Ideal Triathlon weight
sam_thebatman
Posts: 112
in General Chat
Just was wondering what the ideal triathlon weight (or bmi) was for a triathlete. Alot of the elite ironmen must be around 11.5 tone i reckon (prob a bmi of 20ish). Is there a ideal wieght, assuming body fat is very low? And how much difference does a few pounds make do you think?
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I loved to know where the 11.5 tonne triathletes were, I might stand a chance of winning!!1
LOL
I read in the last issue of 220 that there was an ironman, who was the best cyclist and he was 90kg! I have a feeling that Faris al Sultan is probably about 11st.
hehe, I loved to know where the 11.5 tonne triathletes were, I might stand a chance of winning!!1 I think the ideal BMI for a triathlete is somewhere around 20, which for a 6 foot athlete would give them a weight of about 10.5 stone, which if you look at someone like brownlee I'd say that was about right.
I am 6"1 and weigh about 10 stone 9 pounds, so I'm pretty much on my ideal weight now.
But remember, its not weight that counts, its body composition, muscle weighs more than fat and it will send you forward!
I was 15 stone at the start of the year though. The reduction is almost all excercise and a tiny bit of eating and drinking less crap.
I'm not arsed. Alastair Brownlee I am not, and never will be [:D]
But Tri covers such a wide range of distances, there is probably a bit of difference between a "sprinter" and an "iron man".
Personally, for my last race at the end of March I got down to about 14% Body Fat - which gave me a BMI of around 22 and a bit) - but I'm still more runner than triathlete (i.e. weedy). I would probably be around the 75kg mark - but with a lot less fat. Might be able to get as low as 72Kg for best performance - BMI around 21.5 - 22.5. Interestingly. my waist hip ratio was around 0.8 - which almost makes me a girl! - no tummy (it's grown back a bit now) and big quads/glutes). I suspect the leanest I would be able to get - given the time I have for training - would be 12%. You need 10% for you six pack to show, apparently.
Of course, I'm old and past it, and not elite. As you get older, your body fat percentage trends upwards. Not sure if this is a true aging effect, or a lifestyle/cultural one though (i.e. because most of the population on which the stats are based take little exercise as they get older).
The issue I have with that is the lack of energy for training. So for the time being I have accepted to eat (good) carbs throughout the day with my weight around 93-94 kg (205 lbs) and no six pack .... maybe more training and a change from carbs to protein would fix it?! What would Soreen say ....
I'd imagine distance/event is relevant too.... low body fat is fine for shorter distances but at Iron distance events many top coaches suggest too low body fat is a bad thing - Brett Sutton is very critical. You need some fat to fuel you over those distances.
I wouldn't obsess on a weight, BMI, BodyFat etc... just be healthy. I've noticed a few folks obsessed with losing weight who then aren't fuelling themselves correctly and thus are causing a lot more harm.
Eating sensibly and training 14 hours a week, my weight has stabilised around 73Kg, at 5ft 11 that gives me a reasonably high BMI of around 23, body fat is
WOW!
I'm currently dragging 90.9kg, a BMI of 30.2 (5'8) and BF% of 20.5 around my Olympic and 70.3 distance tris!!
11st is weight I haven't seen since I was about 14!!