Bikes or no?

JKM0225
JKM0225 Posts: 140 Member
edited November 22 in Fitness and Exercise
So... I have gotten really interested in bike riding... very fun :) Is that a great way to lose weight?
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Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    What if it's not? You're very interested in riding and find it very fun. If we said it wasn't a great way to lose weight why you would deny yourself of this activity that you enjoy?
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Biking is fun and is for fitness but you need a calorie deficit to lose weight.
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
    Josh_Kalley wrote: »
    So... I have gotten really interested in bike riding... very fun :) Is that a great way to lose weight?


    It is awesome for burning tons of calories once you get able to ride a distance.

    Of course you have to eat a calorie deficit at the end of the day.

    My ride today

    ezpxjfpk199v.jpg

  • JKM0225
    JKM0225 Posts: 140 Member
    I love it & would continue to do it regardless. But I don't want to make it my main form of working out if it is not going to help me. Obviously you have to have a different eating plan with any weight loss routine.
    Just wanted to see if anyone had any success stories as a bike lover :)
    Great job on your workout. Looks awesome!!!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Josh_Kalley wrote: »
    So... I have gotten really interested in bike riding... very fun :) Is that a great way to lose weight?

    So bike riding covers a huge range of options; road riding, mountain biking, cyclocross or pootling along at slow speed...

    As far as aiding fitness is concerned, yes all types can burn a reasonable number of calories, although I'd observe that the screenshot above looks hugely overinflated. For that distance at a moderate pace I'd be anticipating 1500-2000 cals at most.

    For me, road riding is very complementary to my running as long duration moderate to fast rides help to build aerobic capacity and endurance. I find running more effective for improving my high end capacity.
  • csman49
    csman49 Posts: 1,100 Member
    Depends wether your riding around leisurely, or giving it the beans! I tend to burn about 750 cals each way on my commute to work, which is about 1hr15 each way, and I'm giving it some!
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Like any other activity you get back what you put into it but one of the great advantages of biking is that, schedule and weather permitting, you could ride 7 days a week 365 days per year. Unless you're doing insanely hard workouts (hills, time trials etc) you don't need recovery days to the same extent as you would running or weight lifting.
  • JKM0225
    JKM0225 Posts: 140 Member
    Awesome!!! Thank you all so much :) I am currently training for a 5K but want to mix up my activities and have increased my goals with each new goal I meet. I fell in love with biking and became very interested in. Maybe to mix up my routine some. However, I still want to make progress and continue to improve as I go. I bought a mountain bike and have some awesome trails planned ahead. I also bought a HRM to make sure I stay working out and not just a casual ride. I want to continue to shed, tone and improve with any exercise(s) I choose.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,685 Member
    I am a cyclist, and yes, I think it has helped me lose weight ... or when I was quite slender, it helped me maintain my weight.

    Use a formula like 100 cal burned for every 5 kilometres (or approx. 32 cal/mile). Calories burned when cycling are all estimates, and I've found that's a pretty good one.
  • JKM0225
    JKM0225 Posts: 140 Member
    Awesome!!! Thank you so much!!! I was trying to figure a formula for that. I lost 25 pounds running and want to mix it up so that I don't stay in one place.
  • cblue315
    cblue315 Posts: 3,836 Member
    I've lost 80 pounds in the last year. A big portion of it was on bikes. In the winter it was spin class 3 or 4 times a week. Then summer came I bought a bike and did two triathlons and one duathlon this year. Just dropped 2K on a racing bike. So, yeah, even if it did not help me lose the weight I am hooked. Love the work, love the scenery and love the camaraderie of the biking culture. You do not have to spend a lot to get a nice bike. My first one I bought used from a bike shop. It has a nice ride and I ended up putting a bag rack on it so I can do my grocery shopping and ride to the gym.
  • JKM0225
    JKM0225 Posts: 140 Member
    Oh, congratulations!! Good for you!!! :) That is so awesome & such a healthy lifestyle choice :) My interest has always been running but I really am developing a heart for bikes. It's such a different experience riding through the mountains than running.

    Love the idea of the basket for groceries. A great way to save some $!

    Thank you all so much for the input !!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Have a look at experienced bike riders, they're always super lean.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited July 2015
    Josh_Kalley wrote: »
    So... I have gotten really interested in bike riding... very fun :) Is that a great way to lose weight?

    It's a great way to get fit and burn some (potentially crap loads of) calories. Losing weight requires eating at a deficit, however.
  • JKM0225
    JKM0225 Posts: 140 Member
    Well, I don't have a lot of weight I want to lose. But I have hit a stale point in my running & want to add something new and fun to get that extra little bit off.

    & very good point!! They are super toned and fit. I like to be in the mountains so I want to build towards mountain biking.
  • tomnev1
    tomnev1 Posts: 184 Member
    Josh_Kalley wrote: »
    So... I have gotten really interested in bike riding... very fun :) Is that a great way to lose weight?

    I find it great. I cycle 10ks (about 6 miles) into work and 10ks uphill home every day. We have showers at work and I live in a God-awful city for traffic (Dublin) so it's win win for me. I save time on my commute. It doesn't impact your knees like road running. It's cheap (though not as cheap as running) and depending on your city (bike lanes, traffic, etc) very safe.
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    Josh_Kalley wrote: »
    So... I have gotten really interested in bike riding... very fun :) Is that a great way to lose weight?

    So bike riding covers a huge range of options; road riding, mountain biking, cyclocross or pootling along at slow speed...

    As far as aiding fitness is concerned, yes all types can burn a reasonable number of calories, although I'd observe that the screenshot above looks hugely overinflated. For that distance at a moderate pace I'd be anticipating 1500-2000 cals at most.

    For me, road riding is very complementary to my running as long duration moderate to fast rides help to build aerobic capacity and endurance. I find running more effective for improving my high end capacity.

    That Map My Ride seems consistently 25% higher than Bicycling.com calorie calculator. It calculated 2465 for that ride but did not factor the elevation change.

    I love cycling as a great way to add variety to the fitness tools available to s person creating a new lifestyle.

    You can make great riding friends and do fun rides, group rides, set personal challenges to beat.

    It is just another way to have fun and change yourself to being a more active person

    That is why I jumped on a bike.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    i only learnt to ride a bike two years ago and the way i ride, it wouldnt be classed as exercise. i enjoy it as i find it calming.

    But i have seen cyclists on the road who you can tell do it all the time and they are in great shape. very nice calves.
  • fullylugged
    fullylugged Posts: 67 Member
    edited July 2015
    You burn somewhere around 50 cals a mile on average and there are about 3,000 cals in a pound of fat. So a six hr ride ( 60 miles at 10 mph with rests along the way, and once you're fit enough to do it. Start shorter and extend your range, and you'll also get faster so it will take less time for the same calorie burn) can burn off a lb. Extended cardio like longer rides is good for you in other ways as well. And it's low impact. I find it helps a lot with weight control.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Josh_Kalley wrote: »
    Well, I don't have a lot of weight I want to lose. But I have hit a stale point in my running & want to add something new and fun to get that extra little bit off.

    & very good point!! They are super toned and fit. I like to be in the mountains so I want to build towards mountain biking.

    Riding is excellent x-training for running, they compliment each other perfectly.

  • jchite84
    jchite84 Posts: 467 Member
    Bikes all the way. Great cardio, great compliment to running, lots of fun, very supportive community.
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
    After being inspired by this thread to find a better way to calculate calories burned I went to Lance Armstrongs site

    This is a bit more specific to weight and speed

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/135430-calories-burned-biking-one-mile/#page=2
  • JKM0225
    JKM0225 Posts: 140 Member
    Thank you all so much!!! All of this has been super helpful & informative :)

    I am super excited to find a great group to ride with but am going to start a little on my own first. I would love to use it to commute to work! So, I will build up to that :) & I would also like to do some bike races.

    I bought a polar ft7 HRM to help me monitor my heart rate & such. I want to get the most out of each workout.

    However, my ultimate goal is a triathlon! :)
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    I am also a runner. I had to do bike riding due to an injury and needed something super low impact. For me, my HR was almost as high bike riding as it was running. It was a respectable burn, but I just didn't enjoy it. I also mixed in swimming and found that really helped with my breathing when I went back to running. I think the most important thing is to do something you like.
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
    Is there a Perfornance Bicycle shop near you?

    Every one across the country has a Saturday morning beginner ride

    It is a no drop ride, so nobody gets left behind and it is a slower pace ride

    Google them

  • jchite84
    jchite84 Posts: 467 Member
    Josh_Kalley wrote: »
    Thank you all so much!!! All of this has been super helpful & informative :)

    I am super excited to find a great group to ride with but am going to start a little on my own first. I would love to use it to commute to work! So, I will build up to that :) & I would also like to do some bike races.

    I bought a polar ft7 HRM to help me monitor my heart rate & such. I want to get the most out of each workout.

    However, my ultimate goal is a triathlon! :)

    Woo Hoo! Tris are great, be sure to get in your brick workouts! (And hopefully they don't kill your passion for cycling)

  • irejuvenateme
    irejuvenateme Posts: 96 Member
    Bike riding is great - I think if you are looking to improve bfp you'll need to do something else on top of it like working with weights... then again if you are talking about things like mountain biking or biking hills that may be another story... with me biking helped with weight loss but not bfp, but I was mostly biking flat surfaces at the time so I wouldn't pretend to generalize.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Josh_Kalley wrote: »
    So... I have gotten really interested in bike riding... very fun :) Is that a great way to lose weight?

    your weight loss is going to largely be about your diet...cycling is great exercise and is great for your fitness and has that added benefit of burning up calories which makes weight management easier.

    But really...I cycle arouind 60 - 80 miles per week (sometimes more) and I run a couple of 5Ks...I lift 2-3x per week, walk my dog regularly, and am in general pretty active outside of my job. I have lost weight, gained weight, and maintained weight all the while doing these things...the difference between those three weight management objectives wasn't my exercise...it wasn't my CO part of CICO...it was my CI...my consumption.
  • JKM0225
    JKM0225 Posts: 140 Member
    Thank you all so much for the information :) I am not so focused on the weight loss. I am comfortable where I am but would like to improve overall fitness. Like mentioned, triathlons are my goal :) 5k's are great and bike riding is so much fun :) I do enjoy bikes a little more than running because of the distance you can go.

    Will be sure and check up on bike shops and find some groups to ride with.

    Any tips on bike gear is appreciated too :) love to hear to little about what people like and don't.
  • JaedynKelling2015
    JaedynKelling2015 Posts: 5 Member
    What kind of running did you do?
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