From 68kg To 73kg. How Do You GAIN Weight In A Grand Tour?! | Racing News Show

[@gcnracing]

Have you managed to gain weight despite cycling a lot?

[@guest_informant]

I remember Dan's weight gain at the Giro story, from one of the very first GCN videos I watched, might be over 10 years ago now. One quick way to gain 1kg is to drink a litre of water. One quick way to lose weight is to take a dump. I'm not sure how useful a static one-off weight measurement is. I imagine - if it hasn't already - at some point the concept of static weight will be replaced by something more dynamic, representative, and useful. Mean mass or something. Not sure how you'd go about this but imagine the weight-weanies are on it :-)

[@JCNvid]

I gain loads of weight despite not cycling at all - can't seem to fix it

[@jameswitte5676]

Friends and I did a 5 day self guided tour of Quebec last year. About 100k per day. Each day we had a full breakfast, then stopped at the boulangerie late morning, next a good lunch and finally a big dinner followed by dessert. Still can’t figure out how we gained weight.

[@stefis6]

@@guest_informant That's gonna be a huge dump, probably the biggest the world has ever seen, enormous numbers, to lose 5kg...

[@rcscsuperrz1543]

I’m locked at a heavy 56kg which don’t budge😂

[@philadams9254]

Most people's claimed race weight is always the lowest number they've ever seen on the scales when dehydrated and glycogen-depleted after a hot 6 hour ride. Just because it's the 'best' number, doesn't mean it's a good 'race' number as the watts just won't be there without the water and sugar.

[@kt9493]

I didn't lose weight despite 10+ hours of training per week. Once I reduced sweets and sweet drinks (including fruit juice)to almost zero, it worked.

[@WellValUa]

I did 8h a week and my weight didn't change either. It surely increased my appetite :)

[@durianriders]

of course you lose weight when you lose muscle aka glycogen retention.

[@stefis6]

I was part of an 8-man team that rode 2018 Tour de France one day ahead of the race. I trained hard for 7 months, changed my diet and started at 69Kg. By the second rest day I was back up to 74Kg. 😫 (Met Si R and Fränk Schleck atop Montée du plateau des Glières on stage 10)

[@clarencecorbeil1061]

Let's also mention that, on the Tour of Andalucia, Liv-AlUla-Jayco also took all classifications: GC, Points, Mountains and Best team (of course), which makes that clean sweep even more impressive!

[@tasty_fish]

When Dan started talking about the science behind weight gains I gave him the same look Clarkson gives Gerald when he’s talking

[@robbyrogersberg1520]

Italy is an easy place to put on weight, lol

[@krisbowditch827]

Testosterone only joking lol 😂

[@GeekonaBike]

I already got 15kg extra, somebody give me a contract ; -)

[@felixlinz3595]

Interesting how he got dropped at his supposed "race weight" in the beginning and performed rather well when he was "overweight" towards the end

[@monsieurcamembert5223]

He was well fuelled in the end

[@phil4455]

Few pints of Guinness works wonders as a “recovery” drink 😂

[@gcnracing]

👀

[@MrVizzle]

Tested with 0, it does work.

[@cilliankelly1]

Can confirm

[@xtrailz]

Gain 5kg in 3 weeks? No problem, just let me at the cookie jar

[@liammaybank9275]

Cortisol causes sodium retention which increases body water

[@oscarbarquincaloca5762]

Pumped muscles are also water. I gain weight too with recreational cycling and waste half monday peeing

[@willpsychmajor3104]

his real race weight is probably 71kg, underweight at 68kg.

[@biggertree7063]

Weed, cookies and funyuns.

[@cb6866]

Breakfast of Champions

[@janjanssen6922]

Flex bones and balans that`s cycling don`t know who`s gonna win the tournament, Remco or Pithie, prefer the last he`s a nice gentle little bastard. Tip; 1 minuut 60 kmh on rpm 120🚲

[@jacobmathis5686]

Weight doesn’t matter as much as having the energy and hydration needed to perform. Of course weight is important, but race weight or lean mass is determined over the course of a season, not days. Besides, if weight really mattered that much, everyone would find a way to get their bikes to the 6.8kg limit 😮

[@ahnilatedahnilated7703]

I typically have the same issue. I can lose weight doing Z2 riding outside or on the trainer. When I go unlimited, I gain weight slowly over the summer time. I think either I am eating to much, which is doubtful, or my body is going into starvation mode and putting everything on as fat.

[@andrewstringer5836]

Hasn't happened to me on the bike, but I did unexpectedly put on some weight while training for a solo ultra running objective. Achieved my goal either way, which I think its so important to focus on those goals and not dwell too much on weight or power numbers, especially for amateurs.

[@fredsirvalo1904]

I increased my activity level over the last 9 months, and have not changed my off-the-bike eating habits. Yet I weigh the same almost to the tenth of a kilo. However, I am feeding during exercise more than I used to and performing much better. Both I and my doctor agree I should lose a bit of weight, so it will be better off-the-bike food choices with a close eye on performance and overall health.

[@andrew30m]

I’ve been trying to lose weight for a while and noticed that cycling doesn’t have as much impact as going for a regular steady walk. I’ve put it down to the body demanding fuel on the ride and refueling, where as after a walk I don’t get anywhere near the hunger pangs, but a steady walk burns reasonably decent calories.

[@AllahDoesNotExist]

Sounds like you could dry fasted, short rides.

[@marcdaniels9079]

Weight is not the key issue here, rather it’s body composition. If you have lost some fat and gained muscle that’s good news

[@Dispariabooks]

This assessment of weight gain is probably important for all of is to year, as too often we equate weight gain with fat gain, and that's not true at all. Water glycogen, even food mass can affect an athlete's weight even daily... and the point is that we should probably chill about being hyper reactive to our own fluctuations when training hard.

[@michaambroz6148]

Ineos and their marginal gains allowed for that…?

[@Eirikkinserdal]

He performed better in the end though..

[@two-eyedRoy]

Unless my memory is failing me, pretty sure Cadel Evans needed to gain weight (moreso body fat) during his TdF success. I *t h i n k* I remember by/at the end of the 1st week he was flirting dangerously around the 5% body fat mark.

[@AllahDoesNotExist]

Which is funny because he always seemed to have a pot belly.

[@marcdaniels9079]

Where do cycling fans get this idea about BF %. No way was he at 5%. Look at a pro body builder stage ready after suffering for 6 weeks on a cut with virtually no carbs and juiced to the gills on PEDs and you may see 5%. May !

[@MrIsaac-dh3uh]

Training heavy makes it tough to hit your fighting weight. I think you just eat too much before during and after. When I want to 'get skinny,' I ride less intensely and just get fit enough to suppress my appetite. For me that's about 250 miles a month, be careful with food and boom, I'm skinny. If I do 400 miles with intervals and base 2 loads, I eat like a pig and show up to the event 'in shape' only because I'm round. Less is more.

[@baribari600]

I gained 4 kg overnight after my friend's wedding reception and afterparty... It's not that hard to put on a few kilos of water weight.

[@danielbryan7378]

I always put weight on whilst cycling, what with cake, cake and then CAKE and then a few pints obv it's easily done.

[@durianriders]

So many people are unware of adaptive thermogenesis aka metabolic damage. If you starve down your body WILL rebound as part of the recovery process. That is why my protocols work so good at keeping you race weight all season with no starving and no rebound. Look how lean Ive stayed the last 16 years of youtube uploads.

[@UloPe]

I’ll happily donate some of my kgs…

[@AntonSostaric]

Weight gain in a grand tour can be due to over eating , increased muscle hypertrophy , créatine phosphate supplementation . Shouldn’t happen at this level with tech available to the riders and teams: head unit can give real time calorie expenditure from power numbers so just need to match the calorie demand with optimal intake . Pre race screening with DEXA and met cart/lactate threshold will determine substrate use during each metabolic zone so substrate intake during /after race should be dialled .

[@marcdaniels9079]

The type of exercise that Grand Tour riders perform is precisely the opposite of that which will induce hypertrophy. In fact it will lead to muscle mass loss especially when you consider the drop in testosterone that occurs over the 3 weeks. I keep telling my cycling friends to stop taking creatine because of the water retention issue.

[@ChrisSpriggs-rj2ys]

His father was right 😮

[@goansunborn]

Gear!

[@cb6866]

Thanks Dan and crew....

[@1dree1]

It happened to Buchmann in the Vuelta 2018 too in which he started well and struggled later. I remember the team looking into that effect to solve it - worked out for 2019. But I never found out what it was about in that case.

[@francismello5364]