Since cycling is low-impact and burns calories at a moderate intensity, it has long been recommended for anyone looking to lose weight. But in order to take on peddling for weight loss, you have to be strategic. You need to know the basics before you get started.
Is cycling good for weight loss?
Cycling is an excellent cardio workout that will get your heart pumping fast, sweating, and burning extra calories. With cycling, you will be able to burn around 450-1000+ calories in an hour. This will greatly depend on the factors below;
Your body weight: the more the weight, the more energy required to move the body thus more calories burned.
Speed of cycling: the faster you pedal, the more calories you will burn since you will be using more energy.
Distance covered: the further you go, the more calories you will burn.
Time spent: the longer you spend cycling, the more calories you will burn.
Effort or difficulty: you will burn more calories while riding on hilly areas since you will be using much energy to get moving.
Breakdown.
According to Harvard Health Publishing,
While cycling at a speed of 12-13.9 mph for 30 minutes,
people of different weights will burn calories as follows.
- A person weighing 125 pounds will burn 240 calories.
- A person weighing 155 pounds will burn around 298 calories
- A person weighing 185 pounds will burn about 355 calories.
If riding at a speed of 14-15.9 mph for 30 minutes.
- A person of weight 125 pounds will burn around 300 calories.
- A person weighing 155 pounds will burn 372 calories.
- A person weighing 185 pounds will burn up to about 444 calories.
How much should I cycle a day to lose weight?
The longer, faster and more effort you put in cycling, the more calories that you will burn. Simply, the further you ride, the more calories you will burn.
However, you should not push too hard as you might injure yourself. Even 30 minutes of cycling can help you lose weight if you ride with high intensity and using a challenging or steep course.
Depending on your weight loss demands and target, a minimum of 30 minutes should be spent on the bike. Riding between 10 to 12 miles is a good start and can help you get weight loss.
The information above can help you estimate how much you need to cycle in order to lose weight.
What cycling does to your weight.
Cycling has many benefits that directly or indirectly affect your weight.
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Cycling is good for weight loss.
Riding the bike is a great way of burning calories. On average, a person might burn from 400-1000 calories from a single hour workout of cycling depending on the intensity and weight of the rider.
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Cycling can help you get quality sleep.
Quality sleep is weight loss friendly. You will burn more calories during your time of sleep. After a cycling workout, you will be able to fall asleep much faster.
Have you read Sleeping for weight loss yet?
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Cycling helps you build lean muscles.
Besides burning fat, cycling can help you build muscles, particularly around the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves. Lean muscles burn more calories which helps weight loss.
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Tones the body.
Biking or cycling can help you shed fat off your lower body thus toning it. Body parts that can be toned include thighs, calves, hamstrings, glutes, stomach, and back.
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Relieves stress.
Though this does not directly lead to weight loss, concentrating on exercise and in this case cycling will calm you during stressful times. when you are stress-free, you can make healthy choices such as eating healthy foods. this will have a great impact on your weight.
Which body parts does cycling tone?
Cycling works several muscles of the body most especially, the lower area. These are parts of the quads, glutes, calves’ hamstrings and hips.
Riding the bike will give you firm and tight thighs, legs, and the butt.
Since the core is involved during cycling, you won’t be surprised if I told you that cycling can reduce belly fat?
Although it doesn’t directly work on the belly directly, you will be able to slim it down. Since cycling is a great fat burner, it will be able to lose overall body fat with belly fat inclusive.
Which bike is best for weight loss?
When choosing a bike to help you lose weight, many options will be laid on the table for you. Choosing a bike shouldn’t be difficult when you put a few factors into consideration.
The things to take note of include;
Whether the bike adjustable
Since people are different in height, you will need a bike that you can adjust to your convenience.
Think about the course.
Where you are riding will greatly determine your bike choice. Mountain bikes and bikes you ride through the city can be different due to different demands in cycling.
There are many other factors to consider when choosing a bike for weight loss. They may include; suspension, durability, and others but my main focus is the first two above.
Here are my Amazon picks.
26-inch Road Bike 21 Speed Bicycle 700C Mens Bikes.
- With a height of 54 cm, this bike has dual disc brakes and very good for outdoor.
- It has a rich padded saddle for comfort.
- The lightweight alloy linear-pull brakes deliver smooth stopping.
- The bike has 21 speeds and has a lightweight of about 35 pounds.
- It is easy to assemble and will take you about 15-20 minutes.
Women’s Beach Cruiser Bike-24 Inch Unisex Classic Iron Bicycle with Basket Retro Bicycle.
I think it’s a good bike. If it offers to pedal and it can get you somewhere, I would choose his kind of bike as it looks easy not like those sports bikes that will get you raised high in the air.
It would also make a good shopping bike or one that can be ridden to picnics.
Check out its specs from Amazon here.
Y56 Road Bike Best, 26in Folding Mountain Bike 21.
Just the term folding can get me to buy this kind of bike. The storage gets easier with this kind of convenience.
This bike will not look like those sports bikes and those afraid of being raised in the air can get this bike since its meant for sports yet not raised.
Check out its specs on Amazon here.
How long does it take to see results from cycling?
To begin with, in order to lose weight, one must burn more calories than he or she consumes. Seeing results from regular cycling will greatly depend on the cories you burn and the efforts you are putting in cycling.
Going further and cycling for a long time can get you to see results much faster. You can see results as early as 2 weeks if you are doing regular cycling for longer periods of time.
Is cycling better than running?
Both cycling and running are fun exercises or hobbies that can help you lose weight.
Generally, running can burn more calories than cycling since running involves more use of muscles and energy levels compared to cycling.
On the other hand, cycling builds more muscles in the lower area than running. However, when it comes to toning those muscles, running tones body muscles more than cycling can do.
In summary, both cycling and running are good for your health and can help weight loss. Therefore, depending on your preference, either of the two will help you lose weight and tone your muscles.
The bottom line.
Cycling is good for weight loss and can help you shed those extra pounds. Being protected while cycling by wearing a helmet, pads and protective gear will help you get weight loss at the same time being in the safe zone.
However, you should put in mind that in order to lose weight, you must be burning more calories than you consume. Read the blogs below to understand more about weight loss, workouts, and diet.
Can you lose weight by diet alone? You will be surprised
How to swim for weight loss (Includes what to eat)
Running for weight loss – Will I really lose weight?
