maybe occur to you that IS his motivation?

> armstrong on the other hand has really never embarrassed himself in
> early season races. i can recall only one early season DNF in his last
> few years.


We've watched Lance shoot away from Jan on the hard climbs only to see Jan
bridge back up time and time and time again. He accelerates slower than
Lance but he obviously puts out more power per kilogram.

> armstrong's statement is that ullrich is the "most talented", that's a
> backhanded compliment because he obviously feels ullrich could've
> beaten him if he'd done things better.


No, Lance knows full well how to beat Ullrich. He out accelerates him on a
steep climb with a mountain top finish and then has to stay ahead. If there
are enough steep spots Jan can't push the gear fast enough.

Lance compliments Ullrich a lot for several reasons - 1) BECAUSE HE IS THE
SECOND BEST TOUR RIDER IN THE WORLD. 2) Lance is motivated by anger and so
he thinks that eveyone else is as well. He didn't want to rile Jan and
increase his motivation. 3) There is a chance that if Jan was his friend he
wouldn't try as hard to beat him.

I do get a little fit of giggles when a man who never finished any lower
than 4th in 8 Tours is abraided by non-racers as not having sufficient
motivation.
 
Tom Kunich wrote:

> I do get a little fit of giggles when a man who never finished any lower
> than 4th in 8 Tours is abraided by non-racers as not having sufficient
> motivation.
>


This is the freaking point. And as somebody else said once in this
newsgroup: If it wasn't for Lance, every RBR expert would chatter about
how gaining weight in winter is THE formula for success in the tour.
 
> The guy likes to eat and has put on a ton every winter. Have you ever tried
> to take off some 15 lbs? I'll tell you I think that he has to have a LOT of
> motivation to do that.


dumbass,

i may have trouble taking off 15 lbs. because i'm more motivated to do
somethig else or make some money more than i'm motivated to lose
weight.

> We've watched Lance shoot away from Jan on the hard climbs only to see Jan
> bridge back up time and time and time again. He accelerates slower than
> Lance but he obviously puts out more power per kilogram.


that's why armstrong put a minute into ullrich on the alpe d'huez TT ?

> No, Lance knows full well how to beat Ullrich. He out accelerates him on a
> steep climb with a mountain top finish and then has to stay ahead. If there
> are enough steep spots Jan can't push the gear fast enough.


that's doesn't make sense if you claim ullrich makes more power per
kilogram.

> I do get a little fit of giggles when a man who never finished any lower
> than 4th in 8 Tours is abraided by non-racers as not having sufficient
> motivation.


relative to the winner his motivation is insufficient. you don't have
to race the Tour to come to that conclusion.