How to Lose Weight Safely for Cyclists (And Keep it Off) | Dr. Kyle Pfaffenbach | Ask a Cycling Coach 546
Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast - Presented by TrainerRoad
TrainerRoad
4.9 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 21 August 2025
⏱️ 67 minutes
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Summary
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// TOPICS COVERED
(00:00:00) Welcome!
(00:00:18) Discussing Weight Loss for Cyclists
(00:00:44) Trigger Warnings and Responsible Guidance
(00:01:52) Listener Questions: Brandon's Dilemma
(00:03:45) Listener Questions: Ryan's Frustration
(00:06:22) Understanding Cholesterol and Carbohydrates
(00:25:38) Complexities of Weight Loss
(00:37:17) Personal Experience with Lifestyle Changes
(00:37:55) Setting Realistic Athletic Goals
(00:40:15) Sustainable Weight Management for Athletes
(00:45:14) Importance of Protein and Fat in Diet
(00:48:48) Carbohydrate Management for Performance
(00:52:46) Tracking and Adjusting Nutritional Intake
(01:01:37) Seeking Professional Help for Nutrition
In this episode of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast presented by TrainerRoad, Coach Jonathan Lee and Dr. Kyle Pfaffenbach delve into safe and effective weight loss strategies for cyclists. They discuss the complexities of weight management, the importance of sustainable lifestyle changes, and how to avoid triggering unhealthy behaviors. They also answer listener questions, offering insights into carbohydrate intake, genetics, cholesterol, and how to balance nutrition with training to achieve optimal performance. Learn practical tips and responsible guidance for managing your weight as an athlete.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast presented by Trainer Road. I'm coach Jonathan Lee, joined by Dr. Kyle Fofenbach, and today, and Kyle's, by the way, from the Brooks Beast, from Eastern Oregon University. Coach to the Stars even helped Kate Courtney go to her Leadville course record this weekend. And Keegan Swenson to his win, too. Very exciting stuff. We're going to talk today about how to lose weight safely for cyclists and keep it off. |
| 0:22.9 | We're going to have an open discussion about weight loss. |
| 0:25.8 | Socially, Kyle, it's not very, it's a complicated thing to talk about. |
| 0:30.3 | I'm going to be very transparent right now. |
| 0:32.5 | This podcast will be heard by tens to hundreds of thousands of people. |
| 0:36.2 | There will be people all across the spectrum of their relationship with food that are going to |
| 0:43.3 | be listening to this. |
| 0:44.3 | We will risk at times telling people that they may have issues with food. |
| 0:52.6 | Some of this may be triggering to you. So if you don't want to listen to it, don't listen to it. And that goes on both sides of the fence. Okay, that's not just a deprivation perspective, but that's on the other side. But for all those that do want to listen to this, we will be talking about it and we'll be talking about it openly. However, I do want to caveat the fact that you're not going to hear us talk about extremist tactics here, extreme deprivation or extreme binging or something else like that. |
| 1:15.8 | That's not what we're here to talk about. We aren't here to be alarmist. Instead, we are here to give |
| 1:21.4 | really responsible guidance on what to do about, in this case, weight management for cyclists and a sport where weight is obviously |
| 1:29.7 | something that does absolutely have a bearing effect on performance. I'm going to read a couple |
| 1:33.8 | questions, Kyle, that maybe serve as points of reference. And then I'd like to kind of assume just |
| 1:39.5 | like a fictitious athlete and if that they want to lose weight and then we can kind of run through some |
| 1:44.9 | basic guidelines of what you'd want to do for them this will be a shorter episode than normal |
| 1:48.4 | because of time constraints so i'll just read these things quick cool brandon says i've been riding |
| 1:53.7 | for a few years and started doing a few months of structured training this past off season in just a |
| 1:58.6 | couple months time i saw ftTP gains and was convinced that structured |
| 2:01.6 | training was the best way to go. Good on you. Admittedly, when the weather is nice, I have found |
| 2:06.3 | it harder to stick to structured training as I like to kind of just go out and ride and have fun. |
| 2:10.4 | One other thing I have taken more seriously is nutrition, in particular carb intake during |
| 2:15.1 | harder intervals, efforts, and longer endurance rides, referencing 60 to 90 grams of |
... |
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