Cycling for weight loss. Running or cycling - which is better for weight loss? How to effectively lose weight with a bike
Nowadays, many methods are being created that allow you to adjust weight and get rid of excess fat accumulations, but well-chosen physical activity remains one of the most effective ways weight loss. Diets, medications, various surgeries and other modern possibilities leave the body without the proper load: because of this, after losing weight, the skin may remain flabby and the muscles weak, which does not correspond to modern ideas about beauty.
Not everyone can go to fitness, to the gym and even to the pool - there is not enough time, and there is not enough patience for exercising at home. In addition, it is rather boring to perform exercises in the closed space of a city apartment, and the situation is not conducive to this - there are always household chores.
But many people like to ride a bike, and not alone, but with friends or in a company: it is much more fun and interesting, and fresh air is good; besides, we always have time to “sit out” in the apartments in the winter.
With the advent of warm weather, many people remember that they used to be good at “biking”, and this skill is not lost with age - however, sometimes you need to practice a little. Ordinary cycling not only improves mood and well-being. Cycling is also a great way to lose weight and burn fat, the bike helps to form a more slender, strong figure - you should not “discount” this.
Why do people lose weight on a bike?
Why is a weight loss bike so good? Regular cycling helps the body become more resilient and increase immunity, develop and train coordination of movements, improve the condition of the lungs and blood vessels, strengthen the heart muscle - we can say that this best view cardio.
In addition, such unobtrusive cycling workouts allow you to more often admire nature - even urban - and communicate with friends, or even make new acquaintances - with the modern lack of communication, this is the most important advantage.
When we ride a bike, the heart starts beating faster and the metabolism also speeds up - it is clear that this requires energy and calories. We also begin to breathe more often and deeper, and the cells receive more oxygen, and it contributes to the speedy breakdown of fats. In the process of active pedaling, a lot of energy is released: the body begins to get rid of excess water, releasing it both in the form of sweat and when exhaling. But fats are not split immediately: first, “fast” carbohydrates are consumed - this is sugar contained in the blood, and the body can “hold on” to it for about 30-40 minutes. After that, he "gets" to fat reserves, and receives energy from them: to get about 9 kcal, the body needs to break down 1 g of fat.
How many calories are burned
Cycling is a rather energy-intensive way to lose weight, which allows you to burn 250-800 kcal per hour, and this figure depends on many factors: season and climate, weather and the nature of the road surface, speed and slope of the terrain, as well as individual human data - age, height, weight, health, fitness level, etc.
How to increase the effectiveness of training
Cross country cycling
Of course, cycling on rough terrain will give a more noticeable result for weight loss: if you ride uphill, on sand, pebbles, or change speed all the time, energy costs will increase. For example, if you ride at top speed for about a minute, and then switch to a calm pace for a couple of minutes, your metabolism will speed up significantly, and the level reached will last another 1-2 hours when the ride is over. It can be difficult to find rough terrain in the city, but to complicate the ride, you can use weights by putting them on the ankles: they are now available in different sizes, from 250 g to 5 kg in weight. On a modern bike with an additional set of shifting gears, it is better to set the most difficult so that cycling is the most effective for losing weight.
What is the best weight loss bike?
First, a little about the bike itself. There are rules for choosing it, but first of all, you need to remember that you are not going to pump up the muscles of the legs, but to lose weight - the gear system will help here. When you can adjust the number of pedal rotations, it is easier to choose a load for yourself: your legs will not get very tired, but calories will be expended anyway.
Learning to sit on a bike correctly is the first thing to do: with an incorrect fit, proper cycling becomes impossible, and there will be little effect from training for weight loss. The torso should be directed almost parallel to the ground: the steering wheel will have to be lowered and the seat raised - the legs must be fully extended during the ride, otherwise they will be able to relax and start to hurt. This landing is also good because it allows you to give a sufficient load to the muscles of the buttocks and abdomen.
Where should you bike?
Now about where and how to ride a bike for weight loss. It’s better to start gradually to get used to it: you don’t need to strive to master steep ascents and descents, if you haven’t done this before - ride on a flat road, away from busy highways. Increase your speed on flat sections of the road to burn fat faster, and try to ride in soft and smooth terrain with gentle ups and downs.
Rules for cycling for weight loss
Regular cycling is the best guarantee of weight loss success. Do not ride all day when "there is time": try to ride a bike daily, for 15-20 minutes, and to start, set aside three days a week. When the muscles start to get used, the load should be increased by adding time: ride for an hour, and then 1.5 hours, and do not skip workouts - however, you will not want to do without them.
Pedaling too fast is also not necessary: do not forget - the goal of the workout is to lose weight, not pump up the muscles in the legs, so 80-90 rotations per minute is enough. You can track the "correctness" of the training, focusing on the speed of the ride; well, if there is a sensor: the best effect is obtained at a speed of 15-25 km / h. You need to press the pedal with the place where the foot passes into the fingers, and not with the fingers themselves and not with the heel.
Skating should be combined with other physical activities - for example, regular aerobics, and follow the diet. Cycling is unlikely to help you lose weight if you rely on fried chicken and cakes to burn incoming calories with their help.
In general, one hour before cycling and for an hour after it, you do not need to eat anything - this is the minimum period of time. But you can and should drink, but in no case should you drink tonic or sweet drinks: when going for a ride, take a bottle of clean non-carbonated water with you. Try to drink a glass of water before and after your workout as well. This will improve the process of losing weight and help to avoid dehydration.
Get off the bike from time to time and roll it around - this is a great form of training for weight loss. The muscles of the legs will not be able to quickly get used to the loads, and even more calories will be burned during the workout. The muscles of the arms and back, on the contrary, will be able to rest: this way you can ride longer, but save yourself from overload and health problems.
After reading the arguments presented in favor of the effectiveness of cycling in reducing weight, you will definitely want to start cycling right away!
1) No undue stress on the joints
There is no constant shock component when riding a bike, which means that the joints and joints will be spared from the negative impact. Even an obese person is quite capable of climbing on a bike and starting to pedal. Modern bicycles, equipped with a gearshift mechanism, allow even an unprepared beginner or a simple recreational rider to make many kilometers of travel, burning a significant amount of calories hour after hour.
2) Large muscles are strengthened
Cycling works the biggest muscles in your body - your glutes and thighs - as well as knee ligaments and tendons. At the same time, the muscles of the lower body, especially the legs and gluteal region, develop well. All this is an important factor for increasing the body's ability to burn fat.
3) Your muscles are trained to burn more fat
Long, steady cycling builds thousands of new capillaries in your legs, which means more oxygenated blood is delivered to the working muscles. Mitochondria - those fat-burning furnaces in our muscle cells - are also getting bigger and can use the increased oxygen flow to burn more fat and produce more energy.
Endurance training that happens while you pedal increases levels of proteins responsible for binding fatty acids. There is also an increase in the number of enzymes that transfer fat from the body's "stores" to working muscles. Simply put, the more fit you become, the more oxygen you can use and, consequently, the more fat you can burn.
4) There is an increase in daily calories burned
Cycling increases your daily calorie burn. Even at a walking speed not exceeding 20 km / h, you burn 500-600 calories per hour. If you ride just one hour a day, you will burn about 4 thousand calories per week - this will help you lose more than a pound of excess weight! By the way, an hour's walk burns only 150-250 calories, and jogging during the same time will "destroy" only 350-450 units of thermal energy.
5) Calories continue to be burned after a bike ride
Finally, cycling "persuades" your body to burn more calories after you get off the bike as your body continues to repair your muscles and fill them with new energy. Cycling builds lean muscle tissue and increases basal metabolic rate. This means that additional calories will be consumed during hours when you are not active. physical activity. Studies show that 30-45 minutes of cycling every day significantly increases metabolism, and it remains elevated throughout the day.
Being overweight around the waist increases the risk of diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease. Riding a bike is a form of aerobics that not only reduces these risks, but also helps to reduce the stomach.
Type of exercise
There is a concept that you can lose weight in the area you are interested in with the help of appropriate exercises. When it comes to the stomach, there is a misconception about the effectiveness of training with the press, when in fact you should work on burning fat throughout the body. Cycling is a type of cardiovascular exercise and therefore burns a large number of calories, providing a comprehensive weight loss of the whole body.
Workout duration
In order for the trips to be effective, it is necessary to devote enough time to them. According to the College of Sports Medicine, weight loss requires 60-90 minutes of physical activity five days a week. At the same time, calorie consumption depends on the intensity of movement. Interval training allows you to alternate the level of load. This not only increases calorie consumption, but also improves metabolism in the following hours. Start with a light warm-up for 5-10 minutes. Pedal at about 80% of your maximum effort for 30 seconds, then slow down to about 50% of your effort for 60 seconds. Return to high load and continue alternating between the two until the end of the ride.
Muscle engagement
Cycling involves a huge number of muscles in the lower body: the glutes, quadriceps femoris and posterior, ankles, and hip flexors. Building muscle mass, even in small amounts, has an impact on resting metabolism and leads to accelerated belly loss. According to the University of Michigan Health System, every pound of extra muscle increases calorie expenditure by 30-50 per day.
Abdominal contractions
Cycling forces you to flex your abs to maintain balance. This, in turn, is an additional workout for this muscle group. Fast pedaling while standing increases the load on the press. You can feel it when moving uphill or doing intervals.
Diet and belly fat reduction
No matter how hard you ride, your progress will be at risk if you don't stick to your plan. healthy eating. By reducing your calorie intake and choosing healthier foods, you can say goodbye to belly fat faster. According to the Mayo Clinic, losing 500 calories daily leads to a loss of 0.5 kg per week.
We are hardly mistaken if we say that healthy people most often buy exercise bikes in the hope of losing weight. Well, dropping a couple of kilograms on an exercise bike is a very realistic task.
But where will the extra volumes go? How big are the chances that fat will be removed from the most noticeable problem area - from the tummy? Doubts of this kind are natural. When we pedal, it is the legs that work first. The abdominal muscles, on the contrary, tense to a minimum ...
Is it possible to remove the stomach on an exercise bike
Here's some encouraging news for you: cycling is an excellent remedy for an unaesthetically protruding abdomen.
Yes, the muscles in this part of the body are involved in the "pedal" training to a minimum (they have only a modest tension that accompanies deep breathing). But - it's not scary.
Achieve results due to cardio, which increases energy consumption and burns .
Subcutaneous body fat in the abdomen and sides, except perhaps for the visceral layers (deposits between internal organs) is a very affordable energy reserve. Subcutaneous fat is easily accumulated here and easily disappears.
The exercise bike removes the stomach as if in between times, without any special tricks.
True, for the sake of the coveted harmony, you will have to sweat thoroughly in the saddle. The effect will be given only by regular and fairly long workouts - at least half an hour three times a week.
Is it possible to drive fat and tighten the stomach on a bike - a regular one designed for riding on the street? Yes, it is quite. However, in this case, it will be more difficult for you to follow the parameters of the lesson: the buyer will have to wear a special wearable heart rate monitor, put a watch on his hand.
Note that pedaling is equally useful for both men and women. Individual representatives of the stronger sex, dreaming of losing weight in the "beer" waist, completely in vain consider the bike imitator to be a ladies' toy.
How to lose fat in a short time?
Don't count on amazing miracles. Even a moderate volume is not removed in a matter of days. The bill will go for weeks or even months - it all depends on what your tummy is in diameter.
To speed things up and get yourself in shape in six weeks, follow a series of recommendations:
- do not start classes until you have studied the articles, Special attention refer to the publication about;
- take into account the advice from the article
- before training, apply anti-cellulite cream on the stomach and sides;
- make corrective body masks or body wraps;
- use slimming belts ("Volcano", etc.), which are sold in pharmacies;
- moderate your appetite, which will certainly increase from training.
Each of these tips will really help speed things up.
A couple of words in addition to the last point. No need to starve, just limit portions. If you want to take two cutlets, take one. Eat two instead of three slices of bread.
Deny yourself high-calorie treats - various sweets and lush muffins. Do not forget that calories are found in both food and drinks - soda, milkshakes, etc.
Believe in yourself, and the hopes of burning fat with the help of an exercise bike will come true - if not immediately, but you will notice that the stomach is losing weight and the sides are leaving! Good luck!
Everyone knows what a bicycle is, but not everyone knows that you can effectively lose weight with it. Many people think: "You ride and that's it, what's the use." But in reality the situation is different.
A bicycle is not only an ecological means of transportation, but also a benefit for the body as a whole. Indeed, when cycling, many muscle groups are involved, with active respiratory processes, metabolic processes in the body improve. Riding a bicycle burns thousands of kilocalories even when riding slowly, on average, about 300-600 kcal are burned per hour.
But in order to effectively lose weight, you need to act according to the rules. First, change your diet. If this is difficult for you, then gradually remove heavy fatty foods and try to eat fewer calories than you expend, but not by much.
Now let's move on to cycling. Cycling promotes fat burning through aerobic (using oxygen) exercise. The main load when riding falls on the muscles of the thighs, lower legs, buttocks and calves. As well as the muscles of the arms and shoulders. The muscles of the tummy and back are no less involved. But there is a big burden on respiratory system and heart muscle.
The key to losing weight is regular exercise. No excuses accepted, exception bad feeling and severe during critical days. Classes should be held daily, seven days a week. The effect is visible with regular classes twice a day. If it is convenient for you to train once a day, then the time of the lesson should be one and a half to two hours. But, if you decide to practice twice daily, then it is better to spend them for an hour and a half minutes.
Also, don't push yourself too hard. Before starting your workout, warm up with simple exercises lasting fifteen minutes. Then start riding again for fifteen minutes a day. After a while, you should increase the cycling time. This can be done in different ways: for 5 minutes a day, or add 10 minutes every two to three days.
You should also not train in the heat on a sunny day, otherwise you may overheat or get sunstroke. The most convenient time for training is morning or evening, or both morning and evening. Ride in the morning one hour after light breakfast, and in the evening - half an hour before dinner.
Also, the main determining factor in effectiveness is heart rate (heart rate), for the norm it is 120-150 beats every minute. Or you can count for 10 seconds, approximately 20-25 beats should be obtained. It is with such indicators that classes will be aerobic in nature, redox processes in the body are turned on - fats are burned.
The choice of the route of the trip is also important. The track should not be difficult (with too long climbs and long descents). The route should be uniform in difficulty and height. A straight road will not suit you either - it will be of little use.
Cycling should be fun!
