If you’re looking to lose some extra weight and become fitter, trimmer, lighter and healthier, then cycling can be a fantastic way to achieve your weight loss goals. Bike riding is not only highly efficient but also an enjoyable and easy way to boost your mental and emotional health.
My goal with this post is to provide you with nearly everything you need to know regarding how to lose weight using an exercise bike.
Bike riding is an effective cardio workout, helping to boost your lung and heart health, improve your blood flow, build muscle strength and reduce your stress levels. But most importantly, an exercise bike can help burn a significant amount of fat, torch calories and lose weight.
Biking is touted by many experts as a good low-impact option for an aerobic workout. Perhaps this is because it allows you to increase your heart rate with less wear and tear on your ankles, knees, and joints as opposed to either jogging or running.
It is a fantastic way to help shed a few unwanted pounds. And this is because you can potentially burn an enormous amount of calories as you pedal, particularly if you cycle beyond a standard pace.
However, to lose weight through bike training, there are a few things you must have at your fingertips. The first item I want to discuss is the different exercise bikes.
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Types Of Exercise Bikes
Even though are many types of exercise bikes, all of them fall into three main categories, including:
- Upright exercise bikes: This type is strikingly similar to a standard cycling bike. The pedals are located below the body and feature a fairly smaller seat. You can use it either standing up or sitting down. It will not only help you lose weight, but also works your legs and the core. However, it’s worth noting that an upright bike tends to put more pressure on your hands and wrists!
- Recumbent bikes: A recumbent bike allows you to recline slightly as your cycle. This implies you sit with the pedals right in front of you rather than below you. Recumbent bikes are suitable for people suffering from back problems because they support the lower back as opposed to their upright bike counterparts.
- Spin bikes: These are also popular at many health clubs. They are generally used in group exercise biking sessions to burn fat and calories. Riding a spin bike feels like riding a road bike or mountain bike outdoors. They usually feature a weighted flywheel on the front to offer resistance, making you feel as if you are pedaling on a real cycling trail.
- Electric Bike: You may not think this is good exercise, but if you’re just starting out, an electric bike is an excellent bike for beginners. Most electric bikes have different levels of assistance from low to high assistance. As you become stronger you can reduce the amount of assistance and eventually move on to one of the aforementioned bikes.
How Do Exercise Bikes Assist With Weight Loss?
Everyone has a specific number of calories they use and burn on a daily basis just for their body to function optimally depending on factors such as your age, gender. When it comes to losing weight using an exercise bike, the number of calories you can burn will depend on your current body weight, the duration of your cycling as well as the intensity of your cycling.
You will find contrasting answers as to how much weight you can potentially lose riding a stationary bike. But to be more precise, the amount of weight you’ll lose largely depends on how many calories you burn.
To maintain your specific weight, you must consume food that will provide the number of calories you need. Every bodily function in your system is fueled by calories, from breathing, jumping, running to biking. When it comes to weight loss, however, you need a deficit in calories.
Simply put, you need to consume fewer calories than your body needs to maintain your current weight. Exercise bikes allow you to burn calories, thus resulting in the deficit that you need to shed weight. Cycling burns calories, and it’s this calorie deficit that results in weight loss, but you also need to supplement your physical activity with a nutritious diet.
And with consistency, you will ultimately lose weight. It is also worth noting that biking kicks your metabolism into high gear, which is quite helpful for weight loss.
How Many Calories Can You Burn Using An Exercise Bike?
As earlier explained, burning more calories than you lose is integral to dropping those unwanted pounds. In this regard, one pound of fat is approximately equivalent to 3,500 calories. For you to lose 1Ib, (0.45Kgs) a week, you should burn to burn off 3,500 more calories than you consume. And while you can achieve this through dieting alone, routine indoor cycling on an exercise bike could potentially speed up the entire process.
According to research conducted by Harvard Medical School, an individual weighing 155 pounds can burn nearly 260 calories riding an exercise bike for just half an hour https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-for-people-of-three-different-weights.
But overall, the intensity and frequency of your workouts will impact the number of calories you burn during every bike riding training session.
Using an exercise bike to lose weight
While it can be quite tough to predict exactly how much weight you’ll lose as well as how fast you’ll lose it using an exercise bike, the most important thing is that you are in complete control when it comes to optimizing your results. Below are some proven bike riding training techniques that will help you to realize better weight loss results faster:
Start slowly if you are a beginner
Feeling ready and motivated to hit the pedals? If you are new to the world of weight loss, starting small and building up with time is your best strategy. Usually, people engage in whatever form of cardiorespiratory workout they enjoy and will do consistently. A stationary bike is a great option and accumulating a few days of regular activity is a wonderful place to start.
It is highly recommended that you start off pedaling at a relatively lower intensity for between 5 and 10 minutes. From there, you can switch to medium-level intensity for about five minutes. Alternate between medium intensity and high intensity for the next thirty minutes or so.
Again, make sure that you are healthy and strong enough for your biking riding exercise before you start, and always begin with a fairly shorter, easier workout!
Consistency is key
Arguably, the best thing you can do for yourself is to be consistent with your workout routines. By following a regular training routine of using stationary bikes to lose weight, keep fit and remain healthy, you can really boost the results and achieve your weight loss goals much faster.
Again, it boils down to finding the perfect schedule that works for you. Whether it’s training three times weekly or four times, or whether you prefer evening or morning training sessions, finding what matches your lifestyle and preferences offers you the best chance of maintaining a consistent workout routine.
Incorporate resistance in your bike riding sessions
First and foremost, note that if you are a novice exerciser, don’t use resistance training. However, as you grow more into your training routine, start your resistance slowly and increase resistance over time. It is important that you don’t rush because it could easily result in injury and fatigue.
Stationary bikes usually come equipped with resistance levels that you can easily adjust according to your ability. Most bikes have at least 1-10 levels of resistance, even though others can sometimes go up to 20 resistance levels.
In case you didn’t know, resistance simply imitates the feeling of cycling up a hill or some difficult trail if you were on an outdoor bike. If you want to continue challenging yourself and burn as many calories as possible, you must take advantage of this functionality!
Incorporate High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) into your exercise bike routine
It is worth mentioning that extended workouts are not necessarily better when it comes to losing weight! HIIT can help you burn a significant number of calories in a relatively short spun. This adds up to an effective and result-oriented workout.
With HIIT, your workouts should be performed at a very high anaerobic intensity, and also the recovery needs to be adequate for the intensity of the workout.
High-Intensity Interval Training can be easy to do on an exercise bike because you can easily adjust the level of intensity based on the speed as well as resistance. Some ways you can use the HIIT training for an efficient fat-burning process include:
- A five-minute warm-up session.
- A five-minute session involving 5 by 30 seconds of very hard cycling followed by immediate 30 seconds of recovery.
- Two minutes of active recovery as you cycle at a much slower rate.
- A six-minute session that involves 6 by 20 seconds of very intense or hard biking followed by one minute of recovery.
- Two minutes of active recovery.
- A five-minute session that involves 5 by 20 seconds of all-out maximum effort biking followed by a minute of recovery.
- Five-minute cooldown session: Easy biking for five minutes.
Try LISS!
If you fancy a relatively slower yet extended exercise routine, then you should give LISS a try. LISS simply means lower intensity-steady state cardio. This is a fairly easier training to do, and you’ll only need to keep your heart rate between 50 and 65% of your optimum heart rate. Modern exercise bikes boast the ability to screen and mimic real bike trails and paths, allowing you to feel as though you are on an actual ride.
Take Note Of Your Diet
You can ride your exercise bike for extended hours every week, but if you don’t pay attention to your diet, you will not get the desired results! It is highly recommended that you integrate a healthy diet with cycling if you want your workout to pay off.
In this regard, the best weight loss diet should include lean protein, whole foods such as fresh vegetables, whole grains, and lean meat sources and should be low in processed foods.
Experts recommend consuming small amounts of healthy food every three to four hours. This will not only help you maintain a stable metabolism and burn fat more consistently but will also ensure your energy levels are stable enough to allow you to continue biking!
The Bottom Line on Losing Weight With Exercise Bikes
It is common knowledge that through regular exercise and proper nutrition, you can effectively shed weight. And with a high-quality exercise bike at your disposal, proper diet, and discipline, you can achieve your weight loss goals in a fun and stress-free way. We have provided you with practical, proven, and effective tips on how to achieve your weight loss goals with the help of an exercise bike.