How to Determine Target Race Weight
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Enjoyed the Body Comp coach chat this week (listened after the fact so could not ask this live).
I understand the 2.2-2.5 ratio but wanted to check ... is this a "baseline" target throughout the year but then people drop a bit below their "normal" in the month or so leading up to A+ race?
Is there a rule of thumb for determining ideal race weight?
I've been floating in the upper 160's the last couple of months and targeting 165lbs at end of OS. At 6' 3" this puts me at lower end of the ratio (yay). But where to go from there? Hold steady... or try to drop a touch more on the road to IM?
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I bet given your height/weight you should NOT be worrying about trying to get your weight down, either for training or racing purposes. @ 6'3"/168#, your BMI is 21. You should be more focused on just making sure you do a good job of replenishing what you use up on a daily basis, with good recovery feeding and proper food choices. Especially in the OS, you need to keep those glycogen stores topped up on a DAILY basis to be able to withstand the hard workouts which keep coming at you. Your body weight will take care of itself. I'd bet that during IM training, it will be more of an issue about trying to keep your weight UP, rather than worrying about getting it down. Your body has this weight thing under control, don't try to over ride its efforts on this matter. You'll find your weight drifting down when the workouts start averaging more than 15 hours/week. That's the time to start eating like a Tour de France rider!
Here's a good rule of thumb (for those of us who are lucky in already having an athletically lean body composition) to know if you are at your ideal racing weight:
I am dead serious about this as a good metric! I tested it with the EN racers @ Kona this year, and most of them felt they fell in that range, with examples of (a) how fat they felt and (b) how someone had worried about how lean they looked in the two weeks leading up to the race.
Wow - given Tim's #s, I wonder how valuable that target range of 2.2-2.5 actually is, again for those os us who are more naturally athletically lean. When I got out of the ICU, having lost 15# from what I consider to be the best shape of my life (three weeks out from Kona), I was @ a ratio of 1.85, having been 2.07 for my "race weight." Within two months, my body fat % had RISEN to 4%, and I was @ 2.01, but never did gain *all* the weight back. (I also lost 3/4" in height as a result of my accident, but I have ignored that loss in all these calculations.) Now, I train well @ 2.07, and race @ 2.04. When I started doing tris, I was more like 2.2/2.1
My point is, for those of us who are already @ a "normal" BMI - which is considered to be 18.5-24.9 - its probably best just to let your body do the thinking on this issue, meaning refuel as needed, eat properly, stay hydrated, and don't let yourself "feel" hungry. Your weight will sort itself out to your best benefit given the amount and type of activity you are asking it to do. The more and harder endurance training you do, the leaner you will get. At some point, probably below that 2.2 number, your body will find its homeostatic setting, its optimum point, as long as you don't over-train.
Within this BMI range there is still a wide range of body type - e.g. John Withrow vs Tim Cronk, but for those of us within that range to begin with, we're probably better served by focusing more on proper diet and not on absolute numbers on the scale.
I would take those with a grain of salt since these people race for a living, and likely have nutritionists and regular blood work.
Race weight is individual; what works for one could be too lean and performance detracting to the next person. It's possible to run too lean.
Fitzgerald has a book Racing Weight that can help you figure out where Racing Weight for you is.
Couple take aways and comments based on this...
* My target of ~165lbs exiting the OS seems about right. Happy with where I'm at now, trying to maintain through the holidays then gradually chip away. But don't need to get carried away here.
* A+ Race weight I'll likely aim ~158 based on 2.1 * 75". No need to worry about that now though... just seeding it in the back of my mind.
* FWIW re my weight and history, I've generally had a lean build but the 160's has taken some work and consistency to get to. Generally in past few years I've been in mid 180's. Raced IMWI in '11 at 170lbs and since then put it all back. Started 2014 in the upper 180's but with a good bit of training this year, plus logging diet from time to time, I've been able to chip away it it. I find tracking it in LoseIt helps in making smart choices and not overdoing it but also in reminding me to refuel sufficiently after longer workouts.
Again - thanks for the perspectives ... seems you have to find what works for you to a large extent, but based on what you've said it seems I have a reasonable plan.
Ratios. Great for population statistics, but converting their use to real life individual situations is tenuous.
My example: I'm a purebred endomorph, a hairless ewok when at rest. In 2015, my goal is 2.5 after racing at 2.8 in 2014. After losing 6lbs in the OS thus far, my FTP has dropped 10-25 watts. Running is causing slightly more ankle strain. I have also noticed new shoulder, chest and back bulk - 7 weeks into OS it is clear that my body is responding to twice weekly push-ups and pull-ups with notable upper body muscle mass. I look nothing like the 1.8-2.0 folks I met in Austin, and I am doubtful I ever will.
I do not know the result of this body comp experiment... this is the OS, not true IM training yet. But HIM training got me to 2.8 and I am now a little pessimistic that 2.5 will lead me to a better finish. I suggest losing sight of the ratio for those not naturally gifted with lean genes, and refocusing on the desired outcome - speed and efficiency, without injury.
DS