[lavamantis]

In the March 13 Velonews there's an article on Ryder Hesjedal. It says he's 6' 4", but only weighs 158 lbs! Can that be right?

I'm 6' 3" and 175, and pretty skinny. On my Omron body fat tester, I range from 8%-11% (depending on hydration).

My plan was to get down to 170 in the next few weeks, but jeez.

 

[Kerry Irons]

Check the photos

If you look around, you can find pictures of Rasmusen or Hamilton without a shirt on. They both look like concentration camp survivors. Bike racing, if it involves going up a mountain, rewards really skinny people.

 

[mattv2099]

In the March 13 Velonews there's an article on Ryder Hesjedal. It says he's 6' 4", but only weighs 158 lbs! Can that be right?

I'm 6' 3" and 175, and pretty skinny. On my Omron body fat tester, I range from 8%-11% (depending on hydration).

My plan was to get down to 170 in the next few weeks, but jeez.

Very possible. I'm 6'4" and hovering around 165. I was 156 a few years ago. I would love to get back down to that weight.

 

[Argentius]

cyclists, we're crazy, eh?

 

[lavamantis]

Well - time to revise my target

Maybe I'll try 160 and see how it works...

 

[Eric_H]

Long and lean

In the March 13 Velonews there's an article on Ryder Hesjedal. It says he's 6' 4", but only weighs 158 lbs! Can that be right?

I'm 6' 3" and 175, and pretty skinny. On my Omron body fat tester, I range from 8%-11% (depending on hydration).

My plan was to get down to 170 in the next few weeks, but jeez.

I have ridden with Ryder in a few races over the years, he is from Victoria BC and when he was MTB racing he would do some of the local/provincial road races. He is one tall and skinny kid. I believe the 158 lbs, probably his in-form weight.

Another tall skinny Canadian is Michael Barry of Discovery. He is 6'3" and around 150 lbs. I think he looks even leaner than Hesjedal.

- Eric (6'0" and 168 lbs and dropped by Ryder Hesjedal more than once)

 

[wzq622]

is that healthy or could it cause health problems later in life?

 

[dawgcatching]

Some people are naturally built like rails. In college for cross country (I ran for a top D-1 program) one guy was 6 foot 2, 146lbs, and ran a 3:40 1500m basically off the couch (1 month of training after a stress fracture injury). Of course, at that weight, he wasn't durable at all, and was picking up a stress fracture every 6 months or so. The average size of many of the guys on the team was about 5 foot 10, 130lbs, and being built like beanpoles came naturally to them. I was barely 5 foot 9 and 140lbs (that was at about 4% body fat) so I don't know how they did it: I hadn't been that light since I was 15.

 

[sianne]

I don't know how they did it

Eating disorders are a wonderful thing.

 

[lancerracer]

When I pr'd in the 800 (1/2 mile), I was 6'0-6'0.5, and weighed 140. I would come home after running and just shiver...my metabolism was so fast that I could eat anything and I wouldnt gain weight...anyway, it was nice to run at that weight, and I ran quite fast, but right after my last race, my body just broke down, and I was sick for weeks. All I was allowed to eat was roast beef, spinach, almonds, and pasta....
I really dont know how these guys hold such a low body fat % for a whole season...

 

[mattv2099]

Eating disorders are a wonderful thing.

You can't be a pro cyclist and have an 'eating disorder.' Do you have any idea how many calories they have to consume to do their job?

It's funny that in big fat america skinny people are thought of as sick or having eating disorders.

 

[SilasCL]

You can't be a pro cyclist and have an 'eating disorder.' Do you have any idea how many calories they have to consume to do their job?

It's funny that in big fat america skinny people are thought of as sick or having eating disorders.

Weighing your food, always wanting to be thinner, constantly being hounded by the media whenever you show up overweight in the early season.

I'm sure they don't have any eating disorders....

Silas

 

[sianne]

You can't be a pro cyclist and have an 'eating disorder.' Do you have any idea how many calories they have to consume to do their job?

It's funny that in big fat america skinny people are thought of as sick or having eating disorders.

You can't be a pro cyclist and have an "eating disorder"? You're kidding yourself. I know of plenty that suffer from eating disorders and still manage to race pro -- both men and women.

An eating disorder is not only determined by the number of calories eaten. You can consume 3,000 calories a day but burn 5,000 per day. Paired with a low bodyweight and refusal to maintain an appropriate weight for their height, this would probably be called ED-NOS (Eating Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified) and they'd be termed a "compulsive exerciser".

Of course, in the world of cycling, they just call them "natural climbers". HA!

 

[rogger]

Eating disorders are a wonderful thing.

Nope, even before I took up cycling I consumed like 3,000 plus Kcal a day and weighed 145# at 6'2". People with that kind of body type are the naturals at endurance sports, so it's not really strange to see the skinny guys on bikes.

 

[mattv2099]

You can't be a pro cyclist and have an "eating disorder"? You're kidding yourself. I know of plenty that suffer from eating disorders and still manage to race pro -- both men and women.

An eating disorder is not only determined by the number of calories eaten. You can consume 3,000 calories a day but burn 5,000 per day. Paired with a low bodyweight and refusal to maintain an appropriate weight for their height, this would probably be called ED-NOS (Eating Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified) and they'd be termed a "compulsive exerciser".

Of course, in the world of cycling, they just call them "natural climbers". HA!

If you are eating 3,000 calories while burning 5,000 calories and still performing at the pro level then obviously you are doing something correctly. That's not a disorder.

 

[sianne]

If you are eating 3,000 calories while burning 5,000 calories and still performing at the pro level then obviously you are doing something correctly. That's not a disorder.

Maybe you suffer from the same disorder. A common theme of the disorder is "I don't have a problem".

It's a disorder alright.

 

[mattv2099]

Maybe you suffer from the same disorder. A common theme of the disorder is "I don't have a problem".

It's a disorder alright.

considering I'm at 15% body fat and 164 pounds right now (6 feet 4 inches tall) and I've been this weight since last july... I could easily see how ryder could be 158 and healthy. Anyways, I contend that racing at the pro-tour level requires adequate nutrition. Ever heard the stories about grand tour racers eating 10-15 thousand calories a day and still losting weight? You seen the portions they eat??? They eat so much they get sick of eating and hate to eat.

 

[Bocephus Jones II]

considering I'm at 15% body fat and 164 pounds right now (6 feet 4 inches tall) and I've been this weight since last july... I could easily see how ryder could be 158 and healthy. Anyways, I contend that racing at the pro-tour level requires adequate nutrition. Ever heard the stories about grand tour racers eating 10-15 thousand calories a day and still losting weight? You seen the portions they eat??? They eat so much they get sick of eating and hate to eat.

I'm 6'2" and 200 and ~16% BF. I'd have to have no upper body muscle to be at 158. I got down to 9% BF for a contest once and still weighed 190.

 

[rocco]

You can't be a pro cyclist and have an 'eating disorder.' Do you have any idea how many calories they have to consume to do their job?

It's funny that in big fat america skinny people are thought of as sick or having eating disorders.

You don't know much about eating disorders. Look up exercise bulimia. That's just one type of many.

 

[rocco]

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