Why am I gaining so much weight during triathlon training?
Posted by Ray Gill
Filed under Triathlon Answers
I feel like I’m getting a lot more fat on my bellly, but less on my legs. I dont know how much I should be eating either. Has this happened to anyone else?
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The first year I started triathlon training I gained 20 pounds. It was mostly muscle weight. Some of my training partners thought they could eat whatever they wanted since we were training so much. That is a huge mistake. I’m still training after 5 years and have lost 10 pounds this year since I changed my diet by eliminating fried food, white flour, processed foods and sugar. I lost the weight during base training when you teach your body to burn fat for fuel at a low heart rate.
Even though I still eat like a horse, eat 8 meals per day and train 17 hours per week I still maintain the same weight. I drink shakes to add calories just so I won’t lose weight. The key though is through healthy meals and drinking plenty of water.
It might just be muscle.
Well in training your probably growing muscles behind your belly which cause you to weigh heavier.
your body is storing fat so when you do endurance work outs it has energy to burn. Fat burns on endurance work outs. The fat used for endurance work outs is usually stored on the stomach. I gained 10 pounds when training for rowing … and keep in mind that when you are training you gain muscle mass that also hold more water weight than fat does … and muscle being more lean, is heavier than fat but more condensed.
It sounds like you are trying to bulk up, but I have a feeling that in the process you are overdoing the caloric intake, commensurate to the amount of Physical output.
Not dissimilar to some mom’s who when pregnant overeat more than necessary, always saying the cliche’ "Well, I’m eating for two now"
Take inventory of what and how much you are eating in relation to the time and effort put into your work-out routine.
Good luck, Mean Mike
I am having the same problem. I'm a 43 yr old female.
I eat very clean and log all of my food and workouts. It would appear as though I should be losing about 2 lbs per month based on the input/output. However, I have gained 11 lbs over the past 2 years while training. It comes in "chunks" when I increase activity, boom 3-5 lbs that won't budge. I weigh myself once a week. I notice that I am not gaining 1 lb, then 2 lbs, its 5 all of a sudden, then it just sticks no matter what I do. Then it seems every 6-9 months, it happens again. It's very discouraging. It's definately not all muscle.