Cycling Has A Body Image Problem...
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- čas přidán 21. 12. 2023
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Thank you for addressing the female side of this. Yeah, even as a 50+ Male, I like being fit, shaving my legs whatever... There's not the same type of pressure on me to look a certain way, as there is on my wife and two daughters. Instagram feeds me constant cycling content in shorts, clips, people... the female side is usually not about cycling at all despite the kit, the bike, usually filmed from posterior POV. Every time I see this it galls me.
Addresses female side and then say you're male?
....ahhh. um.. Right. Thank you for addressing the female side of body issues in cycling. I appreciate that for my wife and two daughters. Did you miss that?@@jeremyemilio9378
Yeah, unless it's a girl talking about riding, female riders being posted online is almost always soft core :/ it sucks there are so many talented women in cycling. Terry b on CZcams has some hotline videos with women starring. They're awesome.
Nice I'll check that out. I also teach bikes at a correctional facility for girls and always searching out positive role models.@@autumnday8422
@@jeremyemilio9378did you read the rest of the comment or just reply after reading the first 15 words?
Such a refreshing video. I've long been an advocate for getting rid of the elitist cyclist mentality and get back to training properly and just enjoying riding your bike. I wear no show socks because I live in Florida and tan lines are ugly. Don't like it? Too bad. I wear jerseys with no sleeves because again, I live in Florida, it's hot, and I actually have muscles in my arms that make regular jerseys very tight in the arms. Don't like it? Too bad. I wear my sunglasses under my helmet strap. Why? Because if you wear them over your helmet strap and take your helmet off, your sunglasses go flying to the ground. I do 80% of my riding at endurance pace, 20% doing high intensity intervals. Why? Because that's what polarized training is, and that's the model I follow. That means for 80% of my time on my bike, I'm not only building a really solid aerobic base, but I'm actually loving my ride and enjoying the scenery. It also means I don't get burned out because I'm going flat out every time I saddle up. Stop worrying about what others will think of you, or your kit, or your bike, and just enjoy riding the damn thing. Want to go fast? Go fast. Want to go slow? Go slow. If you're supposed to be doing a recovery ride, do a damn recovery ride and don't let others talk you into doing a tempo ride. And, as always, remember this: It's not the bike, it was never the bike, it'll never be the bike.
But if you don't train hard how are you gonna get better? That guy with the cheaper steel bike who dropped you on your sir-velo didn't get to where he is without hard training there is no such thing as over trading,only under recovery
@@jeremyemilio9378 I would strongly advise you to look up videos and articles on polarized training. I’ve been using it for years and most of the top pros, including Pogacar and others use it as well. 80-90% of your training should be in zone 1 of the three zone training model (endurance zone). The other 10-20% is spent doing high intensity intervals. The problem with most cyclists is that they go out and ride at 85-90% of their ftp because they want to have a good avg speed when they post the ride to Strava. Those are garbage miles. You’re not going easy enough to build your aerobic base, and you’re not going hard enough to activate the systems at the top end. Ever hear “go slow to go fast”? Believe me, follow the polarized method for a few months, put the work in, and you’ll see the difference.
@jeremyemilio9378 Who cares? I cycle because I like it, I don't care if I get dropped by someone on a 100 year old bike.
Such an important conversation - thank you for discussing this so thoroughly and thoughtfully.
My normal weight is 70-72kg, I am 5ft 9in tall-oh, and 75 years old. During the pandemic I was cycling a lot on my own and my weight dropped to 61.5kg! I wasn’t bothered about it as I felt fine and was flying (relatively) up the hills-however, people were asking my wife if I was ill because I looked so drawn….. I am back to 70-72kg now and apparently I look much healthier. It seems as you say that you can be TOO light/skinny!
I am just under 1cm shorter than 6ft and I am 57 kg. 😅26 years old, never been more than 63 kg in my life ever
yea 61kg seems very little. I am 5 10 at about 165 lbs morning weight at around 24 BMI. I'd love to drop down to 160 72KG but it is nearly impossible
I have the snoop dogg looks..6ft+ (184cm) and I struggle to remain at 60kg. I've had the looks of an auschwitz survivor for years when I was extremely underweight with
@@jeremyemilio9378 i am 5ft 5in and around 50kg, im considered skinny. are you ok?
Same experience, except at 22
As someone who naturally has that climber look, I’m mostly trying to add muscle to maintain 60 kg. And I’m still super slow on flat ground.
This is exactly what I needed to watch on my zone 2 zwift ride today.
Thanks for posting this. It is a very good reset of my thinking of why I'm training ( to be an ironman first then road racing, cyclocross, ect.) and a great reminder that even though it's okay to dream of riding the big mountains that I need to take the steps of riding today the best I can where I'm at and train for tomorrow but let tomorrow take care of getting to the bigs tomorrow if ever. Besides, I'm in Colorado, let me conquer the Rockies before I conquer the Alps.
The part about the best equipment and the best kit is scrub for me as well. As a single mom, I will get the best equipment I can within my budget and train within the hours that I have to achieve the best outcome that I can achieve within my age group. Do I dream of going pro...ya...but...you know...
I don't care about what the pros do or ride. I can ride to have fun and get exercise,
if other people want to be super serial - go ahead. Most of us are NOT pro cyclists.
and are NOT training for the tour de France to goodness sake.
There are WAY too much haughty and elitist attitudes in what (for most of us) is
a hobbyist activity. that Pro "look" or body shaming people is BS. We should be encouraging more people to ride and have FUN doing it.
I remember a number of years ago I had a chance to talk with David Miller, and he lamented the endless hours. He spent riding at zone two (150-200) as a professional. You are totally right that most average cyclist base all of their training on the smallest segment of what professionals do.
So value this conversation. Thank you for stating that we can normalize not training like a pro and still making gains. I have had a real shift as I start this season training load
Looking back at my life -- I'm just over 6' and 53 years old -- I think the highest energy levels I've had were times that i was about 75 to 80 kilos. Much below that (first two years of college, again around 26 to 27) and I've lacked strength....much above that (early 2000s, 2011-13, 2017-18, 2022) and I've felt sluggish......on it (last two years of college, late 1990s, late 2000s, 2015-16) and I've felt good. The key thing now, since successful surgery on a congenital heart valve problem early this year, is to be more consistent.
Great show very down to earth I hope to race next year would love a coach I enjoy my cycling
Thank you for this conversation! I have also gone through the "image phase" of a cyclist. I lost so much weight I looked unhealthy. I did look like a genuine roadie with super skinny body but it looked unhealthy outside of lycra. My body also could not sustain energy levels. I did get better at climbing but my power on the flats was total crap. I'm 25lbs heavier and happier now. I don't care about image or weight because I've been there and it's just not for me and my health.
I got into cycling mainly to lose weight, and I just enjoy having something that gets me off the couch and out with my friends and family. What I struggle with is that cycling as a whole isn’t made for someone like me. Most bikes have weight limits well under what I weigh now, let alone when I started riding 150 pounds ago. The few options for someone north of 300 pounds are prohibitively expensive so I’ve taken my chances with what I can afford and accepted the risk of breaking parts or wearing them out prematurely. Beyond the bike, finding cycling kit is next to impossible. Not that I want to wear skin tight Lycra to begin with, but a moisture wicking jersey that isn’t painted on would be so much more comfortable than a cotton t shirt soaked in sweat. And again, the few options are just crazy expensive.
There aren't many 300lb people looking to ride bikes, so there are not going to be products to accommodate them. You will have to make due with what you can.
Running shirts, football shirts, baselayers. Climbing, running or trail tights for bottoms.
Tandem wheels.
I am currently around 390lbs,. I find that a pair of proper bike shorts (you can find reasonably priced ones in 3 and 4XL sizes, although I find that 2XL works for me since the stretch); and running shirts work great!
As for the bikes, I feel ya there. The thing is, the weight limit almost always has to do with the wheel strength....if you put stronger wheels on you can ride almost any bike (I like steel and aluminum bikes because they give me more confidence, but I'm sure that carbon would be more than strong enough).
My first bike in my adult years (I raced as a kid) was a Fugi Touring bike... a steel frame, reliable components, and the wheels were decently strong for the price. While they would go out of true faster, it taught me how to true a wheel at home without a truing stand (happy to share if you're interested!) I recently upgraded to a Ribble CGR AL as I wanted a do-it-all Ribble lets you customize almost everything so I put on a set of Hope 20 Five wheels (aluminum, light, 32 spokes...the more the spokes the better), and that has worked wonderfully so far. And since it's a disk-brake bike, being 100% true isn't as important as it doesn't affect the braking surface.
I can't recommend the CGR enough if you are looking for a new bike. I put GRX400 on it since I wanted to do some gravel riding, but the lower gearing also helps folks like us get up the hills (I hear your hills across the pond are rather steep haha).
I recently bought a training plan from NorCal Cycling (a great channel if you want to watch entertaining race breakdowns and equipment tests) and I'll be joining you in the weight loss journey via cycling.
I hope some of this helped you, or anyone else in a situation like ours who may read this!
Cheers, happy riding!
@@hendrixinfinity3992 I love the tandem wheelset suggestion!
@@maxwellsage7422 you could also get a regular wheel built with Tandem spokes for the same effect.
I got down to 73kg at some point. I really worked hard at losing weight, and I regret every moment of it. I was a marginally better climber, but I would've gotten a lot more benefit out of staying 80-85kg and going to the gym more. I'm a natural born sprinter. My HR goes high and my power numbers even in my mid-40s are still really good. Breaking 1000w isn't particularly difficult for me. But I fought against my phenotype and that was a lot of wasted effort. I was never going to be a great climber. Now I don't race (though I'll probably get back into CX next year) and I'm 90kg and I'm a lot happier. Lessons learned.
And to be 100% clear, I was never, ever going to be an elite cyclist no matter how hard I trained. But I could've been happier while training.
Any more stories like this, please keep them to yourself
@@jontysarge No. :)
I have been over training for 3 months now. It's like don't think about how you can't change the world, or help anyone, so you just ride real hard.
I do mostly indoor riding because that is how I can get the most time on the bike, and I definitely get the body problems haha I’m over wight by a lot I also do strength trainer and try to build on that and my cycling but also I’m still very fat with fat. I have have medical issues that sometimes gets in the way of cycling feel of one the bike and the fit of bibs and jerseys but I like having matching jerseys and my flame socks it is all personal and makes me feel good. I don’t care what anyone says my flame socks make me go faster haha.
Pro cyclists are just that! Professional! It’s their job. They train, eat and recover. For the most part it’s their only job. People who work don’t have the time to properly train and recover like a pro would. When you’re retired at my age, 70, you have the time but your body doesn’t respond and recover as it did at 30. The legs stay sore for an extra day or two after a hard day on the bike.
Part of this issue is that pros don't talk about the off bike work they do as much as the on bike stuff, it's not as glamorous, doesn't make for a good story. You can get in the volume ON THE BIKE, but to keep your body functional, there's a lot of OFF BIKE work you have to do that takes up a lot of time. Not to mention the recovery, the fact they don't go mow their lawn, they sit with their feet up, etc.
Professional cyclists have started looking like skeletons since 2000. The focus on watts/kg is the reason. It is essential when doing grand tour climbs. On a worldwide scale - and at every other level - races are significantly flatter. Endurance and plain old watts matter more. I consider tour riders to be outliers. Track riders are a better body image to strive for IMHO.
Track riders physique should be the standard "marketed" image for the cycling world. I've gone through the roadie body image and it was just not healthy or appealing outside of lycra kits.
I'm guessing you don't watch much MTB.....most of them do weight/ cross training - go and look at what Nino does....
@@WerdnaLiten What's MTB?
Out on the bike today after building more muscle in gym plus added Christmas turkey festivities- I felt like a pig on the bike lol 😂
The thing about the pro's is they focus on resting as much as they do on training. If you have a regular life with a job, it's simply impossible to recover or bring your best to your work and relationships while training that hard. The pro's aren't just special because of their capabilities on the bike, but their ability to recover. I personally don't see a major difference in my power output when I train 12+ hours per week vs 6-9 hours because 6-9 seems to be all I can recover from. I don't have a desk job, I'm on my feet 8-10 hours most days of the working week and I'm a poor sleeper. Diet, consistency, and training protocol have a much bigger impact on how I progress, and I think that would be the same for most people. I also enjoy riding more when I'm not putting in those big hours.
You guys talking about skinny guys and im here just trying to get the thickkkk legs and shoulders like mvp
mvdp
I've seen cycling as very simply either a way to get to school long ago, a means to be out and around at the same general time, or as good exercise. Never really more than that. Mimicking what big time racers did or following what they did for conditioning, either wasn't something that was out there or we weren't interested in that exactly. Running was the thing for me for a long, long time. Running is something you do mostly on your own and it's personal to you. When I dropped it, I fattened up some and after a few years of not having a real athletic thing like running going on, I went back to the bike and adjusted. Now cycling had been like running was to be; On my own and personal. It's quality exercise and I've intensified it in the last year with a road bike particularly. I've also leaned up by quite a lot even compared to last year before getting back to a road bike. But not excessively. This pretense of fashioning yourself as a pro type with those workups, is something that's probably not going to work for the average Joes out there. Plus it's probably not going to be too healthy either.
4:25 oh I'm getting my cycle right alright
I'm a muscular super clydesdale, who walks around "typical" cyclists with an aire of superiority 🤷🏽♂️🦍
Triathletes look better than cyclists. In order to swim fast, a triathlete needs much stronger upper body muscles than a cyclist. Rowers also have a strong upper body.
Most MTB racers look better than road riders....
As a 6ft man with broad shoulders and thick legs, uh, yeah I'm not giving those up to be the skinny rails that pro cyclists are. I will never be at the optimal weight but I'm also 40 and want to live longer. Which means I need to keep as much muscle mass so as I do age and lose muscle, I still have enough to function well as my test drops.
That and I know my wife finds me much more desirable with a muscular shoulders and chest compared to the ultra lean cyclists.
I'll never be great at long distance but I'll tell ya what, these quads can put some power down so if you need someone for a sprint or a short hill climb, I can do that well!
With (e) cargo bikes being so in, there should be more races with heavy AF luggage. ....one riding one is luggage! That would be awesome. Total weight normalized to say 200 kg via weights. If the bike can take it. Youd have sprints swap rider, sprint. You'd have all that weight that makes rider weight less of a factor or rather power is now important. At the same time it's more accessible than track cycling.
I’ve learned through cycling in many different arenas for the past 10 + years that competitive cycling can lead to the most disordered thinking.
You’re constantly worrying about your:
Weight
Food
FTP
Bike
Equipment
Kit
Mileage
Hours
Appearance
If somebody told you there is this really expensive hobby I want to get you in to but first you need to get all these things in check first. Would you start?
who are you talking to? you should put in the title....
One can afford to buy all the best equipment, nutrition, coaches, training, etc in the world, and it wont make a difference, its very unlikely that one will able to go and ride the tour de France. Lot of people forget that riding a bike it's more about enjoying going out and having fun on it. Yes there comes a moment that people want more, but at the end of the day it's impossible to try and emulate a pro rider, who are pros for a reason, and then riding will just won't be fun and won't even be healthy for anyone.
trying to lose weight has destroyed me mentally more times than I can count. Feeling so weak and shit about yourself, thinking im too fat sucks the life out of you. But it isn't worth it when the sessions end up like shit due to no energy and constant hunger.
Go no carb diet for 90 days. You can easily find info here on youtube. I am at day 62, and the transformation is remarkable.
losing weight wsnt the problem. your inexperience in feeding yourself properly is the problem. don’t give up bc you want something but don’t know how to get there
There's no problem with Pro Cycling.. As long as you ride, it doesn't matter..
if you are not gaining a mental benefit then you are doing it wrong...
I’m 185cm and 85-88kg and my worry is that the more continue to embrace cycling (I currently do a minimum of 2 rides/ minimum 150 km a week) i’ll lose my pecs and biceps and end up looking like a T-Rex! No improvement is worth that!
FWIW, I'm nearly exactly your size (also 49 YO), and ride (when I'm on the bike, which is restricted to 2 weeks/month because of work), I'm doing about 160 - 200km a week, and, no, not skinny looking (getting a bit lean). Make sure you do resistance exercises.
@@richardhaselwood9478don’t worry- I’ve never been as motivated to do a couple of gym sessions a week since I started riding properly!
I don’t know about others, but I’ve always thought it obvious that the wispy thin body of pro riders is one of the STUPIDEST thing you could willingly do to your body.
Sure, you’d win some races. But I’d take the gym sessions, build some functional muscles mass, and win in all round life instead.
Cycling is better enjoyed as a luxury sport where you enjoy and be proud of your riding gear (your 20k bikes etc) , and then you focus on getting fit and healthy, rather than getting fast.
2 man races on cargobikes. Loaded up to 200/250?kg total weight. Now sprint and power matter more,rider weight less.
Well, 1,90m and 105kg (two kids and 4 years of home office)… try finding a jersey that fits and feels appropriate.
well the only reason the pros shave there legs is just about the massages not aero. belgian pro' s talked about it. greets from belgium.
Bodybuilders have joined the chat.
Shaving legs I think is primarily for avoiding infection when you’re involved in a crash. So if you are not in events where you’d be prone to crashes, then don’t shave your legs
It’s extremely uncomfortable for times when you wear pants and jeans during your regular life.
Nobody wants to look like a grand tour pro cyclist
Not just a body image problem but an image problem in general, you got elitists trying to make casual riders feel bad because they're not riding a bike that costs a fortune and wearing a suit etc, I've been a tourer and a commuter for a long time and enjoy riding vintage upright steel bikes in casual regular clothes, not even a helmet which is my choice, it's just how i ride, like the dutch. I don't give a damn how other go about their riding but don't go and tell me what to ride and what to ride in, i don't do sports.
What happened to just enjoying it??
Biggest issue here is 99% of us hard core cyclist will never be pros, maybe Cat1’s w enough training, so if we can’t reach that salaried n very travelled pro-level why even train like pros ? I think amateur level training w good nutrition is the best bang for the buck.
When I think of a road cyclist, i think of a man, 50+ probably in rent, in a pro-team jersey (used to be "Phonak" or now just something colourful) and abnoquious sunglasses with a belly that hangs down over the toptube...
So, no - i'll not buy a road bike! ^^
I was so excited to learn this new word "abnoquious" only to then be slightly let down that this appears to be a misspelling of "obnoxious". It's quite the obnoxious misspelling too 🙂
@@dacodastrack7271 haha.. thanks! It's not my first language and was too lazy to look up how it's spelled. So just wrote it how i heard it... but at least it seems like you understood what i meant... ^^
@@WaechterDerNacht Ohh! Got it 😁 In that case, only kudos! It was quite the creative spelling ❤️
roadies look ridiculous with their super skinny look.. unless youre a world tour rider
There is nothing wrong with being light, and trying to be lean. There are unhealthy and awful ways to get there, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can be healthy AND super lean. There are so many people who try to attain this fast, they lose power, they feel shitty and then they spread anecdotal bullshit. If you wanna look lean like Pog or Sepp, go do that shit. Get stronger AND leaner. Don’t listen to people who couldn’t figure it out like these two. I’m 55.2kg, FTP 5w/kg. The people who train with me and eat like me, similar or better numbers. CARB UP. Stop starving.
Light and lean isn’t healthy lol. Body builders at their peak have one of the lightest and leanest bodies possible, and not a single one of them will tell you that it’s a healthy lifestyle that is sustainable.
When you put on muscles, your weight will go up. There’s no avoiding that. What you should be aiming for is heavy, yet lean. Because that means both muscle growth and bone density, both of which are crucial for an all round healthy life
@@87togabitoYou can be lean, light, and healthy. To insinuate being heavy is in someway healthier is moronic. What about being lean and light would be unhealthy? I’d love to hear.
There's plenty wrong, you haven't defined what you mean and all I hear in light and lean = underweight. BMI chart underweight. Too little fat too little muscle.
@@drewbuffingtonit's not Moronic being heavier than underweight is healthier. Decent muscle and fat is healthier.
@@drewbuffingtonyou can Google anorexia yourself
There's barely cycling content that doesn't assume you are willing to pour all the time and energy you got into it. imilar problem with bodybuilding but less so. You come across ideas what to do with say 2_3 x 1h a week there more often. While bodybuildingtube treats cardio as some pesky thing you probably should do with no performance aspirations and no understanding that it can be fun. I looked for a while and i assume going hard tor 1_4 min then backing off and repeat could be a good idea to improve cardio in the limited time im willing to use.... In summer I'll do 1_4 h rides. Or if i gotta go somewhere. But. Not really sure. No clear answer on how to best spend my 10_20 min treadmill at the end of the gym, if i disregard any possible killing of gains😂. There's almost no content for me. Taking cardio kinda seriously is no mans land.
It isn’t a body image issue it’s just physics.
When people are just entering into road cycling, yeah it sucks to be slower…but you gotta suck it up find your place in the “pack”….in the local ranking…and put the miles in….so you can be a confident comfortable rider…I don’t care about your intervals and squat routine…
If you have been doing it from a much younger age, say like your teens…chances are you are a well rounded rider with a substantial year round base of conditioning…
Also don’t get obsessed with GROUP RIDES….sort yourself out first before you let others cut the wind in front of your undeserving ass…
Allright. That's the elitism I guess 😂. ....and you seem bothered about your kinda weak kinda strong legs too. It really doesn't sound inviting you know?
I started doing weight lifting and trained mostly byceps, girls used to look at my face, now they stare at my arms. Not worth...
😂what a cope. Totally worth it.
Like people think they need that 20k bike cause its going to make them faster, biggest rip off in cycling is the bs about bikes.
Let bikes have 10+kg weight then this whole weight problem for cyclists goes away.
heres a problem, regular cyclists call it "training" when they are not training for anything. its riding, not training.
BS
Disagree with this.
Spotted the salty wimpy roadie looking like a twig in their Lycra lol
Debbie downer podcast…don’t do this to cycling please
Facts on top of facts on top of more facts… 🫡
well the only reason the pros shave there legs is just about the massages not aero. belgian pro' s talked about it. greets from belgium.