Started lifting again after many years away. I’ve retained significant muscle mass over the years, which I believe is genetic. Since lifting again (for the past 8 or so weeks), I’ve gained about 10lbs/5kg with corresponding gains in FTP.
The problem is, I don’t want any more muscle mass. I’m already big (5’ 10”/178cm and ~165-170/75-77kg). I’m sure I’ve gained some fat, but my visual indicators suggest that’s been minimal. Most gains in my chest/back, arms, and legs/glutes. Pants still fit the same, but shirts no longer fit my chest and arms. I don’t look like a cyclist by any stretch of the imagination, even with 10 years off from lifting and a dedication to endurance sports.
I’ve been keeping my reps in the 3-5 rep range, moderate to heavy weight. I do a full-body split, 2x/week. Deadlift, squat, bench, military press, and weighted pull ups. I’ve met or exceeded all the lifting benchmarks that TrainerRoad uses for sprinters. I have a weightlifting background.
I was lifting for the longevity benefits, but the weight gain has me shaken. I know some people would love to gain muscle like this, but man, I’m never going to make the Tour looking like a bodybuilder /s/.
Do I quit lifting? Can anyone suggest a way I can maintain my strength without putting on any more size? Is 8 weeks simply not enough? Should I try to simply eat less? Thanks all!
I build muscle fast, like 18lbs in less than 6 months one time ( hydro test confirmed). I also just put in a ton after getting back into it from losing a bit on a heavy weight cut.
Maybe do a block of or shift to lower weight high rep, mobility, plyometrics, etc. Focus on core and items that make a big difference on the bike without the big lifts.
At the same time, if you’re in a base block it could be a time to try and drop some bodyfat while switching up the lifting
I’m built the same as you - 5’11” and maybe 80kg right now. Pretty lean, but maybe 5-10# heavier than summer. Basically I do 2 days a week maintenance, and am not pushing hard for strength gains, it’s really to keep from losing and issues cropping up.
But at the same time - losing muscle is not something I’d pursue.
Cut back on upper body (e.g. a single, truncated maintenance workout per week or only calisthenics like push-ups and pull-ups rather than a full workout), keep doing legs as you are, and ride more endurance.
My (dated) impression is that lower weight/higher volume work might lead to hypertrophy. I thought I was largely avoiding that with the heavy weight/low rep scheme.
I also forgot to mention my creatine consumption: 5/g day with no loading phase. I’m wondering if I’m carrying water, too, or instead of muscle mass.
But is this really ‘big’? I’m that same height and weight, and I’d say I’m pretty small compared to most folks I see. 30” waist, < 10% body fat. I certainly don’t look like Vingegaard, but I don’t look like Mads Pedersen, either. (And I certainly can’t ride a bike like either of them! )
It’s a good question: I think it’s about weight distribution and the relative size of muscle. My arms still look very big and my chest and shoulders are conspicuous. I’m also on the wrong side of normal/healthy BMI. Similar waist, but I can’t wear normal shirts. Large and I’m swimming in it. Medium looks like I’m wearing a child’s shirt. Medium shirts aren’t fitting right these days - my lats are pulling them too tight.
I wonder if any of this will fade in time; is it just pump from the newness of lifting?
If you go to failure or close for everything, yes my understanding is there’s some hypertrophy there. But there’s a limit. (If you want to geek out, Andy Galpin is a good source for this and has a lot of great content)
At least for me - I lift maybe 2-3x a week Upper Body and Core, maybe 2x a week legs - without the goal of going to failure and I feel like I personally have reached an equilibrium of size where I’m not putting on more mass, at least with the amount of riding I do.
If you ramp up your endurance riding too, and maybe focus on a very slight caloric deficit, that’ll make it hard to put on mass and you’ll lean down.
Get this thought out of your head immediately! BMI is a terrible metric, especially if you’re athletic. I’m thin and low body fat, but BMI says I’m borderline overweight!
I guess I’ll stick with it, and see if I can lean out even more. I’m at about 7 hours/week of riding as it is, plus 3-4 days of running. I can’t say that I’m mad about my endurance gains, but it would sure be nice not to be this heavy.
Good point. I guess I’m just thinking long-term health; all signs point to lighter being better. Being muscular feels embarrassing - as if you spend hours in the gym so you can have big muscles.
And yet, I’m spending hours on the bike trying to look small. It’s all relative and stupid.
Long term health - lighter is not necessarily better. Less fat is better, but there are plenty of studies that show that muscle and lifting weights really matter as you age too. My opinion - don’t try to lose muscle, but shift things up to get lean, while staying all-around strong and limiting the bulking.
I think someone else made this point too. ~80kg at 5’10” isn’t “Big”. You can look muscled, cut and good, but there are people that height that are 50-60# of muscle more if you think about NFL players as an example (Linebackers at the 25 combine under 6’ ranged from 220# - 240# or 100 - 109 kg)
I would dispute this. While having copious amounts of muscle might not be wonderful, generally having more muscle now is greatly beneficial for health and longevity, as we lose muscle mass as we age, and it also becomes harder to gain any back.
Alternatively, maybe you can change your focus and give Harry Lavreysen some competition!
Great point. I was one of those (not at the combine - but in college): ~230 and ran high 4.7s. Compared to other cyclists, I’m huge. Again, all relative.
I like this - keep lifting, but just for maintenance. Maybe cut upper body down to 1x week. Up the riding, more Z2 with the time I’d be lifting, and see if I can lean out even more.
If you’re male, that is lean. (I’m a similar size, but I’m female and not overweight.) You probably think you look “big” because your low body fat makes your muscles stand out.
Is it too big for a cyclist? If you’re a GC contender in a grand tour, yes. But if you’re a sprinter, crit racer, track , CX or MTB rider, no. The super low muscle mass on GC riders comes with lots of health risks, energy deficiency, osteoporosis, and all sorts of pains and aches because of bad posture. Do you want that, and for what?
Regarding weight gain - quite a bit of it will be glucose and water retention in your muscles as they are reshaping. Especially if you take creatine.
I’d guess the average weight of racers on L3gion is around 80 KG. Dudes in the masters racing at 80+ kg and winning at the state and national level. Yea, we all wish we were 65 kg, but most guys at your height can’t get there without throwing away health and performance. Stick with the weights, if you are easily adding muscle with minimal effort, then it’s likely beneficial. You might even win more races.
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