weight loss and gain in power to weight ratio

[vladkips]

Is there a "general" formula of gain in power to weight ratio resulting for a 1kg drop in weight? I recognise using the term weight automatically creates an issue (fat mass or lean mass). But I mean this in the context of fat loss. I also acknowledge that a 1kg reduction in body mass will not be a 1:1 ratio in terms of gain in power to weight. But what is a truer ratio?

[forty four]

fat loss good lean muscle loss bad at least for myself. assuming your mostly lean muscle.

[David Suro]

There is reliable formula, but there are some general guidelines.

Losing body fat will improve power to weight ratio. Weighing youself weekly and having your body fat percentage tested weekly will help you to determine if you are losing muscle weight or fat weight.

Losing muscle weight can lead to an improvement in power to weight ratio, but I would not recommend this without the supervision of a competent coach and a physician.

[David Suro]

oops

Meant to say there is no reliable formula.

[Martin318is]

I think that there is a bit of confusion here. Power to Weight ratio is purely a 'What power can you put out' Divided by 'How much do you weigh' equation.

So if you take off a kilo of mass (fat, or muscle, bone, fluid, whatever) if you can still put out the same power then you are just dividing by (the old weight minus 1)

If you weigh the same but training improvements mean you can now put out more power, then you will have a better ratio because the power is up and the weight is the same.

That stuff is pretty simple.

More importantly is the question of HOW you lose that weight. If you do it by either over training or over dieting, it can definitly impact your ultimate power output. Both can cause muscle wastage or fatigue. In which case, you would be putting out LESS power and weighing less so potentially ending up with a worse power to weight ratio.

[vladkips]

Originally Posted by Martin318is

I think that there is a bit of confusion here. Power to Weight ratio is purely a 'What power can you put out' Divided by 'How much do you weigh' equation.

So if you take off a kilo of mass (fat, or muscle, bone, fluid, whatever) if you can still put out the same power then you are just dividing by (the old weight minus 1).

I guess what I meant is that while what you say above holds in theory, in actuallity, a 1kg loss of weight will be comprised of fat and lean mass. The lean mass may or may not contribute to, for example, threshold power output. If it does, then with a 1kg loss of weight, threshold power may decrease also, such that 1kg drop in weight may not transfer directly to a 1:1 gain in power (at threshold) to weight. I agree in the sense, that I am probably overcomplicating things. Just wondered if any 'rule-of-thumb' was out there. It doesn't seem so.

Cheers for the answers.

[Martin318is]

Originally Posted by vladkips

I guess what I meant is that while what you say above holds in theory, in actuallity, a 1kg loss of weight will be comprised of fat and lean mass. The lean mass may or may not contribute to, for example, threshold power output. If it does, then with a 1kg loss of weight, threshold power may decrease also, such that 1kg drop in weight may not transfer directly to a 1:1 gain in power (at threshold) to weight. I agree in the sense, that I am probably overcomplicating things. Just wondered if any 'rule-of-thumb' was out there. It doesn't seem so.

Cheers for the answers.

Well, as I indicated in the rest of my post, what you are talking about is getting very vague. There is no rule that a 1kg drop in weight must in actuality include a real loss in lean muscle mass. In fact it is quite possible to lose weight whilst also increasing lean muscle mass - This happens often to body builders that are working to take off their 'winter' weight.

Regardless, I can't imagine any rule of thumb or otherwise that will successfully put together:
An unknown loss of body fat + An unknown loss of power contributing lean muscle mass + An unknown loss of NON power contributing lean muscle mass + An unknown drop in fluid volume

You could measure all that but the next time the % are guaranteed to be different.

Stick with the fundamentals. If you are training to increase power and at the same time monitoring your exercise calories and diet such that you are putting in a little bit less than you are using then you should automatically end up with a higher power to weight ratio. Get it wrong by dieting too hard and you will lose power and weight at same time so ratio will move less.