Fat vs Muscle Weight - scary numbers

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm going to start posting to my blog again for record and accountability.

[Kimmyt]

lph, we call that 'strength to weight ratio' and i hate those folks that are tall and bean-sprouty but they sure are naturally good at climbing, aren't they? It also means that little kids can climb about three times as hard as me without half the effort. It makes for frustrating days, at times, but then I'm always making things a competition.

I've noticed changes in my body with different sport emphases. Climbing just got me bulky, but did not do anything to slim me down. I blame that on the fact that, even with long hikes carrying heavy packs, the cardio during climbing is not all that great compared to other sports, and i wasn't climbing hard enough grades to make it more cardio-like.

When I got into cycling, my body changed almost immediately. My bum and legs seem to be shrinking, but there was always a lot of jiggle there to begin with. My upper body is becoming more lean, which means less cushion throughout, which I won't complain about. My breastbones may show a bit here or there, but it's nice to see some definition. When I started running a bit I saw an additional boost to this 'leaning and meaning', the muscles I had started to actually show, which was nice. There is less jiggle in the underside of my arms and my stomach is overall flatter. Swimming has started to give me lovely shoulder and upper arm definition.

Now combine that with the strength gains from climbing and i'm pretty happy with my body. My abs are starting to show nicely and my arms have definition and my legs don't rub in the middle quite so much. All this, and I seem to be able to eat whatever I want, which, granted, probably means if I actually watched what I ate I'd be even leaner and meaner. Ah well, it's not worth yet giving up my weekly pint of ben and jerry's!!

K.