Macro Adjustments

I am halfway through the CX 12 weeks of strength training… basically getting huuuuge, and I will then roll into sweet spot base training. Advanced plan for both. 44 years old.

How many calories should I be eating each week and how does my macro (fat, protein, carb) percentages change when doing strength vs. SS base vs. base-to-race vs. in-season plans?

Sorry if that’s a loaded question. :slight_smile: :smiley:

@traxxtar
Not so much a loaded question, but a very complicated one for sure as it will upon your height, weight, age, day to day activities, genetics, etc.

If you want to get a good estimate on how much you need, i suggest doing the following:

  • Determine your resting metabolic rate which you can do here. For activity level, choose sedentary if you work a desk job or mild to moderate if you work an active job/do a lot of other physical activity off of the bike each day.
  • Then take the average Kj you burn per day (take total Kj per week from your weekly summary in TP and divide that by 7… see pic for reference) and add that to your resting metabolic rate.


**This wont be perfect, but it will give you a good estimate.

Now when you switch from weight training to higher volume, you will want to increase your carb intake and slightly decrease protein intake. You will want ~6-10g of carbs per kg of body weight (more on bigger days) and around 1.2-1.75g of protein per kg of body weight.

This is usually macros around 55-60% carbs, 15-20% protein and 20-25% fat.
Note: If you eat ~2700 calories, 20% protein is 135g. If you are 170lb (77.3kg) that is ~1.75g of protein per kg of body weight. Also, riding most of those extra carbs you are eating should be eaten on the bike and in your post ride recovery snack/meal.

When lifting you can get by with 40-50% carbs.

Hope that helps!

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@Lacey_Rivette This is perfect!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen put into simple terms like this! But it makes sense, there is a way to track/monitor/adjust your macros and calories depending on type of training I’m doing. I just started tracking this for the first time. Eye opening for sure.

Thank you so much!!
–Dave

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