How to drop 15 lb by the end of April

davert123

I have been on here now for 5 months this time around and it has worked (mainly because I've listened to good people liek SS and Sara and put the work in). I've managed to change from complete slob (my own description of my own self only) to someone getting there with sport and dropping 50 lb on the way. I do some resistance work but I get a buzz out of being outside so I've decided Triathlon is the way forward for me at the moment. I've entered a my first race on 27th April. Its a Sprint, 400m 18k 5k) I've been working hard and I've got to a level where I am now working in order not to come last rather than just to complete it. At 195lb , 6"1' I know there is plenty of scope to lose more fat but I am trying to work out the best way of progressing. I have initially set a target arbitrarily in my head to drop another 14 lb by race day. I have a conflict though and I am not sure what is the best way to progress. When I run a deficit I am pretty convinced it takes longer to recover and my workouts aren't as intense. If I cut too quickly it would appear that I will lose lean body mass. My question is what rate of loss should I go for and over what period. I mean I could drop 1lb a week for 14 weeks. This will mean my recoveries will take a little longer and I won't be able to push quite as hard right up to the race. Alternatively, I could push the reduction harder so say I cut at 2lb per week. This will reduce my training ability for the first 7 weeks but give me a few weeks at the end to exercise at my TDEE which could allow me to peak better. Any idea of which way I should go ?

Cheers
Dave

tomcornhole

I've entered a my first race on 27th April. Its a Sprint, 400m 18k 5k

Is that 4 different races? All on the same day? If so, that's awesome.

Nothing else to offer. In for learning, though.

Tom

stevesilk

I think he's saying it's a Sprint Triathlon, meaning 400m swim, 18K bike and 5K run/jog. More than likely.

Rayman79

I think a small deficit would be the way to go. It may help you to time your carbs around your workouts too, I find (anecdotally) that if I save a decent proportion of my carb intake for pre-intra-post workouts it helps me with recovery and less cravings at other times.

I had a similar scenario when I was training for a long distance ride recently (my first ride >100 miles). I still have some weight to lose but did not make that my goal in the lead up to the race. I had a very small deficit in the weeks preceding the event, and ate at maintenance (probably a little over) for the week before.

There is no doubt that getting leaner will help you in the long run, but getting too aggressive in the short term will hinder your training and your performance on the day.

SideSteel

I have been on here now for 5 months this time around and it has worked (mainly because I've listened to good people liek SS and Sara and put the work in). I've managed to change from complete slob (my own description of my own self only) to someone getting there with sport and dropping 50 lb on the way. I do some resistance work but I get a buzz out of being outside so I've decided Triathlon is the way forward for me at the moment. I've entered a my first race on 27th April. Its a Sprint, 400m 18k 5k) I've been working hard and I've got to a level where I am now working in order not to come last rather than just to complete it. At 195lb , 6"1' I know there is plenty of scope to lose more fat but I am trying to work out the best way of progressing. I have initially set a target arbitrarily in my head to drop another 14 lb by race day. I have a conflict though and I am not sure what is the best way to progress. When I run a deficit I am pretty convinced it takes longer to recover and my workouts aren't as intense. If I cut too quickly it would appear that I will lose lean body mass. My question is what rate of loss should I go for and over what period. I mean I could drop 1lb a week for 14 weeks. This will mean my recoveries will take a little longer and I won't be able to push quite as hard right up to the race. Alternatively, I could push the reduction harder so say I cut at 2lb per week. This will reduce my training ability for the first 7 weeks but give me a few weeks at the end to exercise at my TDEE which could allow me to peak better. Any idea of which way I should go ?

Cheers
Dave

Have you been in a deficit for a while now?
What rate are you currently losing weight at?

What is your current exercise program and do you have strength and/or body composition goals in addition to the weight loss and running goals?

davert123

I think he's saying it's a Sprint Triathlon, meaning 400m swim, 18K bike and 5K run/jog. More than likely.

This is it, sorry for the confusion - 1 race involving a 400m swim, 18K bike ride followed by a 5K run just to completely finish me off and make me wish I hadn't bothered lol

tomcornhole

I think he's saying it's a Sprint Triathlon, meaning 400m swim, 18K bike and 5K run/jog. More than likely.

This is it, sorry for the confusion - 1 race involving a 400m swim, 18K bike ride followed by a 5K run just to completely finish me off and make me wish I hadn't bothered lol

Very awesome. Good for you.

davert123

I have been on here now for 5 months this time around and it has worked (mainly because I've listened to good people liek SS and Sara and put the work in). I've managed to change from complete slob (my own description of my own self only) to someone getting there with sport and dropping 50 lb on the way. I do some resistance work but I get a buzz out of being outside so I've decided Triathlon is the way forward for me at the moment. I've entered a my first race on 27th April. Its a Sprint, 400m 18k 5k) I've been working hard and I've got to a level where I am now working in order not to come last rather than just to complete it. At 195lb , 6"1' I know there is plenty of scope to lose more fat but I am trying to work out the best way of progressing. I have initially set a target arbitrarily in my head to drop another 14 lb by race day. I have a conflict though and I am not sure what is the best way to progress. When I run a deficit I am pretty convinced it takes longer to recover and my workouts aren't as intense. If I cut too quickly it would appear that I will lose lean body mass. My question is what rate of loss should I go for and over what period. I mean I could drop 1lb a week for 14 weeks. This will mean my recoveries will take a little longer and I won't be able to push quite as hard right up to the race. Alternatively, I could push the reduction harder so say I cut at 2lb per week. This will reduce my training ability for the first 7 weeks but give me a few weeks at the end to exercise at my TDEE which could allow me to peak better. Any idea of which way I should go ?

Cheers
Dave

Have you been in a deficit for a while now?
What rate are you currently losing weight at?

What is your current exercise program and do you have strength and/or body composition goals in addition to the weight loss and running goals?

Thanks SideSteel

I've been in a deficit for most of the last 6 months. I had a week off at Christmas but apart from that I have been cutting since August. I started out cutting hard, perhaps 3lb per week, then dropped to 2 and I am not going for 1.5 but mainly hitting somewhere between 1 and 1.5 lb per week

I am trying to periodize my exercise program with 3 normal weeks followed by an easy week. A typical normal week would be something like (an easy week still contains both gym sessions)

Mon - Swim 30 mins, Run 30 mins hard (trying to get into Z4 on my HRM
Tue - Resistance - Lats, Leg press, Upper back, Pec Deck, shoulder Press. Followed by Rowing and Spin Bike Tabatas (20ses on, 10 off x16 with a 1 minute break in the middle) followed by 30 minutes interval training on a treadmill.
Wednesday - day off or 30 minutes road bike
Thur- Swim 30 mims, Run 30 mins
Fri - Repeat Tuesday (resistance, Tabatas and intervals) in the middle of the day then swimming for 1Hr at night
Sat - Day off or long run if I can't do it Sunday (1.5 - 2 hrs hilly course or hilly cross country)
Sun - Long run (if possible I do it now instead of Sat) and then 50mins road bike.

My aim so far has been just to drop weight and try to hold on to as much lean body mass as possible while increasing my cardiovascular fitness. Now I have lost a lot of weight though I would like to drop a little more weight but increase my overall strength as well as well. I would like to eventually bulk up a little for aesthetic reasons and to support the swim/bike sections of the tri. My current resistance work is 3 sets of 8 with it hard but not impossible on the last couple of the third set.

Hope the above wasn't too much info,

Thanks
Dave

SideSteel

How many calories do you average currently?

davert123

I think a small deficit would be the way to go. It may help you to time your carbs around your workouts too, I find (anecdotally) that if I save a decent proportion of my carb intake for pre-intra-post workouts it helps me with recovery and less cravings at other times.

I had a similar scenario when I was training for a long distance ride recently (my first ride >100 miles). I still have some weight to lose but did not make that my goal in the lead up to the race. I had a very small deficit in the weeks preceding the event, and ate at maintenance (probably a little over) for the week before.

There is no doubt that getting leaner will help you in the long run, but getting too aggressive in the short term will hinder your training and your performance on the day.

Thanks, this is what I am trying to work out :-) I agree with carb timing and I am using this more now in the same sort of pattern as you. still haven't mastered eating on my long run but I am going to need to because I'm going to start to bonk if I keep increasing my distance without fuelling. I am sort of drawn to the idea of reducing my deficit but at the same time I know the difference a loss of weight could make to my bike and run. Saying that if it costs more time to recover then there may be no benefit :-) My gut tends to agree with you but I still don't think I know enough to make an absolute decision. Thanks for taking the time to answer though, I will take your advice on board

davert123

How many calories do you average currently?

I'm going for a deficit of 750 a day. today I burned over a thousand in exercise and consumed 2600. MFP put my quota at 2625 with a 750 deficit.
I tend to use MFP to calculate my calorie intake so it goes up and down, I'm guessing on average its well over 2000 at the moment

jacksonpt

I'll let SS answer your calorie/diet questions, but to your training...

More workouts won't necessarily mean better times. Make sure your workouts are effective and purposeful. Are you following any specific training program?

davert123

I'll let SS answer your calorie/diet questions, but to your training...

More workouts won't necessarily mean better times. Make sure your workouts are effective and purposeful. Are you following any specific training program?

Thanks Jack. At the moment I am not in general following a particular programme. The Gym sessions (Weights ,Tabatas and intervals) have been put together by the gym coach who is also a tri coach for the local club. . My thinking is that I am still relatively unfit and I need to boost my fitness in general. My fitness (both duration and length of time at a speed) is still increasing so everything seems to be moving in the right direction. The biggest problem though is that I seem to be in between training programmes. I could do a beginner programme which would start off at a couple of hours a week which is far less than I am doing and I feel I would go backwards. I could also do a more specialised programme but they will call for technique type drills but I feel like I really need to just concentrate on base fitness. If you can advise though please let me know. I realise I know very little and I am willing to change my ways if someone who knows what they are talking about can help :-)

Cheers

jacksonpt

General fitness will benefit you in most aspects of life, so there is certainly nothing wrong with sticking with that as your focus. Some of that will translate to faster splits and a better finishing time. But ultimately, the best way to get faster is to swim, bike and run more.

Based on where you're at, I would think you're find doing what you're doing, unless you wanted to be really focused for the next 10 weeks and put everything you've got into improving your finishing time. To that end, you'll want to be more focused in your workouts, but obviously you won't see the same benefits in other areas (strength, body composition, etc) as you would on a your current plan.

So really it's a question of goals/priorities.

General fitness benefits most aspects of life, but less will translate to better race times.
Tri-specific training won't give as much "general" benefit, but will have a greater impact on race performance.


Just for context...
I say all that without knowing what you're doing currently or what your current ability is.

.

SideSteel

So just to make some general statements:

1) I'm not going to be qualified to comment on necessary adjustments to the cardio portion of the program regarding your performance goals so I'll leave that up to the more cardio-proficient people.

2) Given that you're on the high end of volume for endurance training and on the low end of volume for weight training I'd suggest you do your best to get two full body training sessions in per week.

3) As for rate of weight loss, I'd suggest keeping it on the slow end of things since you're concerned about performance. 1lb/week should be reasonable.

Your logging has some holes in it. When I remove the days that are obviously incompletely logged I show an average of around 2100 calories. Macros aren't far off.

Ideally it would be a good idea to get on full body training program on the two lifting days, but if we switch you over to something at this point you have the additional concern that it could impact your endurance training so I don't know that the trade off is worth it. After you finish your event though, you should look into it.

Rayman79

Just a point about full body training SS, I found it difficult to train on a full body routine (albeit a fairly intensive 3x week program) when starting to do endurance rides too. Training heavy squats & DLs too close to a long training session is pretty taxing and not great for performance.

I am currently running a split program based on the 'Westside barbell for skinny *kitten*'. It splits training into four days, Max effort upper day and lower day (where you work to a max effort set of 3-5 reps for bench and squat respectively), then an upper and lower power day that focuses on explosive movements (think 60% max weight focusing on speed, as well as things like box jumps).

Don't be scared off by the Westside name either, you dont have to have a gym full of bands and chains to do this program.

You can split the days around your training - the timing definitely helps in fatigue management!

One resource that helped me piece together my program was a guy by the name of Alex Viada. If you are interested in endurance and serious lifting then he's a good resource. The guy (if he is actually human) is a competitive powerlifter and ultra endurance athlete. If you google Viada and triathlon training I'm sure you'll find his tri training splits too.

SideSteel

Just a point about full body training SS, I found it difficult to train on a full body routine (albeit a fairly intensive 3x week program) when starting to do endurance rides too. Training heavy squats & DLs too close to a long training session is pretty taxing and not great for performance.

Understandable for a 3/week program. OP is already on a full body program at 2/week, my suggestion (although not phrased well) was to maintain the 2/week but something more structured such as taking a 2/week version of SS or something similar.

davert123

A big thanks to everyone that has passed on advice to me, I do really appreciate it. I have formulated a short and medium term plan based on it.

Calorie deficit. I am going to move quickly to reduce the deficit to TDEE - 500 a day.
I agree with Jack that just doing more volume in a random fashion isn't the best way to progress so I am going to employ a coach for a couple of months to point me in the right direction in respect to prioritization and to direct my endurance activities to get me through my first race
My first race is in 10 weeks time so I am going to keep the resistance regime the same until then. As soon as I've completed the race I will move to a more complete total body workout. If its ok with you SideSteel I may come back and ask for advice when I start this. I think you are right that I rocking the boat right now may be counter productive but I am very heavily biased to endurance and re balancing this a little with a better lifting plan has got to be better. My next planned race is in mid August though which would give me 4 months to get get into a new routine and make sure it is working well before I do race

thanks again
Dave