Weight gain after cycling

Neverlandland

Went for my 1st long cycle on Saturday, 150-ish km. Took 8 hrs. Lovely weather etc etc. Went from Waterford to Dublin.

I weighed myself the morning of the cycle, and I then weighed myself this morning and I was over 2lbs heavier.

Has this ever happened to anyone else after a long cycle?

I know people will say my calories in>calories out. However, I had weetabix/breadroll with sausages before the cycle, and at around 70km had a plain chicken burger and some ice-cream. I had 2 bottles of Lucozade sport as well as water. Had some wine gums during the cycle, and had some pasta once I got home, but not too much. Doesn't really seem excessive since I must have burnt over 3000 calories during that cycle.

Perhaps it could be muscle mass, but I didnt take much protein (forgot to), plus 1kg of muscle would be a lot to put on over 2 days. Perhaps I'm just after reaching that stage where weight seems to plateau.

Dr.Millah

Perhaps you went for a bigger dump the morning of your cycle?

Endurance sports dont tend to gain much muscle mass, 2 pounds is a very small difference in weight, which is very flucuant due to how much water your carrying etc.

Your body might be holding onto a bit of extra water since the cycle as it might not have been used to such high volume of work.

Lumen

Unless you freeze-dried yourself before weighing, those measurements are meaningless.

**Timbuk2**

But that's only over the space of 2 days, so it doesn't necessarily mean that you gained weight. Weight flucuates from day to day, depending on what you ate, how much water you've drank etc.

So while you find that you may weigh more on Monday than Saturday, you may still be losing weight (the average trend could still be downwards). Weigh yourself once a week only and it's easier to notice actual differences (e.g. weigh yourself every Monday first thing when you get up, after you go to the toilet - it keeps thing as consistent as possible).

on_the_nickel

That'll be the flies and various other insects ingested along the way. Nothing to worry about.

Neverlandland

So while you find that you may weigh more on Monday than Saturday, you may still be losing weight (the average trend could still be downwards). Weigh yourself once a week only and it's easier to notice actual differences (e.g. weigh yourself every Monday first thing when you get up, after you go to the toilet - it keeps thing as consistent as possible).

I weigh myself every Monday morning, and record the data. I try not taking any food after 6pm on a sunday to make the readings as consistent as possible. I have been losing around 2lbs per week over the last 4 months, due to 5-6 workouts per week and a strict diet. Before the cycle I had lost my targeted weight for that week (2lbs). I had been sticking to the diet and had gone on a number of 30km cycles, 7km and 10 km runs, even doing a PB time. I gave up weights to avoid putting on muscle mass, as I wanted to reach my target weight for next week. So with the 150km cycle on top of the supposed 2lbs lost, it was disheartening to see the weight this morning be exactly the same as last monday.

seamus

As said, 2lbs is well inside typical variance. Drinking a 500ml drink will increase your weight by 1lb, for example.

I have however noticed a link in the past between strenuous exercise and slight weight increases of anything up to 4lbs, particularly when there's any soreness or fatigure in the muscles. My guess is that your body retains some water around the affected muscles as they inflame while the body carries out repair work. A small increase in water doesn't sound like much, but when you consider the size of a muscle, it all adds up. This will naturally cause you to "weigh" more than before the exercise.

If you're attempting to lose weight, obsessive measuring will destroy you. Pick a day and time and measure yourself once a week. The best time is typically first thing in the morning after you've gone to the toilet. You will be at your most dehydrated and hungry, so there should be the least variance in weight between these times.

As Timbuk2 says, any difference between two consecutive measurements is largely meaningless, it's the trend that's important.

Lumen

Neverlandland wrote: »

I gave up weights to avoid putting on muscle mass, as I wanted to reach my target weight for next week.

That's possibly counterproductive.

Muscle is metabolically active; base metabolic rate is proportionate to lean muscle mass.

In other words, if you're more muscle-y you can burn loads of calories just sitting on the sofa watching cycling, which is even more fun than cycling itself.

Jawgap

I find my weight "bounces" after a long cycle - sometimes by as much as 1.5 kg, but then over the following 2/3 days it drops back before inevitably dipping below my "start" point.

I think the stress of a long spin messes up your system and it takes a while for equilibrium to return....

Neverlandland

Good few replies, thanks for the time.

That's possibly counterproductive.

Muscle is metabolically active; base metabolic rate is proportionate to lean muscle mass.

In other words, if you're more muscle-y you can burn loads of calories just sitting on the sofa watching cycling, which is even more fun than cycling itself.

I decided to give up on the weights because I found that when I started doing them, I was finding it harder to lose the weight. While Im sure I was putting on muscle and losing fat, I had an weight aim and wanted to achieve that so decided to stick to the cardio.

leftism

Neverlandland wrote: »

I decided to give up on the weights because I found that when I started doing them, I was finding it harder to lose the weight. While Im sure I was putting on muscle and losing fat, I had an weight aim and wanted to achieve that so decided to stick to the cardio.

The umbrella term "doing weights" gets a really bad rep when it comes to gaining weight. Resistance training can be an excellent method of reducing overall body mass if done in the correct rep range with the appropriate loads. People seem to think that by going into a gym and lifting a few dumbells, they are going to explode with muscle! I wish it were that bloody easy... In reality, muscle hypertrophy takes months and years of focussed work in a very specific range of repetitions and loading. Long story short; Don't blame the weights, blame the programme.

With regards to your 24 hour weight gain, your average turd weighs about 300g or about 0.7lbs. So by drinking an extra pint of water and not taking your daily crap the next morning you'll put on 2lbs no problem. Daily fluctuations in body mass are completely normal and definitely not a product of a single cylcing session.

Monitoring your body mass is important when your goal is weight loss, just don't get hung up on short term fluctuations. Once the long term trend is downwards you've nothing to worry about!

Neverlandland

Thanks leftism. I think that from now on, I may just go to get the body fat% measured instead of worrying about weight. Would probably be a more worthwhile measurement worth recording.

chakattack

Unless you were cycling in the alpes (lots of climbing) and time trialled it on the limit and fell off your bike at the end it's unlikely that you burned 3000 cal over 70k.

1500-1800 would be a better estimate.

Neverlandland

It was a 150km cycle, we just stopped at 70km for some lunch

Tenzor07

Neverlandland wrote: »

I had weetabix/breadroll with sausages had a plain chicken burger and some ice-cream. I had 2 bottles of Lucozade sport as well as water. Had some wine gums during the cycle, and had some pasta once I got home

Your diet Sucks a$$ for a start, how can you expect to loose weight eating that junk, 150k with lunch breaks probably at a leisurely pace too...

Aim for a better diet, shorter more intense spins of around 50k then after a few months of consistent work and good diet expect to see some weight loss...

chakattack

Neverlandland wrote: »

It was a 150km cycle, we just stopped at 70km for some lunch

My bad! Don't worry too much about weight....just work on getting plenty of miles and a reasonably good diet

on_the_nickel

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Your diet Sucks a$$ for a start, how can you expect to loose weight eating that junk, 150k with lunch breaks probably at a leisurely pace too...

Aim for a better diet, shorter more intense spins of around 50k then after a few months of consistent work and good diet expect to see some weight loss...

Whoah, hello Mr Motivator!!!

Neverlandland

Your diet Sucks a$$ for a start, how can you expect to loose weight eating that junk, 150k with lunch breaks probably at a leisurely pace too...

Aim for a better diet, shorter more intense spins of around 50k then after a few months of consistent work and good diet expect to see some weight loss.

I dont think my diet is that bad. I've lost enough to suggest that I'm on the right track.

It has consisted of weetabix/cereal bar/protein shake/fruit/pasta for 4 months. That roll was the 1st time I'd eaten a bread roll (or any bread) in that period. Ditto with the burger. The burger and ice cream would have been around 800 calories. A few hundred in the weetabix. The sweets were a couple of hundred too. Dont know about the sausage roll, but I imagine it all adds up to less than 3,000 which is around what I used. I couldnt think of anything else that I could have had on the train on the way down anyway.

We did it in 8hrs, so I don't think that's too bad given how hot it was and the number of times we got lost. No fancy GPS. Average speed of around 20km/hr, which I'm proud of anyway despite what you think. I do plenty of running, but have only started cycling within the last couple of months and it was my 1st time doing anything like this.

Tenzor07

Forget about Calorie counting, sausages, ice-creams, burgers and roll's contain mainly calories from fats...i.e. bad calories...

Breakfast should consist of fruits/porridge/slim line milk, food on spins would be power bars/gels/fig rolls/banana's, dinners would be lean meats like chicken breast, lean steaks, turkey/wholewheat pastas etc...

You will get more calories used up from doing 50 or 60k at 25-30kph than 150k at avg of 20kph

Neverlandland

I usually do 30-40km at 25km/hr average, 3 times a week. 7/10/15km runs averaging a little over 12km/hr on the other 3 days a week also. Sunday is for rest. I thought that a 150km cycle would be a bigger challenge, mentally as well as physically. If I wasn't carrying a bag that was probably 5kg give or take, I possibly would have been faster. I think my diet is fine, however it would appear that I messed up on the day.

airscotty

Neverlandland.....sounds like your on the right track. Everybody falls off the wagon a bit diet wise. I know for myself after a long weekend spin (80+k) I usually have a bit of junk food cause Im craving it!

Neverlandland

Neverlandland.....sounds like your on the right track. Everybody falls off the wagon a bit diet wise. I know for myself after a long weekend spin (80+k) I usually have a bit of junk food cause Im craving it!

Thanks! And thanks to everyone else who has contributed too!

leftism

Neverlandland wrote: »

Thanks leftism. I think that from now on, I may just go to get the body fat% measured instead of worrying about weight. Would probably be a more worthwhile measurement worth recording.

Wouldn't bother, because fat measurement (if you're doing it off calipers) carries even more variability than just weighing yourself. I wouldn't trust those tanita bio-impedence yokes either. We were messing around with one of them in the lab for a while and tested it on a fairly lean cyclist. He measured -4% body fat! I don't think i need to explain the physics as to why we can't have negative body fats....

Definitely keep checking your body mass at roughly the same time each week. That is very useful! Just don't get too hung up if there are some speedbumps along the way!

michael196

Never,

after dropping 3 stone last year on long cycles ( dublin wexford and wexford dublin) this is my tuppence worth.


agree with jawgap:

''I find my weight "bounces" after a long cycle - sometimes by as much as 1.5 kg, but then over the following 2/3 days it drops back before inevitably dipping below my "start" point.

I think the stress of a long spin messes up your system and it takes a while for equilibrium to return.... ''


give it afew days sometimes. also sometimes more frequently than not, u will plateau whereby a lot of exercise will drop nothing for u.

then other times u just feel ready to drop a good few pounds. If u ache after a long spin, or you are curently building muscle the body will not drop weight.

make no mistake long steady dstance is hard to beat for weight loss.


to hit 100 k after a few months of cycling is a good achievement also.

3000 calories for a 70 K spin is what my machine would suggest also. Couple that with estimates from stationary bikes in gyms , and it aligns. You will be working a lot harder on the road than u will work in a gym , but burning 1000 an hour at a fast leisure or 1500 per hour at race, is typical.

irrespective of the 'accurracy' of the measurements, once the measurement system remains the same , thats the real comparison .i.e. burning at a higher rate this week versus last week etc.

you are on the right track certainly, but u know urself as u slim down, those last pounds are harder to shift and require higher intensity work to shift them .

I stopped long spins last november for lots of reasons and the weight has stagnated a little . but will get back to long spins in the autumn.

keep up the good work , do the sportives, enjoy the scenary and buy the next size down gear !!!

FISMA

Could just be water weight difference. One gallon of water weighs about 8lbs, so you are off by 1/4gallon, around a liter, which weighs 2.2lbs.