Dropping fat.

[PaulSecteur]

Hi

Quick question for those in the know...

With regards to burning fat which would be better, a long but slowish ride if about 15-20 (about 3+ hours?) miles at a pace where im working but could keep a conversation going, or a 6 miler pushing on where the lungs are really working?

Or alternating methods each ride or as time allowed?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

hr in 70 to 80% mhr. anytime spent in this zone above 20 mins starts to burn fat. the longer you spend in this zone the more fat will be burnt, or so the experts say. go above 80% and you go into the anaerobic zones. as a guide, if you are just out of breath and can just keep up a conversation your in the right zone. well this is how i understood all the info on the net, i am not an expert tho.

 

[jimboalee]

Theory and clinical trials say "Each individual is different", but only by a small amount.

At 50% HR, fat burn will be roughly 50% and carb burn 50%.
At MHR, fat burn will be 0%.

I use a linear characteristic between these points.

The underlying point is… if there is enough carb in the body, it will be used. Deplete the carb and the body switches to fat.

On the other hand, to conserve carbs, exercising at 75% HR is a lot easier that 90% HR, so the body conserves carbs and uses fat.
When the intensity rises and the HR goes to 90%, the conserved carbs are used in preference to fat because they are easier to assimilate and transport.

If 'fat burning' is your goal, keeping the body fuelled with energy drink, cakes etc will NOT help. You have to border on 'starvation' at a low intensity to shift fat quick.


For a 5 hour 100km slow Audax, my calcs tell me I will be burning nearly 4500 kcals for the whole ride. My fat burn at approx 140 watts pedalling is approx 36%.
I will eat 1000 extra calories for the ride.
Following the ride, I will eat mainly protein with only a small amount of LOW GI carbs.
I will expect my skinfolds to show a one pound reduction in my fat 48 hours after the ride.

Commuting to work. 2 hours per day at 14 mph average, I will NOT eat any extra carbs. Only protein.

3 lb fat loss per week is a realistic target on the lead up to the 200 km Rando season.

 

[PaulSecteur]

Thanks for the replies, I have used them to formulate my plan of de-podging.

1-Eat less crap.
2-Swap the sofa for the saddle more often
3-To check Im working within my zone I will talk to myself while riding (Note to self: Do not ride passed asylums)

Cheers lads

 

[MacB]

Jimbo has it, longish and steady is good but you can always through in the odd interval, of high intensity, during the ride. That gives you about the best of both worlds. Intervals only need be about 1 minute flat out every 30-60 minutes. I also like to try and climb one longish hill in the saddle and another out of the saddle. I tend to do the same loop twice so just use the same hill for this.

Most importantly don't overload the food pre ride and don't overdo it during and after. There's no shortage of cyclists that whinge about not shifting the weight while stuffing far more calories in than they need. Up to about 30 miles I wouldn't eat anything extra and wouldn't need to eat before the ride. That's travelling at between 14-18mph as an average speed for the ride, speed depends on bike, route and how I'm feeling.

Eat normally, minimise what you eat after 1800hrs and aim for 200 miles a week. I can shift 14lbs a month like this with no ill effects.

 

[jimboalee]

Jimbo has it, longish and steady is good but you can always through in the odd interval, of high intensity, during the ride. That gives you about the best of both worlds. Intervals only need be about 1 minute flat out every 30-60 minutes. I also like to try and climb one longish hill in the saddle and another out of the saddle. I tend to do the same loop twice so just use the same hill for this.

Most importantly don't overload the food pre ride and don't overdo it during and after. There's no shortage of cyclists that whinge about not shifting the weight while stuffing far more calories in than they need. Up to about 30 miles I wouldn't eat anything extra and wouldn't need to eat before the ride. That's travelling at between 14-18mph as an average speed for the ride, speed depends on bike, route and how I'm feeling.

Eat normally, minimise what you eat after 1800hrs and aim for 200 miles a week. I can shift 14lbs a month like this with no ill effects.

Bingo.

I've been in the gym quite often lately.

Half an hour of intervals with an average power absorption of 250 Watts will empty my tanks. 200 and 300 Watts 1 minute alternations ( seated and standing ).
I stretch my legs and then do another two 30 minutes interval sessions to average 150 - 175 Watts. Random on level 15 (out of 25).

The two random sessions come to about 10 kcals/min, so I get rid of over 1000 kcals total.
Go home and eat normally.

They always try to sell me a bottle of energy drink. I drink their FREE coffee.

 

[plank]

The other idea is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training

"2.5 hours of sprint interval training produced similar biochemical muscle changes to 10.5 hours of endurance training and similar endurance performance benefits"

"Long aerobic workouts have been promoted as the best method to reduce fat, as fatty acid utilization usually occurs after at least 30 minutes of training.[citation needed] HIIT is somewhat counterintuitive in this regard, but has nonetheless been shown to burn fat more effectively.[citation needed] "

 

[jimboalee]

The other idea is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training

"2.5 hours of sprint interval training produced similar biochemical muscle changes to 10.5 hours of endurance training and similar endurance performance benefits"

"Long aerobic workouts have been promoted as the best method to reduce fat, as fatty acid utilization usually occurs after at least 30 minutes of training.[citation needed] HIIT is somewhat counterintuitive in this regard, but has nonetheless been shown to burn fat more effectively.[citation needed] "

Here's your citation.

"Half an hour of intervals with an average power absorption of 250 Watts will empty my tanks."
See my previous post.

 

[plank]

Ah yeah, I should have read more carefully

 

[PaulSecteur]

Many thanks for all your replies.

Im doing 3 or so 15 milers per week, and about the some shorter rides where I stay local and push myself a bit.

Im not at the same level as you must be and some of your advice is a little over technical for me, however I hope my system will work.

Cheers, Paul.

PS- Giza biscuit!

 

[Bayerd]

Paul, over the last 8 months or so I've lost nearly 4 stone by cycling up to 10 miles a day every day. I do this first thing before eating then just have 3 meals a day, typically big bowl of porridge for brekky, sandwich for lunch (usually fish) and then a cooked dinner between about 5-6pm. I rarely go hungry, and stop eating once I'm full ( I never used to do this, I'd stop when I physically couldn't fit anymore in). I still have a few beers at the weekend as well.

I think the key to my success has been fairly high intensity (14mph ave in a hilly area on a heavy BSO), every day. YMMV

 

[shippers]

Long and hard is the way to go, failing that, little and often. As long as you're tired when you get off, jobs a gud'un.

What is supposed to work well is doing some heavier weight work at the end to knacker as much of your body as possible- dead lifts or clean and presses. And don't eat loads of crap.

 

[shippers]

Just to add to the talkes of weight loss, I cycled a 27 mile round trip, 3 times a week from Sept to December, and went out one or two more times a week doing an extra 20-30 each time. I only lost about 3 lbs!