Cyclist needing to drop body fat

How would a cyclist go about dropping weight/fat as cycling is much different to weight training. Building muscle is the best fat burner, but cycling only works your legs. I have about 12kg to lose comfortably, how would I go about this one? And which fat burner would be best suited for this kind of training bearing in mind that my Hr would be 85% plus as an avg.

Would ones diet differ a lot to that of a weight training program since its a cardo workout although ones legs really get pushed. I was also told before that long periods of cardio slows down your metabolism, so I am rather concerned.

Monday to Friday = 5 hours cycling
Saturday = 3 to 5 hours cycling.

I would appreciate some constructive advice to enable me to work from a base. I have an eating plan from DJ, but my focus has shifted more to cycling than gym. I look forward to some expert advice.

Thanks guys.

So let me know so I can adjust it for your goals bud

1st thing you need to do is decide where your focus is. Im also a keen cyclist and i promise you its almost impossible to juggle both. I have split my focus during the year. Jan to Jun i focus on gym and just cycle to keep base fitness and Jul to dec i like to focus more on the bike and racing but still do 2 gym sessions a week to keep a good "gym base".

Tell DJ your focus and he will adjust your diet. My experience is eat enough to fuel your workouts on the bike. If you are going to skimp on the carbs to burn max fat and you still try to do quality high intensity cycling your body will react by holding fat. This sounds weird but this is how my body reacts. As soon as i up my intake around my training then my fat drops. Im not talking long slow distance here.

I bought the book "time crunched cyclist" and i try and follow the principles. They basically give you a structured 6 to 8hrs riding a week. Its quality training so it means allot of high intensity riding.Im doing that now. Come Jan im going to try and see if i do this cycling programme and a high intensity gym programme 4 x per week with a good 15 week cycle how my body will react.

I can also add that i use to cycle (ride a bike :lol: ) allot more than i currently do. Doing about 10 to 18hrs a week in the past i always seemed to have a high body fat(around 20%). DJ gave me a diet and since then im always between 9 and 12% even if i dont follow it to the letter lately but just stick to the principles.

ABC01_ thanks for the reply. yes it is hard to juggle both. in the week it is shorter rides but mainly hills to make up for the lack of time +- 90min ride at a time. since it is hills, hr always high.

on weekends, it is little slower but much longer. Somehow i never see body fat dropping when cycling. we recently did a cycle event throught the night which tallied up to over 400km. my friend lost 3 kg. me, nothing. we all seem to use the same endurence drink which helps with lactic build up, VO2, strengh, endurence ETC.

perhaps the calories are too high cause felt heavier after that. constantly feeling bloated. all i want is to be lighter on the bike, need to work so much harder up the hills than my friends cause of my extra weight and it sucks holding them back. and does this kind of "long"cardio sessions slow ones metabolism down?

again is the cycling a small role, it all about the diet? thanks for the replies.

Well if you are a endurence athlete your body adapts over time to compensate for the energy expenditure. Dont know how much your metabolism slows down though. I feel the problem comes in with the intensity of riding. As you know, during lower intensity rides (fat burning zone) your body mainly uses fat as energy. You can also force your body to use more fat by doing 2 x rides a week where the 1st 1.5hrs is at fasted state in the mornings. These rides have to be at lower intensity! As soon as you start hitting you mid aerobic zone and enter lactate zone your energy source moves to glucose (glycogen from muscles).

Since you dont do massive hours currently im sure you focus on quality riding, thus higher intensity riding like you said, thus more glucose than fat.

The trick is in the diet buddy. Eat clever and it will melt away.

For interest sake: I have a 12.5km time trial which i do now and then to see where my fitness is. Its actually a 12.5km gradual climb. I can tell you that my 2 best times both have been while on the winstrol part of a cycle. This while at least 7kg over my normal race weight.......

i think it is just that, in that glucose zone and therfore not burning fat and diet is not existent.

would you mind letting me know in a nutshell what kind of cycling you doing: distances/times/intensities. and also what gym you do on the 2 days.

does your diet differ a lot when you focusing on gym compared to the time when you are mainly cycling? is it like completely different?