im 1.79m and about 73 kgs…is there any way u can determine ideal race weight? i mean do u want to lose weight but lose that power for the bike? etc etc
It doesn’t matter what you weigh, you will always have to lose at least 10 pounds. 
Every time I show up for a race and look around most of the guys my age are bean poles. I feel like two ton Tony at a meeting of the Biafran Running Club.
-Robert
Eat right and train right and your weight will take care of itself. A good series of sensible nutrition articles are at http://www.byrn.org/gtips/gtips.htm. “Nutrition 101/201/301”
I boiled it down to 3 simple thoughts: Fruits, Veggies and Lean Protein. Baseline diet is equal piles of each. Long workout days – add Fruit.
If you eat like that, and limit “sports drink/food” to on-bike or on-run only, you might lose weight. But more importantly, you’ll recover faster and get lean.
I leaned out by 10 pounds in about 8 weeks this past spring without even trying to.
210lbs. that was my ironman weight.
One of the Tri mags I read said that excess weight (I guess this mean excessive fat?) can slow you down by up to 10-15 seconds per kg per mile. I don’t know what the research for this was it does seem a bit excessive as a 6kg wieght loss would mean a 26min+ marathon improvement.
Research is pretty conclusive, % body fat is not a predictor of triathlon speed (within reason). This is very unfortunate as I am in the 5-6% body fat range and am still very slow. Like the other poster said, train hard and eat right and let your body find its own healthy weight.
I think it varies from person to person. Two years and more I was a cylds. and was normally 45-46 min for a tri 10k, last year weighed 190lbs and was 44-45 min, this year I’m at 175 and just ran a 40:15. I’m hoping this will translate to a good IM. Some of the time increase is from weight loss and part is from more training. My Bike has not changed much over this period.
Racing, I have always weighed within about pound or two of 180 lbs (about 82 kg). I’m 5’11". My race times are: Olympic - just under 3:00, 1/2 IM - 5:38. I’m convinced I have about about 10 pounds of fat I could lose. Joel Friel’s Training Bible has the range of weight you should be able to lift for the different lifts based on your weight. My goal is to weigh just under 170 pounds and meet those lifting goals so I know I’m maintaning the proper stregth to weight ratio. I want to see if that helps with losing a few minutes of my times. Ten pounds is a lot of extra weight to be dragging around for long course races.
My weight has always fluctuated with changes in training intensity/duration (145lb peak training/racing - 160lb off-season). Aside from slightly faster times in all three disciplines, I feel that my running form improves dramatically when carrying less weight. Biomechanically speaking, my stride feels much more fluid and controlled. I’m also not as prone to stress-related injuries when bearing less weight.
I’ve been told that 10 lbs is about 20 seconds per mile while running. That means dropping 10 pounds should help your 5k time by over a minute!
I find it’s easier to train than to stop eating. Some people eat in order to train, however, I train in order to eat. Then I complain about being too heavy and not fast enough. Go figure.
Adam
The wattage required to run a mile is roughly proportional to your weight, so if you weight 10% less you should be able to run 10% faster at a constant wattage. This isn’t exact, but is definitely a decent measure.
For example, if you drop from 160lb to 150lb you should be able to go from a 9 minute mile to an 8:26 mile at constant effort. There’s a reason that most fast marathoners are short, skinny people.
If I remember correctly every pound of fat you drop will net a 1% increase in oxygen uptake. At 5’11" I’ve found my ‘healthy’ racing weight to be 175-180 at 8-10% body fat. Any less than that I get sick easily and much more prone to injury.
sawyer
Boy, the way folks are registering for those races, I’d say your wait is 9-12 months!
im 1.79m and about 73 kgs…is there any way u can determine ideal race weight? i mean do u want to lose weight but lose that power for the bike? etc etc