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Reddit mentions of Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance (The Racing Weight Series)

Sentiment score: 16
Reddit mentions: 35

We found 35 Reddit mentions of Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance (The Racing Weight Series). Here are the top ones.

Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance (The Racing Weight Series)
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Velopress Racing Weight 2nd by Matt Fitzgerald - 9781934030998
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ColorBlack
Height8.98 Inches
Length6.12 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateDecember 2012
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Weight0.99869404686 Pounds
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Found 35 comments on Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance (The Racing Weight Series):

u/ConsulIncitatus · 59 pointsr/running

I wasn't going to say anything until I saw this:

> Most of your skills are due to your size don't forget that

And now I feel compelled.

> Most runners are already lean and mean, so it seems taboo to talk about weight in these circles.

When you don't wear your insecurities on your sleeve it's easy to talk about your weight, and we do it all the time. There's a series of books about it.

> Flash back to me running at a lean 190, or 80lbs ago. Running was still hard, it's something I've never been good at.

Because you were overweight then too, with a BMI of around 26. As you later point out, it does not matter if it is muscle or fat. It's extra weight that you must move, requiring greater energy expenditure.

> but I am still much stronger than I was running, especially in the legs from squats and deadlifts

I bet your power-to-weight ratio is worse, not better. But you'll never know, so you can believe what you want.

> Some of you hear 270 lbs and picture me as this huge obese guy, but honestly i'm not THAT big, I have more a of a powerlifter body nowadays so it isnt 270lbs of straight fat.

Every fat man who goes to the gym once in a while is a power lifter.

> I was basically just granny power walking with the very little bit of glycogen I had left in my legs.

You were not out of glycogen. Nothing in a couch-to-5k program is going to put you in that position.

> I wasn't even remotely tired from a cardio perspective, its just my legs can NOT handle this weight.

Were you wearing a heart rate monitor? I am willing to bet you were in at least zone 3 if not zone 4. Lower body discomfort tends to drown out cardio vascular discomfort.

> Put a 75-100lb vest on, and we're in the ballpark.

Actually, no. This is not remotely accurate. As you also pointed out previously and know to be true, because you weigh 270 pounds your legs have adapted to moving that weight just to function day-to-day. I can barely walk while carrying 100 pounds, and I'm willing to bet you would have almost as difficult of a time. I guarantee that you would not be running with a 100 pound weight vest on if you can't handle couch to 5k.

> Imagine how embarrassing it was to see me come in limping across the finish line with a 21:45

For someone who weighs 270 pounds and is only in week 4 of C25k, a sub 11 minute mile is not terrible.

> disgusted with my performance, breathing like I had just run a marathon

But you just said that running doesn't make you tired "from a cardio perspective" so why were you breathing heavy? Also, by the way, marathon pace doesn't induce particularly hard breathing (except maybe in the sub 2:30 elite class?) or particularly high heart rate because it would be unsustainable for the time it takes to run a marathon. You mean breathing like you had just run a 2 mile speed trial. It never gets easier, you just get faster.

> Is it my cardio? Not really, I wasn't even really tired up until the last half mile and I gutted it out

If you weren't breathing hard until the last half mile it means you were not running at the right pace. For a two mile time trial, you should start breathing very hard almost immediately because you should be running above your VO2 max threshold for that short of a distance. It also means that yes, yes, it is very much your cardio. You are not nearly as fit as you think you are. You're fat. The two are mutually exclusive.

> because personally I believe cardio is largely mental.

You would be wrong. Cardio fitness is an incredibly well studied aspect of human physiology. It is not mental.

> y theory is once you reach a certain weight(and this weight is largely based on your height, amount of muscle mass, and training experience) you are absolutely fucked(and I mean bent over the kitchen counter fucked) as runner. I mean it really didn't make sense.

Why wouldn't it?

Did you take high school physics?

This is not rocket science. Try running up a hill. Is it harder than running on a flat surface? Yes it is! Why? Because you have to fight against the force of gravity. Lifting a weight is a lot harder than rolling a barbell around on the ground for the same reason. You must overcome gravity to perform work. When you move a heavier mass it is harder.

> And yet I was still like 20x faster than I am right now

No you weren't. You did not run a 2 mile time trial in less than 1 minutes.

> despite me being much stronger and a more experienced runner.

You cannot become less experienced in running over time. You can lose conditioning but not experience.

> I used to run like a runaway hospital patient. No grace, no form, no technique, no breathing, nothing.

So you were not an experienced runner then? You were a rank amateur? Got it.

> I have breathing down to a T

Which explains why you didn't start breathing hard (e.g., 1 breath per step) for your two mile time trial until the bottom 800 meters, right?

> my legs are stronger,

(but your power-to-weight ratio is lower)

> I have pretty much mastered the POSE technique

The what now?

> and I personally think I run pretty sexy for a massive powerlifter.

Again, you are wrong. I promise you that the way you imagine your fat sloshing around while you run is not the way it actually sloshes around.

> Mostly because I was in the target weight zone

You were about 60 pounds heavier than your ideal racing weight of around 155, or BMI of 21. Show me an Olympic runner in any distance (not sprinters) with a BMI of 26 and I'll eat my words.

> As your weight decreases your running performance goes up. This is what I have seen.

To a point. Most people will tell you that their race PRs are usually at higher-than-usual weight (though typically only 2-3% higher than their normal BMI which is probably 21-23). This is usually because PRs come from tapering down mileage in preparation for an event which causes temporary weight gain due to lower mileage for the same eating habits. And there is certainly a point at which your BF% is so low that weight loss equals muscle loss. It's all about power-to-weight ratio.

> Don't ever get fat.

Preach bruh.

> I am not even closed to being one of the most experienced runners on this forum

But that doesn't stop you from spouting advice now does it?

> Most of your skills are due to your size don't forget that.

... And this is why I'm bringing you back down to earth, because this is literally the least informed thing anyone has ever said on this subreddit and if you've been here for more than the 10 seconds it took you to find the "Text Post" button you'd know that's saying a lot.

Running skill takes discipline, putting in the hard workouts that most people won't do. It means constantly putting yourself in physical discomfort over extended periods of time to work toward a goal.

The beautiful thing about this is that it is almost impossible to put in the level of effort to become a skilled runner and stay fat. All I need to do is look at you and I know instantly that you are not a skilled runner and have not put in the work. You might have been a skilled runner in the past but you sure as shit aren't one now.

> Dont ever talk down to big runners and say they are not trying hard enough.

You have not tried hard enough for long enough or you wouldn't still be big.

> and running fat and being overweight is by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life.

It never gets any easier. You just get faster.











u/goomba870 · 23 pointsr/running

I see no one here is addressing your question, which is how to drop pounds while not falling apart or getting injured running 30 miles a week. Tips like "Eat Less" don't address how to maximize your running performance while trimming up, which I'm sure is why you asked in this sub and not a more general purpose weight loss sub such as /r/loseit.

I'd like to recommend a book to you: Racing Weight. It discusses meal timing, macro composition, and general prioritization guidelines for dropping weight while maximizing your running performance. A big theme of the book is to eat to fuel your endurance workouts primarily (within some boundaries), which will in turn fuel your weight loss.

u/deds_the_scrub · 6 pointsr/running

Pick up Racing Weight.

Basically, just improve your diet by eating more good things. By increasing the amount of good foods (fruits, veggies, beans, lean meats/fish etc). you automatically limit the "bad" foods from your diet. Think more about what to add to your diet rather than take away.

u/pand4duck · 5 pointsr/AdvancedRunning

I totally agree with C. Those are great threads.

heres my two cents:

I was 150-155 over the spring, running 30-40mpw and not really eating "clean" or consciously. I was essentially eating whatever came to my plate. Starting in June, i cleaned everything up and started to eat increased fruits / vegetables / non fried foods. Then, I increased my mileage. Suddenly, I started to drop pounds like crazy. I ended the summer around 137-140 after 8 weeks of 50-60 mpw. More importantly, I felt better.

So, my thoughts for you: is there anything you can change in your diet that could help you? Anything you could cut out / cut down on? And, do you think that increasing your mileage / training would help.

Heres a book that might help: Racing Weight

u/Simsim7 · 5 pointsr/AdvancedRunning

This is exactly what I did too. When I have my profil set to sedentary, everytime I'm active it's just a bonus.

I lost about 22 kg (48 lbs) in half a year using MFP.

I also read Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance which has lots of useful information.

u/jdm001 · 5 pointsr/triathlon

8% is not too low. Given how far out you are right now, you are 100% correct in focusing on fueling for performance. With the volume you're going to be training, you may still lose more weight (maybe not to the 8% goal, but 10% wouldn't be unreasonable to see happen).

> but now that I am approaching "race weight" I'm finding I lack energy and am starting to get sick easily.

This is worrisome and obviously indicative of some problem. While it may be due to consuming too few Calories in general (perhaps you have significantly increased your activity level throughout the day?), it could also be due to failure to consume enough of some nutrient. If you log your meals, go back through and see if you're getting enough of everything. If you don't, you could try tracking for a while and see if you can figure out where you're lacking. Of course the best course of action is to take health concerns to your physician, who may very well send you to a nutritionist to help come up with a plan.

I'd also recommend giving this book a read. It's a very good source for understanding weight management in the realm of endurance athletics and does a pretty good job of giving detail without being inaccessible to people without science backgrounds.

u/trontrontrontrontron · 4 pointsr/running

Everybody is different and no one can tell you what your perfect weight is without a lot more information.
The book racing weight has quite raving reviews, if you want to learn a lot about the topic: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1934030996?pc_redir=1397317449&robot_redir=1

u/Ja_red_ · 4 pointsr/AdvancedRunning

I know that feeling, our college nutritionist recommended 2000 calories a day no matter how many miles you're running. Legitimately clueless. Unfortunately this seems to be the norm when it comes to distance running and nutrition.

My best experience has been reading about nutrition, and the book I strongly recommend is Matt Fitzgerald's "Racing Weight", which does a great job of outlining almost every aspect of nutrition from base mileage all the way to racing, and really I think the title does it a disservice because it's much more encompassing than just racing. It goes through all of the carb/protein/fat ratio of calories questions, whole grain vs white flour, whole milk vs skim, etc.

I think it's a pretty easy read and it's the best resource I've found for running nutrition. In terms of actual recipes it's pretty light, but it does have example weeks of a nutrition plan. For recipes, Shalane Flanagan's books are pretty popular, run fast eat slow and her other one.

Link to book: Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance (The Racing Weight Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1934030996/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_n3ZWCbD2QCX48

u/ManyLintRollers · 4 pointsr/xxfitness

Why on earth would you take nutrition advice from a DEXA technician? That's way outside their scope of knowledge.

I just bought a book on this very thing for the upcoming mountain bike season:

https://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/1934030996

It's geared towards fat loss for endurance athletes.

u/Waksman · 4 pointsr/running

I liked Racing Weight which is squarely aimed at people of a "healthy weight" that do have fat to lose. He encourages eating high quality satiating foods (and tracking quality) over calorie counting. I think your best bet would be to treat it similar to weight lifters, don't try and lose fat and train hard at the same time, but do a cycle where you maintain fitness and loose fat and then a cycle where you eat enough but train hard.

u/acerni · 3 pointsr/Velo

Personally, I'd work on over-unders, in your case going uphill; for a given work interval, stand up for 1-2 minutes bringing your HR/Power/RPE above threshold, then back down into the saddle and to tempo or sub threshold for 1-2 minutes (to start I would recommend doubling your work time to find your "recovery" time). Repeat this 3-4 times, then rest for an equal amount of time going very very easy, ie zone 1-2. Repeat. This mixed in with some steadier efforts. If you haven't read Friel that's a good place to start. Racing Weight and the Quick Start Guide help me lose weight. Depending on the type of racing you're doing, you may not have to lose all that much more weight. I race in NYC (virtually flat, no hill more than 40m) and I race fine at 5'10" and 165-170 lbs. Hope this helps.

u/rmalpass · 3 pointsr/Velo

My advice is to buy and digest Racing Weight. And also cut out/down on the refined sugar.

I started off by calorie counting and creating a small daily deficit. However as I also started eating the best I could I lost too much weight. So instead bought, read, and followed the advice from that book. I eat a lot more (high quality foods), but I'm not putting on weight and I'm stronger.

Are you doing HIIT on the turbo? I found I lost a lot of weight when I dropped my volume and focused on the turbo during the week. I've also introduced double-days as I continue to build volume. Some times these are both on the turbo. Other times I'll go out on the road for an hour or two of endurance after a vO2 Max workout in the morning.

> The other major advantage is that your metabolism is fired up twice. Following a workout, the body continues to burn fat – the harder the workout, the longer the burn. So it makes sense if both workouts are high quality, the fat burn is going to be greater than one session where half is quality and the rest is substandard.

To get an idea of the kind of workout I do during the week it's probably easiest to look at my Strava profile. Usually Tuesday and Thursday are a roughly hour long HARD turbo session. Occasionally I do two sessions a day. Weekend one endurance ride of 4-5hrs and a short recovery ride Sunday.

At the start of the year I was 57-58kg and I'm now 54-55kgg depending on what time of the day it is ;-).

A friend of mine has also written a few guest posts on my website about nutrition that might interest you.

u/jarret_g · 3 pointsr/triathlon

Not sure what you want a link of but...here? I'll just post some high level stuff instead of getting into the weeds of primary source studies.

Matt Fitzgerald racing weight; https://www.amazon.ca/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/1934030996

DRI of fiber https://www.mayoclinic.org/fiber/art-20043983/in-depth/art-20043983

Guidelines for saturated fat intake: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/saturated-fats

Cholesterol intake: https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol/rda

Or are you looking at fiber in relation to IBD? There's not a lot of 3rd party reports on that and I don't have the time now to dig up a bunch of primary source studies but can grab them if you're curious.

u/EtherGnat · 3 pointsr/running

If you ever want to get deeply into the topic there's a book called Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald.

u/ibondolo · 3 pointsr/triathlon

go find a copy of this book
https://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/1934030996/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482990618&sr=8-1&keywords=racing+weight

It can really be summarized with the following paragraph:
There are 10 basic categories of food. Listed in descending order of overall quality, they are: vegetables; fruit; nuts, seeds, and healthy oils; high-quality meat and seafood; whole grains; dairy; refined grains; low-quality meat and seafood; sweets; and fried foods. Each week, try to eat each item on this list more often than any item following it. That’s it.

u/Jynxers · 3 pointsr/loseit

>A disservice in terms of loss of muscle? Risk of injury? Reducing performance?

Any or all of the above, I would guess. For balancing weight loss and training, I found Matt Fitzgerald's book Racing Weight. In particular, I found this section useful:

>Endurance athletes are accustomed to dividing the year into training phases. The central phase is the performance-focused training cycle, which starts when the athlete begins to seriously ramp up for a race or series of races and ends when this race or series is completed. The offseason is a period of relative rest between performance-focused training cycles. The preseason is a period of general preparation for the start of the next training cycle. In most endurance sports this is a period of heightened focus on strength development. Among cyclists and mountain bikers it is often also a period of aggressive weight dropping. For example, Jeremiah Bishop, winner of multiple national championships in mountain biking, maintains a daily energy deficit of 200 to 400 calories to drop weight before the start of a new racing season. He tries to keep his off-season weight gain to no more than 5–7 pounds because it takes a lot of work to get back to his racing weight, and that time would be better spent on quality training.
>
>Because training and diet are synergistic, an endurance athlete’s diet should have phases that match these three training phases. Within the training cycle the diet needs to support optimal training performance and facilitate the loss of excess body fat. In the off-season the athlete’s dietary standards can be relaxed a bit, at least for the first two weeks. And during the preseason, or quick start period, the athlete eats to promote fat loss first and to support his or her training second.
>
>Some endurance athletes will find that they cycle through these three phases once a year. An example is a cyclist who races from late spring through fall, takes a break for the holidays, and then starts preseason training after the New Year. Other athletes complete two cycles of all three phases. An example of this type is a runner who does a marathon in the spring and another in the fall with off-season breaks after each. Still others pack a trio of three-phase cycles into the year. An example of this type is a multidiscipline cyclist who does mostly road races in the summer, mountain bike events in the fall, and cyclocross competitions in the winter.

As well:

>In a quick start, your daily calorie deficit needs to be large enough to promote fairly rapid loss of excess body fat, yet not so large that you lack sufficient energy to perform well in your workouts. The calorie deficit “sweet spot” is 300 to 500 calories per day.

u/Findail · 3 pointsr/running

Racing Weight shows how to find the right weight/body fat % as a way to improve performance.

u/abigmoose · 3 pointsr/running

You might want to look at Racing Weight (http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Performance-Series/dp/1934030996) - I haven't read more than a few pages in a book store yet, but its on my list to pick up and has some recipes indexed in the back.

I also just finished Eat and Run (http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Run-Unlikely-Ultramarathon-Greatness/dp/0544002318/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410305278&sr=1-1&keywords=eat+and+run) - The last chapter or two is all vegan recipes, if you're into that sort of thing.

u/streatbeat · 3 pointsr/firstmarathon

Cool. Focus on ramping up your miles per week, you really should be higher than 20 right now for a Oct marathon. You have to watch out too, ramping up mileage too quickly can cause injury, which is what happened to me on my first go. Every other workout you're doing is fine, but when it comes to marathons it's all about the mpw.

As for 3:45 - so that's 8:34 pace. On your long runs start doing race pace tempo work. If you're doing 15-18 miles, do a 3 mile warmup at a slow pace, do 10-13 miles at 8:30 pace non-stop and then do a cool down to wrap up your milage. You want to get to the point that when you start your marathon at 8:30 pace you're so comfortable it feels like you're dragging, but at mile 20 trust me you'll be in a whole new world.

Nutrition-wise, you have to experiment on your long runs. Find what works for you and change nothing on race day. For general nutrition I follow this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Performance-Series/dp/1934030996

good luck!

u/sfw_forreals · 2 pointsr/running

That advice is very similar to this book that I've found really helpful. It's sort of a shoot from the hip way to diet that is more about food types than calories. It's helpful, but I'm also working down to race weight... and I'm in this predicament^because^of^beer

u/thedumbdown · 2 pointsr/running

True. I've certainly become a more efficient athlete and lifting is really just one aspect of what has gotten me here. It certainly isn't responsible for my speed gains. We all know that comes from lots of quality work and miles. The trick for me is that I spend no more than 30 to 45 minutes each session lifting as opposed to the hours that a bodybuilder spends. I also do core work and stretch in the same sessions. My goals in lifting are that I want to look proportional and to be strong throughout my whole body. Anyway, a year ago:

  • my cruising pace was about 8:15/mile and is right at 7:30 now - I've had the goal of BQ'ing for a couple years now and have been trying to be smart about it. I ran a 20:41 5k a week ago, which is the first time I've ever run a 5k purely to see what time I could get. I have A LOT to learn about tactics and pacing for races, but I sure I'll be able to hit 18 minutes once I understand how to run that specific race.

  • bench was ~100 and it's 160 now and I'd say my other % gains have been similar in other areas. I'm happy with those numbers and really don't want to go much higher in an effort to avoid bulk.

  • I was running 4 to 5 days a week averaging probably 25 miles a week and I'm more after today I'll have 43 miles for this week leading into Ragnar next weekend.

  • I'd never thought about flexibility before because I'm naturally loose; however, once I had my first ITBS problem, that changed dramatically and I stretch & foam roll just about every day.

  • My diet, which is certainly a huge part, has essentially stayed the same and admittedly could use some work as it's the weakest aspect of my training. I've read Race Weight by Matt Fitzgerald and it just didn't sink in at all. I really wanted it to, but I'm going to try again once I finish Salazar's Guide to Road Racing.
u/incster · 2 pointsr/running

I recommend Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald.

u/robrnr · 2 pointsr/Fitness

A lot of runners drop to race weight before a big race. You just have to do so with intelligent programming. I have Matt Fitzgerald's book on my shelf, and it is one I thoroughly recommend.

u/w33tad1d · 1 pointr/triathlon

I recommend this book. Its geared around "weight loss," but he does a good job of outlining dietary needs. The TL:DR will be: You need to eat more carbs.

u/Michiganders · 1 pointr/Supplements

The book Racing Weight, by Matt Fitzgerald specifically recommends taking creatine. It's a very famous book dedicated towards the diet for marathon and distance runners. Creatine is the only supplement he recommends taking.

u/sfandino · 1 pointr/running

When you loose weight it is quite difficult to loose just fat while maintaining your muscle mass (let alone increasing it!).

What you eat and when is important. It seems that there is a window of two hours just after you exercise when your body maximizes the protein usage for repairing and building muscle and it seems, that usage increases when carbohydrates are also available.

Racing Weight is a good read on the subject.

u/beanieb · 1 pointr/runmeals

I recently read a book called "Racing Weight" found here on Amazon. His other book, The New Rules of Half-Marathon and Marathon Nutrition is also great. He really goes into how to eat to fuel your muscles properly and how weight can affect PRs in endurance sports. Give it a shot!

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/OkCupid

While this may not align exactly with your fitness goals, I really enjoyed reading this book on nutrition.

u/LeOubliette · 1 pointr/cycling

Matt Fitzgerald’s book Racing Weight: how to get lean for peak performance is a reference that I’ve found useful for understanding how training and diet correlate. It has a number of elite athlete eating plans to provide some handy recipe ideas.

u/tmurph135 · 1 pointr/podcasts

[Health And Fitness: Running] The BibRave Podcast | Episode 27: Weirdest. Half Marathon. Ever

SFW

iTunes

Episode Summary
In Episode 27, Tim and Julia chat about a recent track Half Marathon they both ran. Yup - 52.5 laps, in the rain and cold, and it was awesome (at least Tim thought so. Julia however...).

Then they move to their second favorite subject, food! Tim and Julia talk about foods they are willing to spend more money on for quality, some of the differences between high/low quality foods, and they close with a bunch of useful takeaways on how they shop, plan their meals, and set themselves up to make good decisions. As often as possible... 😇

Episode Show Notes:

u/woofwoofdog99 · 0 pointsr/AdvancedRunning

I'm a big believer in Matt Fitzgerald's Racing Weight, and as a 5' 7" male his calculator put's my ideal weight at 122.

But the point he makes in his book is that your ideal racing weight is the weight you run fastest at. He suggests recording time trials/race times at different weights to help in finding out what that is. A quick read and highly worth it in my opinion: http://amzn.com/1934030996. From January of this year to ~June I went from 158lb to 130lb following the stuff I read in that book.

As a side note, I'm not sure what you mean when you say burning 1800 calories/day. From the running alone or does that include your base metabolic rate? Even a pretty conservative estimate at 70 kcal/mile puts you at 900 kcal/day from the running alone; add that to a BMR for a sedentary person ~1800 kcal/day puts you at 2700 kcal/day burned.