I think you just learned the weightlifter mantra, which is "it is impossible to gain muscle without also gaining fat".

So you got some leg muscle, which made you faster. Cool.

Next step as a weightlifter would be to do a "cut". Lower intensity a little but keep working out so you burn at least 500 calories over what you take in per day. You will keep most of the muscle, and drop the bellyfat.

I don't really hear this that much in triathlete circles, so maybe it doesn't really work. But it is plausible. Especially for people with low muscle masses. I suspect you don't need to alternate 6 week bulk + 6 week cut cycles, but I think at least doing it this time seems to make sense.

175 may not be your final weight if you have more muscle. Maybe 178 or 181 is your new normal.

Overall, I'm more fit looking except in the lower belly. I'm wondering with all the intensity and training load my body is holding onto that for "just in case". And I gained some muscle while at it.

Nothing to do with "just in case" bellyfat. You got fatter as you added muscle. The same thing happens to every weightlifter in the world. You eat a crapload and get a lot of muscle and a lot of fat. Then if you don't want to be a big fatass, you have to "cut" to lose the fat while keeping as much of the muscle as possible.

I'm the same way. 6'1, 190 pounds. I'm faster than I was last season so far

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FYI: I'm 6'2"

how tall are you?

if you are 5'2",definitely lose weight

if you are 6'6", maybe you are fine

if you are 6'0", probably lose weight =)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Personally, it has always been the case that the fitter I am, the more that I have weighed.

You should target flat masters races.
This isn't going to work out well for the mountains =)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

With a BMI of only 20, I'll still take the extra ~1 kg along with the additional power. Now if I had only ever had the chance to live/race where there are actual mountains...

EDIT: See point 10: http://www.trainingandracingwithapowermeter.com/...ned-using-power.html

I don't think these are mutually exclusive. You can most likely drop the belly fat without sacrificing your performance gains by changing diet. Some of the weight gain might be muscle, but it's probably not much and more likely that your performance gains are the result of your fueling and intensity changes. Tough to say for sure without knowing more about how you eat and what your training looks like.

I imagine a good part of that is plasma volume expansion. Do you see an increase in subcutaneous body fast (like the OP) when you gain that extra kilo?

Not just plasma volume, but also total body water increases (by up to ~1 L/~1 kg) with endurance exercise training. (What's really fascinating - to me, anyway - are the hormonal adaptations that allow us to hang on to that additional fluid, at least temporarily.)

That said, I'm talking about the difference between training hard/lots, and training HARD/LOTS, so retention of additional fluid will only be small part of it. Instead, I can really only sustain the latter if I'm shoveling in the carbohydrates, and yes, I'm probably fatter during such times, as well as being fitter/faster.

WOW! Hope it works for me to I put on 25!

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ah yeah, +/- 1kg is not a big deal.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

While 1 kg doesn't sound like a lot, it will impact performance. If you can lose only 1 kg of fat and not muscle you will see gains. I personally also gained a lot of weight over the winter and have seen my power numbers soar, I definitely gained a combination of fat and muscle as I was lifting heaving for a few months. While my power number are much higher than in the fall my body composition is no where near peak race shape as I have some body fat to lose. I also find that just stopping the weight lifting will result losing a few pounds due to water retention associated with weight lifting. I'd aim at small calorie deficit to slowly lose the belly fat..your run will see the most benefits. 1kg will save you about 5min over the course of a full marathon, which is nothing to snuff off in my opinion.

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“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” – Steve Prefontaine | http://www.kirstyjahntriathlon.com | twitter: @kirstyjahntri

The guy I was talking to doesn't do running, so 1kg isn't a big deal.
=)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Oh sorry, well than you are quite correct, unless he is doing some climbing on the bike!

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“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” – Steve Prefontaine | http://www.kirstyjahntriathlon.com | twitter: @kirstyjahntri

So is there a way to gradually lose weight (fat) without losing power?

I'm down 25lbs since let's call it October and up on power, I was injured and started to cut the same time I got back on the trainer so the math isn't 100%. My indoor 20minute ftp test was 273 around may 2014 and 304 last week. I think I'm down 35lbs since May.

BF test in november of 2013 and retest by the same guy 2 weeks ago show that in the 30lbs I lost between those tests 27lbs was fat 3 was other (muscle). I had only tested with virtual at that time (2013) so I won't bother quoting changes there compared to using a PM now.

A lot of it is going to depend on where you are with your training, I was down to a little over 200 for my FTP when I tested in october due to the injury so i really only could go up from there. Not saying any of that is exact, nor saying I know how just showing it is possible. There were times I simply had too much of a calorie deficit and couldn't finish workouts so I had to find the right balance.