Dr Tim Podlogar is an exercise physiologist and performance nutritionist at Tudor Pro Cycling, previously with Bora-Hansgrohe. He came on the Roadman Cycling podcast to talk about exactly how professional riders stay lean, and one calculation mistake that's probably been keeping you in a calorie surplus without you knowing it.
Key Takeaways
The Harris Benedict equation gives you your resting metabolic rate for 24 hours lying in bed. Most cyclists apply it to their full day on top of their ride calories, which puts them in a surplus. The fix: if you ride for five hours, you only have a resting metabolic rate for the other 19. Apply a 1.2 to 1.4 multiplier to those 19 hours to account for digestion and daily movement, then add your ride calories on top. That's your number.
On creating a deficit without losing power, Podlogar's approach is simple. Fuel your hard sessions properly, no exceptions. The deficit goes on easy days, and he wouldn't push past 500 to 700 calories below maintenance even then. The other thing he flags: don't think about daily windows. Think session to session. The 24 hours from when you finish Thursday's ride to when you finish Friday's is the unit that matters, because that's what actually determines whether you're fuelled for the work coming up.
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If you want the full picture on losing weight without losing watts, the episode on why weight loss might actually be making you slower covers that directly. And if the Harris Benedict calculation has you questioning everything you thought you knew about your calorie intake, the nine kilograms eating more episode is the one to go back to.