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Slowtwitch Forums: Triathlon Forum:
Losing the last 3-5 during taper?

 
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Cardinal Head

Oct 6, 08 10:35

Post #1 of 6 (324 views)
Losing the last 3-5 during taper? Can't Post
I was just wondering what the general consensus is concerning weight loss during IM taper. Obviously the purpose of taper is to allow your body to heal from the continued stresses of training and in order to do that you need food, nutrients, protein, etc. But can you still provide your body enough nourishment and still lose those last 3-5lbs during the 3-4 weeks leading up to your IM? I haven't lost much weight during my last few weeks of peak training as I have really been focused on getting in the right caloric/carb/protein/fat in-take to load up prior and recover from those long runs and rides. I wanted to get a little closer to race weight earlier on but that didn't happen due to a 2-week trip to Italy (quite a caloric set back).

I am 5'7" 157 (10-11% bf according to hydrostatic). I'd like to lose 5lbs optimally but don't want to do at the expense of not having an effective taper. Racing B2B on Nov 1.

Current plan is to cut out any added sugars in food aside from nutrition during workouts.

Thoughts?


LeviSC

Oct 6, 08 10:37

Post #2 of 6 (314 views)
Re: Losing the last 3-5 during taper? [tattoorob] [In reply to] Can't Post
I don't know if this is even a potential problem for you, but I tried to cut way down on carb intake. And I was spending some extra time just walking too. It keeps burning the calories off to keep your weight down, but it doesn't really wear you out or take much energy away. I'm sure there are many other low impact methods too.

Just my $0.02.

Good luck with the race.


swimfan

Oct 6, 08 10:40

Post #3 of 6 (304 views)
Re: Losing the last 3-5 during taper? [tattoorob] [In reply to] Can't Post
Don't eat any carbs at all and it the weight room hard and heavy. Specially lower body workout.
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Emzee

Oct 6, 08 10:50

Post #4 of 6 (279 views)
Re: Losing the last 3-5 during taper? [tattoorob] [In reply to] Can't Post
Be incredibly careful about your nutrition. Pretty much only eat natural foods and NO sugar. Fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts, etc. If you are/were getting any of your nutrition from processed foods, then you will probably see some weight loss from this. It's only for a few weeks. Ice cream, chips and chocolate will all still exist when your IM is over.


Cannonball

Oct 6, 08 11:22

Post #5 of 6 (237 views)
Re: Losing the last 3-5 during taper? [tattoorob] [In reply to] Can't Post
I lost the last 5lbs during my taper for IMC. To be honest it wasn't something that I really intended to do or focused on, it just happened. I backed off on the food a little because I wanted to keep my caloric intake in line with my training effort. This was more to fend off any additional weight, not to lose any. During my peak training weeks I ate like crazy (5 good size meals/day 5000-6000 calories) but whole foods, lean meats, fruits, veggies, nuts, etc. I did my best to stay away from simple sugars as well. I did the same thing during my taper but just ate smaller portions. The first couple of days I felt pretty hungry so I'd snack on carrots, celery and almonds with lots of water. So in my non-expert opinion I would say you're the best judge of whether or not it's a good idea to shed a few pounds just leading up to the race. If you're feeling weak and low in energy then maybe you need some more fuel. If you feel good then go with that. For what it's worth I raced at 196lbs, 13% bf. (measured by anthropometry - calipers)

Since IMC I'm up 6lbs but that's acceptable to me consdiering that I lost 40 preparing for the race.


warner

Oct 6, 08 11:50

Post #6 of 6 (186 views)
Re: Losing the last 3-5 during taper? [tattoorob] [In reply to] Can't Post
My personal belief is don't sweat it. Eat healthy and proportional during your taper. I don't think the risk is worth any real reward for dropping a few lbs. Just carry one less h20 bottle and you're halfway there if it really bothers you. I've had pretty good luck with a simple nutrition/tapering approach before my long events this year with this: Monday- 1-1.25hr hard workout w/4g of carbs per kilo consumed per day ; Tues- ~1hr hard workout w/4g of carbs per kilo consumed per day ; Wed- ~30-45 minutes hard w/4g of carbs per kilo consumed per day ; Thursday-Sat, switch to 8g of carbs per kilo consumed per day (for me it seemed like a lot) and take it EZ with some really light workouts. Nothing hard or you just ruin the whole strategy. I generally make sure the Mon-Wed hard workouts are either on the bike or run. The idea being that I'm trying to stimulate an overcompensation effect in regards to glycogen storage. Quite simply, your depleting the storage early in the week and then ramping it back up so you can store more energy by race day. I've noticed that I generally gain about 3-5 pounds before race day, but boy do I feel strong and healthy which is more important to me than my weight. I also think some of the weight gain is water due to the glycogen storage capacity increasing and water retention that accompanies it. Good luck on your race.