Ideal Body-fat Percentage For A Trials Rider?

[funtrials]

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

Oh yeah! Well there's "more of her to love" (literally) than YOUR girlfriend!

Edited September 26, 2009 by Funtrials

[funtrials]

At the dinner break when everyone is having the mars bar, burger on white bread...

If you listen real real carefully, I bet you can almost HEAR your competition getting fatter. Must be a good feeling.

[funtrials]

billy, I just added "buy a banana" to my trials checklist. Thanks.

[zippy]

OK first off I am in shape.........round

5'9" tall

240 pounds

Went to doc. all my vitals........blood pressure, pulse, all blood tests glucose, cholesterol, etc. are all normal

He says "You're completely healthy, just need to bring the weight down."

Now I admit I am not as pleasant to look at as Brad Pitt, but if I am totally healthy than my weight is fine for the functioning of my system.

That is my theory and I am sticking with it.

Basically if ya can last the day on the bike and your gut don't get in the way then life is good.

[funtrials]

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.

Excellent info, as per usual. Thanks.

Good point about eating at REGULAR times, so your body does not store fat. I've never really thought about it that way. I'll definitely try to stick to a regular schedule. And small/frequent meals, like you advise.

I'll generally go with your 6-13% athlete figure as a goal to shoot for. Thanks. But what about a 46 year old? What about my 70+ year old dad? What about pre-teens like Nigel Dabster? (Ok, ok, I've never met him, but judging from the intellectual-level of his posts, to be fair, he's probably a couple years OLDER than that.)

You wrote "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)." But on some non-trial weekends I just lie on the couch in front of the TV working out by doing a lot of "remote-control curls", so I don't really NEED my brain to work, so I'm going to feel free to eat fewer calories on those days than what is recommended to maintain my RMR.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Funtrials

[funtrials]

OK first off I am in shape.........round

I'm not round, in fact, I have the body of a GOD (unfortunately, it's Buddha.)

Edited September 26, 2009 by Funtrials

[funtrials]

...but I always take it with a pinch of salt

Sea salt, obviously.

[funtrials]

...get results anywhere between 6% and 12% for myself.

So your average, typical, median body fat % is likely around the 9% mark (but only god knows), I suppose? That quite impressive. How do you think your (say 9%) compares to Dougie and Bou? What if you were to (not that you need to, mind you) drop it to say 7%....would that be better for regular trials, and/or overall health, or not? What about 11%?

[funtrials]

OK first off I am in shape.........round

5'9" tall

240 pounds

Went to doc. all my vitals........blood pressure, pulse, all blood tests glucose, cholesterol, etc. are all normal

He says "You're completely healthy, just need to bring the weight down."

Now I admit I am not as pleasant to look at as Brad Pitt, but if I am totally healthy than my weight is fine for the functioning of my system.

That is my theory and I am sticking with it.

Basically if ya can last the day on the bike and your gut don't get in the way then life is good.

I like your positive outlook on life.

[billycraig]

So your average, typical, median body fat % is likely around the 9% mark (but only god knows), I suppose? That quite impressive. How do you think your (say 9%) compares to Dougie and Bou? What if you were to (not that you need to, mind you) drop it to say 7%....would that be better for regular trials, and/or overall health, or not? What about 11%?

Wouldn't like to guess, generally the lower you go the more prone you become to injury/illness (obviously the same goes for the higher you go as well). I don't specifically aim for any level (unless I'm off on holiday or have a demo booked ) and just sit around that mark with my diet/exercise as it is. To strip more for a show I'd alter my diet and training to suit and be prepared for the drawbacks (less energy, irritable etc). At the moment I'm trying to carry more body-fat as I'm recovering from injury and don't want to be too lean while I'm attempting to get strong.

RMR is the baseline you need for breathing etc. If you want to watch TV, scratch your a***, pick your nose then its still activity (granted its not much). I lost about 4 stone back in 2002 and did it eating 4000ish calories a day. I knew I wanted to be very active after being immobile for so long so I became a personal trainer so that I'd be on my feet all day. I did my workouts and always at large in the morning (its not called break-fast for nothing) and got smaller throughout the day. I ate at the same time each day and pretty soon I was down to 11 stone. Cutting calories means your body is missing out, it won't just delve straight into fat stores as it doesn't know when it'll get fed again so it tends to lock these down and slow the metabolism. The only secret of health/weight normalisation is to let it know its getting fed regularly and build up a little trust. Do it that way and your less likely to crack and eat junk due to being starved. Theirs no need for any drastic measures

[billycraig]

If you listen real real carefully, I bet you can almost HEAR your competition getting fatter. Must be a good feeling.

Not really that good, what they lack in health/fitness they make up for with talent. I lack the talent so try and make up for it with strength and good training.

Its a little shocking seeing good riders eat terrible food, but eating well and the training beforehand usually means no aches and pains during the 6 days. I made it further in last years scott before the pain kicked in so I must be on the right track....not sure what will happen this year though. You'll probably hear me scream on the start line

[funtrials]

Not really that good, what they lack in health/fitness they make up for with talent. I lack the talent so try and make up for it with strength and good training.

Its a little shocking seeing good riders eat terrible food, but eating well and the training beforehand usually means no aches and pains during the 6 days. I made it further in last years scott before the pain kicked in so I must be on the right track....not sure what will happen this year though. You'll probably hear me scream on the start line

Good luck at the trial!

[funtrials]

To strip more for a show I'd alter my diet and training to suit and be prepared for the drawbacks (less energy, irritable etc).

Do you mean WHILE you are losing weight you have less energy, irritable, etc., or when you get to that lower weight you have that? Or both?

[funtrials]

I lost about 4 stone back in 2002 and did it eating 4000ish calories a day.

Now that's some serious working-out you did to eat that much yet lose that much weight. Wow.

[billycraig]

Good luck at the trial!

I'm going to need it, will see how I feel when I get there and hopefully my brace will hold through a trial. Next stop the Scott

Do you mean WHILE you are losing weight you have less energy, irritable, etc., or when you get to that lower weight you have that? Or both?

Yeah, on the basis that you'd want to shift fat you'd limit carbohydrate intake so the body would use all its glycogen stores (muscle, liver etc) and turn to fat which is why its always funny seeing someone grab a sports drink pre workout if its weightloss they're after. You'd then do some pretty intense exercise which the body prefers to do using glycogen (sugar) so its hard work. Once I get to the result I wanted I'm usually pretty happy again, although the moment I go on stage I'm usually in a foul mood but I think I'd be pretty wound up at 2am whatever my diet so its hard to call.

Now that's some serious working-out you did to eat that much yet lose that much weight. Wow.

Not really just the kind of stuff I described before. I learned a lot of commonsense early on in my career. Pre qualification I'd be down the gym for 4 hours a day 365 days a year doing split routines i.e back/chest etc with 2 hours for weights/2 hours for cardio. I was desperate to get fit and loose weight after an accident but after training like a mad man for 395 (yes I recorded them all) days I lost around 4 lbs so I knew for definite that their was more to it.

I learned that regularity was more important than the actual amount. So, yes you could loose weight on 1200 calories a day or even 400 like a certain diet plan suggests but;

1) What effect will it have on your health as your not getting enough to survive (RMR)

2) You need a hell of a lot of will power to maintain it as its a miserable existence cutting back.

So I used myself for another experiment for a year and did the same amount everyday. I lost weight and my metabolic rate went through the roof as it learned it was getting 4000 a day so it could use 4000 a day.

The only issues I had were health wasn't great as to get that amount I needed to eat some junk to hit the figure. 4000 calories worth of lean protein wouldn't be possible!! And that I needed to eat every hour (ish). So I studied more and learned about nutrients that the body requires and I use that clinically now.

But it worked for what it was supposed to do and proved that cutting down isn't always necessary. Metabolism is amazing and is their to see us through times of starvation, sadly it never imagined vending machines would come along packed with twinkies in the most convenient places. Now, if someone could develop and engine with a metabolism we'd be on to a winner. The less fuel you give it the more efficient it becomes, when power drops boost it with coffee/sugar and away you go

I'd best go see if I can still ride (if I ever could)