Ideal Body-fat Percentage For A Trials Rider?

[bikespace]

I'm 40 years old 6'3" and just under 19 stone. I really shouldn't be typing this fast, never mind riding a bike, but it seems to work most weeks

When I was playing rugby I liked to try to keep a bit of body fat up, but I reckon I've overdone it now, and it don't come off too easy these days.

You could have a heart attack if you worry about it though - Just Ride!

[slapshot 3]

Personally I think this is an offensive question

I'd have thought about 85-90% was perfect......cushions the blows when you fall on your a***!!

[toofasttim]

OH but those Gazelles are sooo damn tasty......especially with a little garlic, sea salt, and lemon pepper.

Speaking as somebody who has eaten gazelle, Zippy you have no idea...

[funtrials]

I'd have thought about 85-90% was perfect......cushions the blows when you fall on your a***!!

I've been 37% I believe, at one point in my life, so I hear you on that!

[funtrials]

For reference during last years Scott and this years Scottish and a marathon I did a few years back my weight stayed stable.

Scott (toughest one-day trial around)....Scottish (toughest trial in the world)....marathon....so I'm thinkin' the phrase "couch potato" does NOT describe you, correct? You COULD just sit around and watch TV like a relative of mine does, you know.

But seriously, to not lose weight during the zillion mile Scottish 6 Day you must "fuel up" (as I think you say) quite a bit during those 6 days, no? What is a good approximation of the amount of calories per hour of riding a rider needs to consume during that trial?

Edited September 26, 2009 by Funtrials

[nigel dabster]

To maintain a stable weight during .

Scott (toughest one-day trial around)....Scottish (toughest trial in the world)....marathon....so I'm thinkin' the phrase "couch potato" does NOT describe you, correct? You COULD just sit around and watch TV like a relative of mine does, you know.

But seriously, to not lose weight during the zillion mile Scottish 6 Day you must "fuel up" (as I think you say) quite a bit during those 6 days, no? What is a good approximation of the amount of calories per hour of riding a rider needs to consume during that trial?

Would you like the toilet details as well?

[billycraig]

Would you like the toilet details as well?

[billycraig]

To maintain a stable weight during .

Scott (toughest one-day trial around)....Scottish (toughest trial in the world)....marathon....so I'm thinkin' the phrase "couch potato" does NOT describe you, correct? You COULD just sit around and watch TV like a relative of mine does, you know.

But seriously, to not lose weight during the zillion mile Scottish 6 Day you must "fuel up" (as I think you say) quite a bit during those 6 days, no? What is a good approximation of the amount of calories per hour of riding a rider needs to consume during that trial?

I don't really vary that much from a normal day. I have a huge breakfast which is mainly protein which a little fruit after to fuel my muscles. On the way down to the paddock I start making my way through my first 2 litres of evian with a little sea salt. At the dinner break when everyone is having the mars bar, burger on white bread and lucozade I typically have a piece of steak or lamb and maybe an apple or banana. I'd then take another piece of fruit with me for an hour or so from the end.

At rest you need 25 calories per kg so a 70 kg person would need 1750 just to lay in bed. If you want to start moving around a little then this needs to increase as your resting metabolic rate (RMR) only covers the amount of energy required to keep essential functions ticking over (heart, brain etc). This needs multiplying by an activity factor.

1.2 Sedentary Little or no exercise and desk job

1.375 Lightly Active Light exercise or sports 1-3 days a week

1.55 Moderately Active Moderate exercise or sports 3-5 days a week

1.725 Very Active Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week4

1.9 Extremely Active Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job

Their are many formulas for working this out and many machines for testing it such as the one I occasionally use. When I did my first ever nutrition course at loughborough university many many years ago the lecturer stressed that how you get to the figure is not important (i.e how you worked it out) as every formula gives slightly different answers. The trick is ensuring your body gets exactly the same everyday so it learns that its going to get fed at a particular time with a set amount of energy (food). When it knows this is coming it can start using what you give it rather than storing it (so your metabolic rate rises). Sadly out of 30 of us in my group I was the only one who understood it, its quite a simple concept but everyone was sold on the idea of restriction. Obviously if you massively overeat it will store, but, in my experience people don't overeat they just eat erratically. I had a 25 stone client through the local radio station who survived on rice cakes etc which equated to around 600 calories a day. Do the math and see how much she's starving herself by?

For men the american council on exercise (ACE) give 2-4% as essential fat, 6-13 as athlete, 14-17 as fitness, 18-26 as acceptable, 27-37 as overweight and 38+ as obese (or pork pie). Again their are a multitude of formulas to work this out and remember non are accurate so just use it as a comparison to your last reading. Remember accuracy depends upon the test conditions so it must be the same time of day, having gone through the same diet/hydration levels, tested by the same person or machine etc otherwise its even less use. I occasionally do a skinfold measurement but I always take it with a pinch of salt as I can use various methods to get results anywhere between 6% and 12% for myself (handy for cheering a client up but not that ethical I guess).

Also bare in mind the sites a reading may be taken at, if you only do specific sites you may miss the distribution area for that clients adipose tissue. Where it ends up is largely due to hormones within the body. So abdominal fat is linked to excess cortisol which is trials riders worry. Hope that helps.

Edited September 26, 2009 by billycraig

[bikespace]

So abdominal fat is linked to excess cortisol which is trials riders worry.

What does that bit mean? That's where all my blubber is - can't imagine why :-)

I'm 19% fat and just under 19 stone. On the fat scale it seems I'm "acceptable". On the Boots scales I'm a basket case

And Funtrials - I think at 37% you had about the same genetic make up as a pepperami - summat to be proud of, you're a bit of an animal

[b40rt]

BMI calculator

http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweigh...lator.aspx?Tag=

[billycraig]

So abdominal fat is linked to excess cortisol which is trials riders worry.

What does that bit mean? That's where all my blubber is - can't imagine why :-)

I'm 19% fat and just under 19 stone. On the fat scale it seems I'm "acceptable". On the Boots scales I'm a basket case

And Funtrials - I think at 37% you had about the same genetic make up as a pepperami - summat to be proud of, you're a bit of an animal

Too much stress causes excess cortisol to be produced, too much physical stress (overtraining, poor posture, trauma, etc), emotional stress (hating your job, relationship, bank manager etc), nutritional stress (eating/drinking crap, missing meals, dehydration etc), Circadian stress (poor sleep patterns etc). So, excess stress (cortisol) will give you a fat belly, low testosterone will give you fat arms, and carbohydrates with their powerful impact upon the insulin will give you love handles.

[funtrials]

Would you like the toilet details as well?

Yes, dry-weight, consistency, color, feel, caloric content, frequency....I kid, I kid!

Edited September 26, 2009 by Funtrials

[funtrials]

BMI calculator

http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweigh...lator.aspx?Tag=

Thanks for your feedback.

Folks, isn't BMI the most-used indicator for ideal weight? That's good. However, NFL wide-receivers (not hefty linemen, etc.) are for my height (a bit under 6 feet 2 inches) at an average weight of 203 pounds, and they are in better shape than over 95% of the population.

The BMI index for that height say it's good to be as low as 150.....150!!!! Would you rather be 150 (and arguably no muscle mass), or 203 with a low body fat as well, and lots of muscle. They obviously have more muscle mass than the average person. So if a person has no real additional muscle mass then I think BMI (which, again, is NOT body-fat percentage) is a good indicator. My doctor has a BMI chart PERMANENTLY ON THE WALL in his office. But maybe he's more of a Witch Doctor, I don't know.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Funtrials

[funtrials]

I love how some people on the very same thread refer to stone, others refer to pounds, and still others refer to kg.! It's kind of if like English, Spanish and German were all spoken on the same thread.

To communicate better, from now on I suggest we all start referring to everything, when referring to weight, in the SAME measurements....in CHEESEBURGERS (I prefer food over rocks, don't you?) I weigh 112.36 cheeseburgers, for instance. I have a body fat of 25.347 cheeseburgers. To reply to Nigel Dabster's post above, my average dry-stool weight is 1.945 cheeseburgers (which is of course well under the median weight for a world-class trials rider - see an old thread that I, of course, started - so I'm pleased.) My GasGas weighs 93.444 cheeseburgers (but if FEELS like about 500 cheeseburgers when it's lying on top of me after messing up on a 6 foot...oh hell, 1.96 meter....rock ledge.) My girlfriend weighs 255.04 cheeseburgers (before she's eaten any, uh, cheeseburgers that day, that is.)

We could also start a new consistent measurement system for *length*, etc. as well. Inches/feet/miles are just too dang hard to work with! Quick, in your mind convert 1.1 miles to inches...can't do it can ya! See! Comedian Jay Leno was once referring to the length of something, (right after he'd been making fun of a Pamela Anderson naughty video, for some reason which escapes me), and he held up both hands a ways apart and said "it's about one Tommy Lee". The audience roared, but I don't know why.

We'd need a conversion chart. For instance, 1 "Tommy" = 10 "Funtrials" etc.

Females, while gossiping/bragging on dating web sites, would refer to their date's Tommy-to-cheeseburger ratio. That's much much more OBJECTIVE than "he's cute", or "think Pee Wee Herman on a really really cold day", etc., so I definitely like it.

We guys already do a sort of version of this for the yumminess of their ladies, basically. For instance, my girlfriend is officially (they have interactive web sites to determine this kind of thing, thank god) 0.0034 "Britney's". Yes, I'm a very, very lucky man.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Funtrials

[nigel dabster]

Can think of an easier way to describe her; fat bird