The same happened in competitive climbing. Where weight seems to be even more important in climbing, both Janja Garnbret and Adam Ondra put on weight (muscle) and got better
I started cycling from a running back so I was basically skin and bone, tall and lanky. After a year still lanky I got some injuries over winter and then trained indoors for months and put on a lot of muscle as I'm mainly a time trial and I've put on 10kgs and gotten a lot faster
Well, now we are after the first stage of the Tour de France, and while no yellow shirt, there is definitely a climber shirt for Jonas there. And by the way, we again see that gaining power is more beneficial than losing a few kilos.
He is to big! With 80 kg he is chanceless getting the climbers polkadotjersey in Tour de France ;) Or?..... From joke to serious, Listening to your body and beiing loyal to your body is a very good idea, and Jonas is showing us the way! This was the most important interview I have ever seen about sports, eating and training. Thanks a lot Jonas and Dan!
Slightly ironic, given the journey he's made in the last few years! I first saw him win the Brussels Cycling Classic a few weeks ago, where the commentators mentioned his weight gain programme. I remembered his name today when he got in the break, and particularly noticed his body composition when you look at the riders he was with. He certainly used his power to jump across from the bunch, and made good use of it at the KoM summits. Well done indeed.
Yes, I just finished watching the Tour de France Stage 1 highlights. As I was watching Abrahamsen, I thought he's a pretty muscular guy for a climber, but it obviously works for him. Chapeau!
Wow! In Stage 2, he got in the breakaway for second day in a row, added to his polka dot points, at one point looking like he had been dropped, then came back and finished second. This weight-gain thing may start to become a trend among the pros.
I like this new GCN journey- more on health and fitness and not just FTP and shaving off seconds. We need more of that, inspiring examples of people getting healthier through cycling, diet and exercise
Great that it also comes along with their business model. Many more people will benefit from getting healthier and fitter on bike than just marginally faster from shaving legs and eating gels every 30 minutes instead of lots of healthy normal food with normal eating schedule.
Health???? UNOX put him on drugs to to that. It impossible to gain 20kg without getting fat...just saying! Testosterone and growth hormone...and blood transfusion
bro was starving himself to the point it was making him not develop fully which is a huge concern. I am glad he found normality. His english very good and grateful for him to give this interview in english.
The real issue here seems to be development teams not giving the kids proper advice / now allowing them to grow up in size through puberty. (and instead having them be 4% bodyfat for short-term competitive reasons which is actually counter-productive for a kid trying to grow up)
He is from Norway . They learn english from a young age just like everyone else in Scandinavia, you make it sound like it's a big deal he's talking English
@@Nicoztrike His English is actually not the best compared to most his age in Scandinavia honestly. Still quite well for speaking it as a second language.
yep, he's 1.83m so 58kg was ridiculously underweight, he's literally just increased his weight up to where you would expect someone his height to be. I'm 167 cm and 58kg and this is my ideal weight and this is pretty normal for someone my height, I would have to start losing significant muscle mass to get any lower than 57kg.
Jakob Fuglsang admitted in 2019 that he wasted eight years of his career eating too little. He felt much healthier once he accepted that he should weight eight kilos more than his former racing weight. And Geraint Thomas has said that he's only able to hold his competitive 'grand tour' weight of 68kg for his one targeted race, as it is just too difficult to maintain that weight for any length of time without getting ill.
I’m so glad you’re covering this, as someone who suffers from an eating disorder (and have done for 2 decades), more people need to be talking about sports and eating disorders and it’s great to see a visible platform like GCN covering this. My ED team are actually using my love for cycling to help me recover and learn to feed myself. Still have a long way to go though, particularly with learning to rest!
@@MentalHealthJourney that is the fatal mistake with ED recovery and what makes people obese from metabolic rebound. You have to keep your fat intake low and just cut back training so your hormones can come up and then you look and feel better. Ive been helping people reverse ED and peak perform since 1996.
@@DurianriderCyclingTips thanks now I’m terrified I’ll be obese. Never tell a person with anorexia to keep their fat Intake low. Please don’t give out unsolicited advice online when you don’t know a persons full situation though I appreciate the sentiment. I have a full team of medical, mental health and eating disorder professionals taking care of me. Thanks.
Don't even listen to that at all. I have recovered from ED and know others who have as well, and we all eat normal food with no "forbidden" foods and we are in good shape. Just trust your team and keep on recovering! The internet is full of this and that!
As a Norwegian, I find it super funny how he just uses the norwegian version of words, like "resultats" (results) and "muskels" (muscles). Watching him yesterday was great fun tho, first Norwegian to ever wear the polka dot jersey after earning it (Thor Hushovd wore it because Philippe Gilbert was in yellow), I hope he can keep it for another day.
Incredibly thought provaking interview and love this content. So he 'lost' 0.5 w/k on his ftp BUT gained so much more. One major point was when he said that when he approached climbs as a lighter rider he was out of position and couldnt change that because of the lack of sprint + more fatigued from trying to keep up so the slightly better w/k ratio didnt help anyway!
Eddie Merckx, Sean Kelly, Miguel Indurain, and Lance Armstrong all weighed around 76-78kg. These are some of the best to ever do it. Let them eat cake!
Jonas Abrahamsen 1,83m 58kg gained 20kg to 78kg and started winning. Me starting at 83kg on 173 confidently think if i gain another 20kg ill do better lol
Very inspiring! One key takeaway from this video is that many cyclists could potentially benefit from gaining some extra kilos. However, it’s important to emphasize that the approach to weight gain should be tailored to the individual. The examples provided in the video are insightful but should not be generalized. Each cyclist's body and needs are unique, so it's crucial to adopt a personalized strategy. What works for someone might not work for the other. Best of luck in the Tour, Jonas!! It will be interesting to follow you.
I was 63ish kg in summer of 2020 (178cm), when I started riding a lot. I had some mental issues that prevented me eating enough, it was always a challenge. Once gyms opened up in 2021 I started doing weight training for the first time, and made progress with my mental health such that I could eat more and now am 80kg. Now after long rides I feel much less empty and tired than I used to, I feel much more powerful on the flatter roads, one perk is that I don't get thrown around in the wind as much. I haven't trained as much as Jonas here, so my FTP hasn't seen the gains he made and I did gain more fat than he did, so climbing is more of a struggle now, but I generally feel much happier on the bike (and overall in life generally) which has made all the difference to me.
In Jan 2023 I was 63, now at 70 and struggling to get any more weight on. I've been eating only junk food for months and trying not to move or do cardio so I dont burn calories, and just hitting the gym 4-5 times a week. But it's almost impossible to get over 70 kg. So are you natural or did u use tren?
@@Austin_Boath completely natural. I think my weight gain accelerated when my metabolism changed. I would recommend not to eat a lot of junk food and just eat loads of carbs and protein.
@@Austin_Boath would also recommend to keep doing some form of cardio that you enjoy. In my case I tried to cycle when it was sunny and lift when the weather was sub-optimal: I did prioritise lifting over cycling for a solid year.
Great story.. proper journalism as well as being the usual interesting content. Top job, Dan and team, for tracking this down and getting it on our screens.
I think Ben King is another good example of a cyclist that started to win after gaining some kilos. And he won on a very hard climb like La Covatilla in the Vuelta 2018
Curious but real. I am 181 cm and 73-74 kg and I was 66-67 previously. After gaining this 7 kg I climb much better than before. Not everything about climbing is being skinny.
It’s all about watt/kg. If you can offset the kg with more power. You can be faster. Having the same watts/kg at higher weight is always better. Given that speed of the flat is Watt/CD. Body weight on the flat is of negligible concern.
Love seeing this! So happy he took the “risk” to go against the pro-cycling norm and actually put his health first, changing the trajectory of his career for sure. Love seeing him beast it at TDF just now. Much better role model for young riders coming up. Looking forward to following the rest of his career! Go Jonas!
Stellar interview. Excited to see Abrahamsen crushing it on the TdF. I find the daily TdF diet diary at the end of the video both baffling and hilarious. No fruits or vegetables mentioned!
Hoping this video will get more views now that Abrahamsen in his heavier version took the polkadot jersey today. Great rider, he did really well last tour as well, but this year he will be a sensation 🙂
This was great! Eating enough seems to be good for not just power, but all over health. Starving oneself just saps your energy. Love the focus GCN is doing on healthy habits
This was so interesting as a cyclist with a more muscular physique I have often strived to lose weight for competitions, purely at the amateur level, but felt weak and lethargic. I think that for good mental health also pro teams should be looking at what a cyclist body shape is and being more sympathetic and supportive in their training design. Us keen amateurs should eat healthy and eat enough.
very inspiring! my self is 182cm and around 69kg. i have been on a weight loss jorney with about 30kg loss and now training for about 15-20h a week. i can recognize my self at the sexual parts and also thinking about food all day and beeing very frustrated and angry often. i think im very afraid of gain weight again and thats a problem for the over all health and also for the training for beeing a good cyclist and be stronger. very often i starve during week days and over eat after long rides during weekends. this video is very inspiring and will probably take me a step forward! :)
Such a great video! I hope that something like this inspires more people, and our youth, that the key is not to under-fuel, and be as light as possible, but to eat and fuel according to your own appetite, metabolism and body type. Not everyone is built to perform at 60kg, or to be a GC rider, and clearly it’s more beneficial to accept that, and to adapt
functional health is a very interesting topic. Gaining weight unlocked Jonas' latent power-weight ratio. Likely doesn't work that way for all Pros. Certainly most riders's health (and performance) continues benefitting from losing dead weight.
Just one comment from a Norwegian: Have you seen the Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt? One of the world’s best triathletes, he looks like a heavyweight boxer!
Yes, though- he didn't just gain muscle weight - he went through a growth spurt - growing 7cm in height! So it was also weight in his bones, tendons, brain, heart, lungs, etc.
@@FT__Bicycling_____-sc7yv I think the main point being that he gained healthy weight - he didn’t just go out and eat all the donuts and croissants. This is a professional athlete with access to trainers, nutritionists, perhaps cooks and chefs, and leading a highly structured lifestyle. Most of us 40 and over struggle with maintaining muscle and losing fat as our calorie needs decrease and metabolisms slow. For me, the bedrock take-away to all of this is the importance of weight training for all ages. If you’re young, it helps you build muscle and power. If you’re older, it helps you maintain muscle and power, and keep fat gains in check.
I coached a friend and always told he should eat more and then could finally use this story to make a more convincing argument, and then he became a heavier and better rider. The story was told first in a Norwegian podcast of TV2 when those 20kg was about to be gained in that that 2017-2018 transition. It was the physiologists who saw that he had all the characteristics that a heavier rider needs better so it was the super well oiled long term athlete development of the serious Norwegian sport standard that went from barely helping him keep good climber weight (as he stayed down much by himself) to make him that heavier rider and years to settle in it. That was the thing; we only waited to see the results of the weightgain of Abrahamsen, because it was just a solid and confident prediction at that point. It has been great to follow his results since. My friend was 61-63 before cycling at 22yo and then grew into 65 kg just by beginning to cycle and not eating student economy food. I saw that same thing that he was very explosive and knew he had won long jumps in local championship for young school kids. We also raced in Swedish and quite flat races, so he only really needed to become stronger on flats. At 68kg, he was the best cyclists but for fun, he switched the training a little, and near 71kg, he could dead lift 180kg and sprint 5 seconds at 1500w as well.
Those peak power numbers are fantastic and u can see for any rider how a increase in those would help you ' survive ' at critical moments in a race, but the fact that his ftp increased by like 20 % is mindbogglingly, but from this interview it also reinforces..Carbs for the win baby ,
Magnus Backstedt hade A couple of years as a young pro he tried to loose weight and struggled alot. When he finally embraced that he was a heavy cyclist and focused on getting strong the results came.
If you listen to the norwegian method Pod with Olva Aleksander Bu in the topic of Nutrition it's pretty exactly what he thinks about nutrition and power !
I’m 193cm, and am at 75kg, from 68kg, I have found that eating more has made me a lot faster despite gaining weight! I hold on better on climbs, and win sprints! I’m still a very young rider and have found that if I want to succeed, I have to eat, and when you train a lot, you have to eat a lot!
Fantastic content. I think the search for what type of rider you are naturally is also relevant for us amateurs. Maybe you can take a bunch of beginners and help them find out. That would be a super interesting and relevant video.
I started cycling 2 years ago, I was 58kg for 1,83m. It was always hard for me to gain weight. I don't have any eating disorder as I really enjoy good food and always eat everything I want. After 2 years of cycling, lot of climbing and more eating to fuel my rides, I'm now 63kg (I've never been so "fat" in my life) and keep gaining some weight little by little. My performances are definitly getting better and better as I gain some weight.
Keep pace! When I was under twenty, I was unsuccessfully fighting with weight lifting to gain some weight. After 30 I started to fight with weight. My current solution is a bike, but I still remember how hard it was to gain anything when I was young. Good luck to you! PS: my height is about 189cm. My weight was about 64 at 18 years old. When I was 37 I had surgery and had to limit my food, so I got down to 78 with a sixpack, now Im 43 and weigh 87 and have little fat.
Muscle weighs more than fat, so you are probably just gaining muscle mass gradually throughout your body especially in the legs. Your fat percentage is probably still quite low.
same execpt i def cant climb as fast. i cant beat my times up climbs from 4 years even after consistently putting ~220-280 a year with structured training
Great to see Dan again in videos like this, always preferred these types of videos to the gimmick ones like calorie challenges etc. Interesting and important to show that putting on weight can be massively important for performance.
As a new rider currently at 6ft and 125kg (I'm a competitive powerlifter as well as being overweight so large weight is kinda de riguer) seeing people find the answer in other than starve yourself is amazing
An interesting distinction that was touched on - when you're young you probably do need to consider your physical development and ensure you aren't permanently damaging your future. No doubt as you age, it probably becomes more important to maintain a lower weight as your 'development' has stopped and your peak performance is probably less amenable to improvement to the extent that it was in your teens and early twenties? It is a bit of a strange one that pro cycling is not dominated, as you might see in other sports, by very young riders. Maybe the diet dogma holds them back from wiping the floor with the older riders who are more dependent on weight margins?
As someone new to cycling a started trying to lose as much weight as possible. Recently I’ve put a lot back on in the hope of improving my ftp. This story is great for amateur cyclists to know there is another way.
Wow nice to see no tire pressure or chain wax videos in my feed cool actually an informative video that took more than a passing effort. Way to go mate you should tell the other presenters about your new discovery. Yes effort does in fact effect out come. Who do thunk. Totaloo keepemcoming if ya can.
so basically starvation versus fed state. W/Kg is the key metric, he decreased fat content and increased muscle, starvation decrease testosterone and GH, so basically he is utilizing his endocrine potential.
When I first started riding I was obsessed with staying 170 lbs or less in a 6 foot 3 male. Lately I have begun to ride on somewhat of a competitive level and start most races at 190. My segments times and power are so much stronger this was very nice to see because I've basically gained a complex since beginning to cycle.
It's really wild to see how many people fail to realize the potential of young men going through puberty. Their bodies are throwing out so much testosterone in that phase of their life that it's equal to an adult man taking steroids. If you eat well, sleep well and train hard, you're going to become an absolute beast, regardless of what sport you choose to do. Obviously genetic factors still play a huge role is what you're going to be elite level at. I wish I had started cycling and training the same way I do now in my mid-teens
I never raced but I've always been relatively proud of my efforts in my old skinny life. Then covid came and I started working out at home to kill time. I enjoyed the results and started going to the gym consistently. 4 years later I'm 20 kgs up (I was in the low 60s when I started). I have not measured scientifically my development as a cyclist since then (I definitely ride less though) but I feel healty and look way better. Nice to know from this interview that you still have lots of room for improvement if you take things seriously on the cycling side.
Major congrats to Jonas for his successes! I gained weight on purpose too, and think non-twig is a good way to be. Not specifically for cycling, but for my own fitness, and so I can donate blood. You must be 110lbs (some sites 115lbs) to donate. I was 100lbs for a long time, and by lifting got to 105lbs when I decided I wanted to see the Good Vampires. Had to gain 5lbs minimum. Took a while but gained in muscle via weightlifting + better diet - I feel better daily and can prevent others from having a really bad day :) Up to holding 113lbs!
Love this one… there will be the weight each person is best at and this will depend on there makeup , everyone will be different. Interesting how the comment of needing 3 years , as this time is needed to increase his FTP , and your comment on short term contracts , how can a lot of cyclist at this level ever be able to optimise there best makeup of weight , FTP and general fitness …. Noted the weight is not fat it’s pure sinew and muscle .In the world of science this is something that should be studied and could help a lot of people become fitter , healthier and generally better.
This was a great video! These types of videos are really helpful and really interesting. Love the fun/funny ones, but these ones focused on health, fitness, longevity are helpful!
Strong Bones structure is also very important don't underestimate it, especially when you fall hard in the course and to recover the injuries better do strength training extra bonus.
I was 116kg lost 33kg in 6 months, started cycling violent get any lower than 83kg @270w FTP. Constantly dizzy and fatigued. Increased my carb intake, gained 5kg in 4 days, no longer tired or dizzy, new FTP 304w and riding way better.
I hope that you will get a chance to do another interview following the TDF. I would love to hear his reflections on his fantastic form and the reactions of other riders.
Something similar happened to me, but I'm just a regular girl who happen to fall in love with cycling, I never competed or anything like that. I weighed at 49 kgs at my lowest. I was a runner back then and had an eating disorder. When I started cycling I had to put on some weight if I wanted to enjoy the sport to the fullest. Now I weigh 67 kgs and have never felt better on and off the bike. I can say that cycling saved my life.
Back in the Top Fuel days, Laurent Jalabert did the weirder thing, changing from sprinter to climber - but this is impressive. I tink Alexander Kristoff said he gave up on keeping his weight down and started winning again.
sounds like his under eating had stopped stunted his growth and testosterone so make sure if you are getting enough nutrients to fuel your body to it's potential, he's still lean but now his body has enough to be at it's potential with hormones and muscle for power and energy and he feels better.
Really great to hear that he's feeling great on the bike and is racing healthily! All the best in his future career! Somewhat sad to think about all the riders who've felt boxed in by having to maintain weights that are too low for their bodies, especially with the way races burn so much energy... Wonder if this is something junior level coaches/teams can look at?
Framing the entire discussion as “body weight” misleads. The discussion should be framed as muscle mass and power to weight and different demands for different kinds of cycling races. And also needs to make a clear distinction between amateur and professional goals. Amateurs should have the goals: increase muscle mass; reduce body fat percentage. Let weight settle wherever it does.
I wonder if some riders forcing themselves to keep as light as possible with diet restrictions & training regimes are putting their bodies into a "starvation mode" where their bodies are constantly trying to conserve energy and therefore they under perform?
Could be. Like Jonas mentioned, he felt his body was basically hibernating until he started eating more and then felt stronger, more energy and able to build muscle which then also helped his performance. I ride pretty casually but I've never looked at pro riders and wanted to be as skinny as them, to me it just looks unhealthy.
What is your take on Jonas Abrahamsen's perspective of the 'new hill climber'? Let us know in the comments below💬
The same happened in competitive climbing. Where weight seems to be even more important in climbing, both Janja Garnbret and Adam Ondra put on weight (muscle) and got better
I started cycling from a running back so I was basically skin and bone, tall and lanky. After a year still lanky I got some injuries over winter and then trained indoors for months and put on a lot of muscle as I'm mainly a time trial and I've put on 10kgs and gotten a lot faster
Well, now we are after the first stage of the Tour de France, and while no yellow shirt, there is definitely a climber shirt for Jonas there. And by the way, we again see that gaining power is more beneficial than losing a few kilos.
He is to big! With 80 kg he is chanceless getting the climbers polkadotjersey in Tour de France ;) Or?..... From joke to serious, Listening to your body and beiing loyal to your body is a very good idea, and Jonas is showing us the way! This was the most important interview I have ever seen about sports, eating and training. Thanks a lot Jonas and Dan!
@@erlendsteren9466 had me in the first half
As I'm writing this, he's just finished his interview in the polka dot jersey. Congratulations, young man!
Slightly ironic, given the journey he's made in the last few years!
I first saw him win the Brussels Cycling Classic a few weeks ago, where the commentators mentioned his weight gain programme. I remembered his name today when he got in the break, and particularly noticed his body composition when you look at the riders he was with. He certainly used his power to jump across from the bunch, and made good use of it at the KoM summits. Well done indeed.
Yes, I just finished watching the Tour de France Stage 1 highlights. As I was watching Abrahamsen, I thought he's a pretty muscular guy for a climber, but it obviously works for him. Chapeau!
The GCN curse is over
Wow! In Stage 2, he got in the breakaway for second day in a row, added to his polka dot points, at one point looking like he had been dropped, then came back and finished second. This weight-gain thing may start to become a trend among the pros.
Great result 👏
I like this new GCN journey- more on health and fitness and not just FTP and shaving off seconds. We need more of that, inspiring examples of people getting healthier through cycling, diet and exercise
But his FTP went from 360 to 430! Body fat content stable and w/Kg still > 6.
Great that it also comes along with their business model. Many more people will benefit from getting healthier and fitter on bike than just marginally faster from shaving legs and eating gels every 30 minutes instead of lots of healthy normal food with normal eating schedule.
We'll keep it coming 🙌
I’m trying to stop 20kg and maintain my ftp…I’m willing to loan some mass to some pros 😂
Health???? UNOX put him on drugs to to that. It impossible to gain 20kg without getting fat...just saying! Testosterone and growth hormone...and blood transfusion
bro was starving himself to the point it was making him not develop fully which is a huge concern. I am glad he found normality. His english very good and grateful for him to give this interview in english.
The real issue here seems to be development teams not giving the kids proper advice / now allowing them to grow up in size through puberty. (and instead having them be 4% bodyfat for short-term competitive reasons which is actually counter-productive for a kid trying to grow up)
He is from Norway . They learn english from a young age just like everyone else in Scandinavia, you make it sound like it's a big deal he's talking English
@@Nicoztrike His English is actually not the best compared to most his age in Scandinavia honestly. Still quite well for speaking it as a second language.
His English is waaaay better than my Norwegian.
BREAKING: Man stops starving himself, sees improvement in health and performance, community shocked! ;)
😂
😂 would have been a quick interview
yep, he's 1.83m so 58kg was ridiculously underweight, he's literally just increased his weight up to where you would expect someone his height to be. I'm 167 cm and 58kg and this is my ideal weight and this is pretty normal for someone my height, I would have to start losing significant muscle mass to get any lower than 57kg.
@@albr4 he was 177 before
Thanks for boiling it down😂 Also see Dan Martin at Roadman Podcast, talking about 5kg overweight vs winning
Great to see Dan doing stuff with the riders as it’s here that he really understands them!
Agreed, now that he sadly isn't doing commentary and punditry on Eurosport I'm hoping we see him on GCN videos more regularly
Dan in his happy place here 🙌
Apparently it worked since he now has the KoM jersey at the Tour.
He's doing something right!
Still got it!
Jakob Fuglsang admitted in 2019 that he wasted eight years of his career eating too little. He felt much healthier once he accepted that he should weight eight kilos more than his former racing weight. And Geraint Thomas has said that he's only able to hold his competitive 'grand tour' weight of 68kg for his one targeted race, as it is just too difficult to maintain that weight for any length of time without getting ill.
It's all about finding what works for that individual 🙌
I’m so glad you’re covering this, as someone who suffers from an eating disorder (and have done for 2 decades), more people need to be talking about sports and eating disorders and it’s great to see a visible platform like GCN covering this. My ED team are actually using my love for cycling to help me recover and learn to feed myself. Still have a long way to go though, particularly with learning to rest!
Also just to note, in ED recovery there is no good food or bad food!
@@MentalHealthJourney that is the fatal mistake with ED recovery and what makes people obese from metabolic rebound. You have to keep your fat intake low and just cut back training so your hormones can come up and then you look and feel better.
Ive been helping people reverse ED and peak perform since 1996.
@@DurianriderCyclingTips thanks now I’m terrified I’ll be obese. Never tell a person with anorexia to keep their fat Intake low.
Please don’t give out unsolicited advice online when you don’t know a persons full situation though I appreciate the sentiment. I have a full team of medical, mental health and eating disorder professionals taking care of me. Thanks.
Don't even listen to that at all. I have recovered from ED and know others who have as well, and we all eat normal food with no "forbidden" foods and we are in good shape. Just trust your team and keep on recovering! The internet is full of this and that!
@@CnBlu Definitely needed this - thank you :)
As a Norwegian, I find it super funny how he just uses the norwegian version of words, like "resultats" (results) and "muskels" (muscles). Watching him yesterday was great fun tho, first Norwegian to ever wear the polka dot jersey after earning it (Thor Hushovd wore it because Philippe Gilbert was in yellow), I hope he can keep it for another day.
Han jobba som «electrical» også 😂
I'm impressed by Jonas' willingness to tell his story in English.
Lol
Great to have Jonas on the channel 🙌
Love how he pronounces "muscles" like Popeye: "muskels." Made me smile.
@@billyhammm Norwegian «muskel» = English «muscle» (plural «muskler» / «muscles»).
Incredibly thought provaking interview and love this content.
So he 'lost' 0.5 w/k on his ftp BUT gained so much more.
One major point was when he said that when he approached climbs as a lighter rider he was out of position and couldnt change that because of the lack of sprint + more fatigued from trying to keep up so the slightly better w/k ratio didnt help anyway!
By this rationale, I'm about to clean sweep my season.
😂
You guy's timed this video perfect, the guy is killing it at the tour!
Congrats Jonas!
He's smashing it 💥
If he was killing it then, how's he going now?!
Eddie Merckx, Sean Kelly, Miguel Indurain, and Lance Armstrong all weighed around 76-78kg. These are some of the best to ever do it. Let them eat cake!
Jonas Abrahamsen 1,83m 58kg gained 20kg to 78kg and started winning. Me starting at 83kg on 173 confidently think if i gain another 20kg ill do better lol
1,77m 58kg now 1,83m and 80kg... maybe you start growing too :D
58 is supeskinny at 183.
@@JamesParus to be fair I think Abrahamsen was 58 at 176, and a year or two ago 72 at 183 and now 78 at 183.
Remember his fat percentage is lower so additional weight is muscle
@@kvev5441 although he could be carrying more fat, which is good for the health. Having said that I doubt there's a tour rider over 5%
This is so important because under eating (intentionally or unintentionally) and even eating disorders are surprisingly common in sports
Very true! Especially within cycling 🙌
Very inspiring! One key takeaway from this video is that many cyclists could potentially benefit from gaining some extra kilos. However, it’s important to emphasize that the approach to weight gain should be tailored to the individual. The examples provided in the video are insightful but should not be generalized. Each cyclist's body and needs are unique, so it's crucial to adopt a personalized strategy. What works for someone might not work for the other. Best of luck in the Tour, Jonas!! It will be interesting to follow you.
Great video. And so nice to see Jonas getting the green jersey on stage 1 of the TDF today!
He did pretty well didn't he Lorna?!Dan
What a great timing on this interview, Abrahamsen have been a joy to watch the first 2 days of TDF!
The blessing of GCN we're sure 👀
I was 63ish kg in summer of 2020 (178cm), when I started riding a lot. I had some mental issues that prevented me eating enough, it was always a challenge. Once gyms opened up in 2021 I started doing weight training for the first time, and made progress with my mental health such that I could eat more and now am 80kg. Now after long rides I feel much less empty and tired than I used to, I feel much more powerful on the flatter roads, one perk is that I don't get thrown around in the wind as much. I haven't trained as much as Jonas here, so my FTP hasn't seen the gains he made and I did gain more fat than he did, so climbing is more of a struggle now, but I generally feel much happier on the bike (and overall in life generally) which has made all the difference to me.
In Jan 2023 I was 63, now at 70 and struggling to get any more weight on. I've been eating only junk food for months and trying not to move or do cardio so I dont burn calories, and just hitting the gym 4-5 times a week. But it's almost impossible to get over 70 kg. So are you natural or did u use tren?
@@Austin_Boath completely natural. I think my weight gain accelerated when my metabolism changed. I would recommend not to eat a lot of junk food and just eat loads of carbs and protein.
@@Austin_Boath would also recommend to keep doing some form of cardio that you enjoy. In my case I tried to cycle when it was sunny and lift when the weather was sub-optimal: I did prioritise lifting over cycling for a solid year.
Great story.. proper journalism as well as being the usual interesting content. Top job, Dan and team, for tracking this down and getting it on our screens.
Loved to see this, great work Jonas, and thanks GCN for highlighting it. Effective and efficient interview, too.
This is awesome. It was genuinely hard to look at some of the riders in the Tour de France documentary, they look emaciated.
Great content, very interesting. I, for one, would like to see more such interviews. And the best of luck to young Jonas and Uno-X!
Any other pros you would like us to talk to 👀
I think Ben King is another good example of a cyclist that started to win after gaining some kilos. And he won on a very hard climb like La Covatilla in the Vuelta 2018
It's great to see a healthy understanding coming back into pro cycling 🙌
I love this guy, he's an absolute BEAST!
Curious but real. I am 181 cm and 73-74 kg and I was 66-67 previously. After gaining this 7 kg I climb much better than before. Not everything about climbing is being skinny.
It’s all about watt/kg.
If you can offset the kg with more power. You can be faster.
Having the same watts/kg at higher weight is always better.
Given that speed of the flat is Watt/CD. Body weight on the flat is of negligible concern.
I so wanted him to make it in yesterday's solo break, but it was still a massively impressive ride. A stage win is coming.
Excellent video. Well done GCN 🙏
Thanks 🙌
Love seeing this! So happy he took the “risk” to go against the pro-cycling norm and actually put his health first, changing the trajectory of his career for sure. Love seeing him beast it at TDF just now. Much better role model for young riders coming up. Looking forward to following the rest of his career! Go Jonas!
Stage 2 TDF - he is 2nd on the stage and maintains the green and polka dot jersey!
the end of The GCN Curse!
I absolutely love this guy!!! I feel he could be the "Peter Sagan" of the next era.. Allez Jonas Abrahamsen.!!
Stellar interview. Excited to see Abrahamsen crushing it on the TdF. I find the daily TdF diet diary at the end of the video both baffling and hilarious. No fruits or vegetables mentioned!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hoping this video will get more views now that Abrahamsen in his heavier version took the polkadot jersey today. Great rider, he did really well last tour as well, but this year he will be a sensation 🙂
It was great to have him on the channel! Should we do more with him?
Would love to see more of him@@gcn
Very good to see GCN focus on this kind of content. This kind of unique insight is where it's at! So much UA-cam the same blah-blah. Well done.
This was great! Eating enough seems to be good for not just power, but all over health. Starving oneself just saps your energy. Love the focus GCN is doing on healthy habits
This was a great take on the psychology of weight in the pro peloton and important for others to hear about, in all age groups.
It's certainly an important topic 🙌 We're glad you enjoyed it 🙌
Thank you GCN for this story. Hopefully it can reach some juniors who are struggling with weight vs power dilemma.
I love to see him perform at the TDF, his motivation while racing is trough the roof! a true competitor
This was so interesting as a cyclist with a more muscular physique I have often strived to lose weight for competitions, purely at the amateur level, but felt weak and lethargic. I think that for good mental health also pro teams should be looking at what a cyclist body shape is and being more sympathetic and supportive in their training design. Us keen amateurs should eat healthy and eat enough.
Great interview, Dan! I just forwarded this to a professor in my university nutrition program who is very interested in nutrition in athletes.
very inspiring! my self is 182cm and around 69kg. i have been on a weight loss jorney with about 30kg loss and now training for about 15-20h a week. i can recognize my self at the sexual parts and also thinking about food all day and beeing very frustrated and angry often. i think im very afraid of gain weight again and thats a problem for the over all health and also for the training for beeing a good cyclist and be stronger. very often i starve during week days and over eat after long rides during weekends. this video is very inspiring and will probably take me a step forward! :)
Such a great video! I hope that something like this inspires more people, and our youth, that the key is not to under-fuel, and be as light as possible, but to eat and fuel according to your own appetite, metabolism and body type. Not everyone is built to perform at 60kg, or to be a GC rider, and clearly it’s more beneficial to accept that, and to adapt
„My body is not built to be 60kg“ 💡 exactly!
And today he’s wearing the polka dot jersey 🤩
Legend 🙌
It´s especially cool watching this now when you see how well he has been doing in the tour so far!
functional health is a very interesting topic. Gaining weight unlocked Jonas' latent power-weight ratio. Likely doesn't work that way for all Pros. Certainly most riders's health (and performance) continues benefitting from losing dead weight.
Just one comment from a Norwegian: Have you seen the Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt? One of the world’s best triathletes, he looks like a heavyweight boxer!
Before you jump in the gaining weight wagon, keep in mind that he gained muscle weight. So is not just weight gain but is muscle gain.
Yep, and he's young, so it's much easier to build muscle. Not so relevant to all the middle aged men out there!
Yes, though- he didn't just gain muscle weight - he went through a growth spurt - growing 7cm in height! So it was also weight in his bones, tendons, brain, heart, lungs, etc.
@@FT__Bicycling_____-sc7yv I think the main point being that he gained healthy weight - he didn’t just go out and eat all the donuts and croissants. This is a professional athlete with access to trainers, nutritionists, perhaps cooks and chefs, and leading a highly structured lifestyle. Most of us 40 and over struggle with maintaining muscle and losing fat as our calorie needs decrease and metabolisms slow. For me, the bedrock take-away to all of this is the importance of weight training for all ages. If you’re young, it helps you build muscle and power. If you’re older, it helps you maintain muscle and power, and keep fat gains in check.
I coached a friend and always told he should eat more and then could finally use this story to make a more convincing argument, and then he became a heavier and better rider. The story was told first in a Norwegian podcast of TV2 when those 20kg was about to be gained in that that 2017-2018 transition. It was the physiologists who saw that he had all the characteristics that a heavier rider needs better so it was the super well oiled long term athlete development of the serious Norwegian sport standard that went from barely helping him keep good climber weight (as he stayed down much by himself) to make him that heavier rider and years to settle in it. That was the thing; we only waited to see the results of the weightgain of Abrahamsen, because it was just a solid and confident prediction at that point. It has been great to follow his results since.
My friend was 61-63 before cycling at 22yo and then grew into 65 kg just by beginning to cycle and not eating student economy food. I saw that same thing that he was very explosive and knew he had won long jumps in local championship for young school kids. We also raced in Swedish and quite flat races, so he only really needed to become stronger on flats. At 68kg, he was the best cyclists but for fun, he switched the training a little, and near 71kg, he could dead lift 180kg and sprint 5 seconds at 1500w as well.
Great interview. I enjoy your content more in this format
Thanks! We loved filming this one, any other pros you would like to see us interview?
Made me think of Thor Hushovd. Lets not forget to mention Jonas' weight gain was in muscle and, surprisingly, height.
I look at Abra as our new «Thor Hushovd», and am looking forward to his next years.
Those peak power numbers are fantastic and u can see for any rider how a increase in those would help you ' survive ' at critical moments in a race, but the fact that his ftp increased by like 20 % is mindbogglingly, but from this interview it also reinforces..Carbs for the win baby ,
Wow! 20 kilos of muscle is a lot! That's a lot of watts. The hibernation analogy was fascinating. Great interview.
he also grew in height
Kinda what happens when you grow from adolescence to maturity.
Magnus Backstedt hade A couple of years as a young pro he tried to loose weight and struggled alot. When he finally embraced that he was a heavy cyclist and focused on getting strong the results came.
If you listen to the norwegian method Pod with Olva Aleksander Bu in the topic of Nutrition it's pretty exactly what he thinks about nutrition and power !
Great interview and really inspiring 😊
That's great, we love inspiring people to ride 🙌
I’m 193cm, and am at 75kg, from 68kg, I have found that eating more has made me a lot faster despite gaining weight! I hold on better on climbs, and win sprints! I’m still a very young rider and have found that if I want to succeed, I have to eat, and when you train a lot, you have to eat a lot!
Fantastic content. I think the search for what type of rider you are naturally is also relevant for us amateurs. Maybe you can take a bunch of beginners and help them find out. That would be a super interesting and relevant video.
Great story, pulling for this kid even more now
I started cycling 2 years ago, I was 58kg for 1,83m. It was always hard for me to gain weight. I don't have any eating disorder as I really enjoy good food and always eat everything I want. After 2 years of cycling, lot of climbing and more eating to fuel my rides, I'm now 63kg (I've never been so "fat" in my life) and keep gaining some weight little by little. My performances are definitly getting better and better as I gain some weight.
Keep pace! When I was under twenty, I was unsuccessfully fighting with weight lifting to gain some weight. After 30 I started to fight with weight. My current solution is a bike, but I still remember how hard it was to gain anything when I was young. Good luck to you!
PS: my height is about 189cm. My weight was about 64 at 18 years old. When I was 37 I had surgery and had to limit my food, so I got down to 78 with a sixpack, now Im 43 and weigh 87 and have little fat.
Muscle weighs more than fat, so you are probably just gaining muscle mass gradually throughout your body especially in the legs. Your fat percentage is probably still quite low.
same execpt i def cant climb as fast. i cant beat my times up climbs from 4 years even after consistently putting ~220-280 a year with structured training
Great to see Dan again in videos like this, always preferred these types of videos to the gimmick ones like calorie challenges etc. Interesting and important to show that putting on weight can be massively important for performance.
As a new rider currently at 6ft and 125kg (I'm a competitive powerlifter as well as being overweight so large weight is kinda de riguer) seeing people find the answer in other than starve yourself is amazing
An interesting distinction that was touched on - when you're young you probably do need to consider your physical development and ensure you aren't permanently damaging your future. No doubt as you age, it probably becomes more important to maintain a lower weight as your 'development' has stopped and your peak performance is probably less amenable to improvement to the extent that it was in your teens and early twenties? It is a bit of a strange one that pro cycling is not dominated, as you might see in other sports, by very young riders. Maybe the diet dogma holds them back from wiping the floor with the older riders who are more dependent on weight margins?
Abrahamsen just took the Polka dot jersey at the Tour de France stage 1 today! 🔥🔥🔥
Finally somebody is talking about gaining weght and not just loosing it. Thanks!
As someone new to cycling a started trying to lose as much weight as possible. Recently I’ve put a lot back on in the hope of improving my ftp. This story is great for amateur cyclists to know there is another way.
Glad we could help shed some light on this 🙌
Wow nice to see no tire pressure or chain wax videos in my feed cool actually an informative video that took more than a passing effort.
Way to go mate you should tell the other presenters about your new discovery.
Yes effort does in fact effect out come. Who do thunk.
Totaloo keepemcoming if ya can.
Fascinating video and very motivating. Thank you!
so basically starvation versus fed state. W/Kg is the key metric, he decreased fat content and increased muscle, starvation decrease testosterone and GH, so basically he is utilizing his endocrine potential.
When I first started riding I was obsessed with staying 170 lbs or less in a 6 foot 3 male. Lately I have begun to ride on somewhat of a competitive level and start most races at 190. My segments times and power are so much stronger this was very nice to see because I've basically gained a complex since beginning to cycle.
My favorite rider since the beginning 🤩
It's really wild to see how many people fail to realize the potential of young men going through puberty. Their bodies are throwing out so much testosterone in that phase of their life that it's equal to an adult man taking steroids. If you eat well, sleep well and train hard, you're going to become an absolute beast, regardless of what sport you choose to do. Obviously genetic factors still play a huge role is what you're going to be elite level at. I wish I had started cycling and training the same way I do now in my mid-teens
Fantastic interview and athlete!
I never raced but I've always been relatively proud of my efforts in my old skinny life. Then covid came and I started working out at home to kill time. I enjoyed the results and started going to the gym consistently. 4 years later I'm 20 kgs up (I was in the low 60s when I started). I have not measured scientifically my development as a cyclist since then (I definitely ride less though) but I feel healty and look way better. Nice to know from this interview that you still have lots of room for improvement if you take things seriously on the cycling side.
Major congrats to Jonas for his successes!
I gained weight on purpose too, and think non-twig is a good way to be. Not specifically for cycling, but for my own fitness, and so I can donate blood. You must be 110lbs (some sites 115lbs) to donate. I was 100lbs for a long time, and by lifting got to 105lbs when I decided I wanted to see the Good Vampires. Had to gain 5lbs minimum. Took a while but gained in muscle via weightlifting + better diet - I feel better daily and can prevent others from having a really bad day :) Up to holding 113lbs!
And as I'm watching Dan's video,Jonas A. is in the lead right now with 40mi to go.
The blessing of GCN 🙌
Love this one… there will be the weight each person is best at and this will depend on there makeup , everyone will be different. Interesting how the comment of needing 3 years , as this time is needed to increase his FTP , and your comment on short term contracts , how can a lot of cyclist at this level ever be able to optimise there best makeup of weight , FTP and general fitness …. Noted the weight is not fat it’s pure sinew and muscle .In the world of science this is something that should be studied and could help a lot of people become fitter , healthier and generally better.
Great timing on this video. Just got mentioned on the Danish TV2 live coverage, btw. Hope that gives a few more views
Great interview
This was a great video! These types of videos are really helpful and really interesting. Love the fun/funny ones, but these ones focused on health, fitness, longevity are helpful!
Whoop whoop! We're glad you enjoyed this one 🙌
Strong Bones structure is also very important don't underestimate it, especially when you fall hard in the course and to recover the injuries better do strength training extra bonus.
Some of these pros break their collarbones when the wind blows on them.
I was 116kg lost 33kg in 6 months, started cycling violent get any lower than 83kg @270w FTP. Constantly dizzy and fatigued. Increased my carb intake, gained 5kg in 4 days, no longer tired or dizzy, new FTP 304w and riding way better.
I hope that you will get a chance to do another interview following the TDF. I would love to hear his reflections on his fantastic form and the reactions of other riders.
Uno X has got to be the most epic name for a cycling team.
Day two in Green Jersey, and day three in polka jersey. Way to go Jonas 🎉🥳🇳🇴
Something similar happened to me, but I'm just a regular girl who happen to fall in love with cycling, I never competed or anything like that. I weighed at 49 kgs at my lowest. I was a runner back then and had an eating disorder. When I started cycling I had to put on some weight if I wanted to enjoy the sport to the fullest. Now I weigh 67 kgs and have never felt better on and off the bike. I can say that cycling saved my life.
Love Jonas - so humble, so stupidly strong 💪🥰🇳🇴
Love this kind of video, really insightful
Thanks Conor! We loved getting Jonas on the channel 🙌
New interview,
Thank you
Back in the Top Fuel days, Laurent Jalabert did the weirder thing, changing from sprinter to climber - but this is impressive. I tink Alexander Kristoff said he gave up on keeping his weight down and started winning again.
That makes sense, because Jonas is on the same team as Alexander, so they probably have some knowledge there.
sounds like his under eating had stopped stunted his growth and testosterone so make sure if you are getting enough nutrients to fuel your body to it's potential, he's still lean but now his body has enough to be at it's potential with hormones and muscle for power and energy and he feels better.
Really great to hear that he's feeling great on the bike and is racing healthily! All the best in his future career! Somewhat sad to think about all the riders who've felt boxed in by having to maintain weights that are too low for their bodies, especially with the way races burn so much energy... Wonder if this is something junior level coaches/teams can look at?
Great interview, Dan.
Weight is a sensitive topic in cycling, but for most amateur age group cyclists it's all about losing the beer belly and unnecessary body fat.
Framing the entire discussion as “body weight” misleads. The discussion should be framed as muscle mass and power to weight and different demands for different kinds of cycling races.
And also needs to make a clear distinction between amateur and professional goals. Amateurs should have the goals: increase muscle mass; reduce body fat percentage. Let weight settle wherever it does.
I wonder if some riders forcing themselves to keep as light as possible with diet restrictions & training regimes are putting their bodies into a "starvation mode" where their bodies are constantly trying to conserve energy and therefore they under perform?
Could be. Like Jonas mentioned, he felt his body was basically hibernating until he started eating more and then felt stronger, more energy and able to build muscle which then also helped his performance.
I ride pretty casually but I've never looked at pro riders and wanted to be as skinny as them, to me it just looks unhealthy.
@@ridingflatsendurance athletes have no interest in how they look because the primary muscles trained aren’t even visible ♥️ 🫁 🩸
We need more stories of runners like this!
Always nice to be early to a GCN video :)
fascinating. nice video. i loved that. i was glued to my monitor. very inspiring