8 Secrets for How to Lose Weight Cycling


There are several physical activities that people have adopted nowadays in order to maintain good health and physical shape.

One of the major physical activities, which is extremely popular around the world, is cycling. Cycling can be done both indoor (on a stationary spin bike) and outdoors. Regardless of which one you choose, make sure you dedicate time and be consistent with it.

The main reason people take to cycling is weight loss. Cycling has proven to be an efficient method for burning some of that unwanted body fat. Here we will show you how to lose weight cycling.

How to Lose Weight by Riding Your Bike

If you’ve been looking for ways to lose a few pounds of weight, and now you’ve decided to try biking for that purpose, you’ll need to know a couple of things.

Cycling isn’t only good for losing weight, but also for many other health benefits. However, this article focuses on weight loss.

So, here’s how you can easily lose weight cycling:

1. Have Realistic Goals

The first step is setting a realistic goal. Before you engage yourself in any physical activity, you must know exactly what you want to get out of it.

Based on data from your personal BMI, you can set a weight goal that you’d like to reach. The Body Mass Index is a common tool that you can use when setting a weight loss milestone.

Apart from referencing the BMI, you can also set a weight loss goal based on body fat percentage. The average man is expected to have 15% body fat, with 18% as the maximum. Women have a healthy average of between 25% to 32% body fat.

If an individual is consistent enough with their chosen physical exercise, they can lose a considerable amount of body fat. Men can lose as much as 10% body fat, while women can lose as much as 8%.

You can easily monitor your progress with the aid of a measurement scale for percentage body fat.

2. Don’t Eat Anything Before the Ride

Another tip on how to lose weight cycling is riding fasted in the morning. This is a tip that has shown significant results when it comes to losing weight.

The trick behind this method lies in the fact that carbohydrates and glycogen are naturally burned first before fat. This is how the body works when you haven’t fasted.

It’s why being fasted before your exercise can effectively burn fat. Instead of targeting glycogen and carbohydrate reserves, which would be drained due to being fasted, the body starts using fats as fuel.

For this method to be effective, you must have started fasting for at least half a day before the workout’s scheduled time. When you’re fasting during a workout session, the session shouldn’t last for too long. Anything beyond 120 minutes would be excessive.

3. Have a Training Partner

There’s a lot of good that you’d get out of having a training partner. Your training partner should preferably be someone who has more experience than yourself.

This way, that person wouldn’t only boost your morale with their presence but also point out any mistakes that you could be making.

A good training partner can also give you tips that would make your regimen easier, and also help you attain your goals within a short time frame. Having someone to work out with constantly will also reduce the possibility of discouragement.

Group cycling with affordable gravel bikes is a popular thing among cyclers, and you should be able to locate one or two within your area. Don’t hesitate to join such groups. They will contribute positively to your development.

4. Keep a Moderate Pace

The pace at which you’re riding your bicycle for overweight people will also determine how much fat you’ll burn. The way this technique works is that you’d cycle at a rate that reduces your peak heart rate by 21-32%.

There are some devices that you can use to track this pace: a bike computer or any other accessory that tracks heart rate would be good enough.

There’s a manual way to also track your pace and know if you’re working out at the recommended rate. What you need to do is to exercise up till the point where you’re running out of breath but still have enough left for audible speech. And make sure to check if your bike is making a clicking sound first.

5. Try to Sleep More Hours

Adding more hours to your sleep time is another tip to help you lose weight cycling with your road bike quickly.

The way this works is that sufficient night rest would push you faster towards your weight loss goal while cutting down on your stress level. If you don’t sleep enough, it’s like you’re wasting the hours spent on exercising.

You should always keep in mind that it’s not enough to spend hours on your daily exercise regimen. You must supplement it with the right amount of sleep each night.

6. Do High-Intensity Riding Three Times a Week

You can boost your weight loss regimen by integrating a couple of high-intensity sessions into your regular cycling routine when using an indoor spin bike.

If you won’t be able to do both your regular routine together with some extra minutes of high-intensity workouts, you can just do only the high-intensity drills on some scheduled days.

The way this technique works is that you’d cycle at a rate where there’s a reduction of your peak heart rate by 10-30%. High-intensity exercises work you up till the point where you’re running out of breath and can’t even speak so make sure you adjust your bicycle’s brakes to be safe.

7. Eat in Small Portions Regularly

The next tip in this article is eating little at regular intervals. Don’t just eat some junk or unhealthy snack. Always eat healthy foods.

If you can eat these little portions of healthy meals at regular intervals (4 hours averagely), your metabolism becomes more stable, and more weight is lost.

8. Always Track Your Progress

It’s a good habit to keep track of the progress you’ve made when you’re trying to achieve any goal. This will tell you how fast you’re moving towards your goal, and you can know if you need to increase your workouts and dedicate more time.

When you’re trying to lose weight, you’d have to be patient. You can’t expect to lose all that weight after one workout session.

As you keep track of your progress, let it serve as an encouragement to you. Knowing that you’ve successfully accomplished part of your goal should give you the drive to go all the way.

Choose one of the days from Monday to Sunday to serve as your weekly weight-check day. Right after going to the bathroom in the morning, check your weight reading for that day.

Conclusion

Burning fat in order to lose weight is one of the many benefits attached to biking.

If you’re just starting, or have already gone far into some weight loss regimen, you can still gain a lot by following the tips above.

Remember that tangible progress requires patience; don’t expect to achieve your goals after one workout session.

Make sure that you track your progress, and allow it to serve as motivation for you. Also, team up with more experienced cyclists who can boost your development rate and experience level.

Shailen Vandeyar

A proud Indian origin Kiwi who loves to plant trees and play with my pet bunny when not out cycling through the best routes, reviewing the latest gear, and sharing tips on everything biking.

Recent Posts