Biking/doing the same exercise every day??

NotSoPerfectPam

Hi all - hoping to get some good responses here. I know there are posts about doing the same exercise every day, and that it's generally not a good idea because your body gets used to it.

I love to bike, and do it every day if I could. Nothing else is quite as enjoyable or gives me the same calorie burn.

But, is there anyone here who has done the same exercise every day and lost weight? Would love to hear some success stories about weight loss with the same exercise and how much you had to vary your workout to reach that loss.

Thanks
Pam

ModernRock

Your bike requires the same amount of energy to move regardless of who is riding it, assuming they are the same size as you. There will be a slight decrease with more efficient technique (e.g., better balance, smoother starts/stops, shifting, posture, etc...), but that can be counterbalanced by more challenging rides or greater intensity. There's going to be some decrease as your heart doesn't have to work as hard, but that is counterbalanced by being able to ride at a higher intensity. There will be a decrease as you lose weight, but that again can be counterbalanced by being able to ride at a higher intensity.

SingingSingleTracker

NotSoPerfectPam wrote: »

Hi all - hoping to get some good responses here. I know there are posts about doing the same exercise every day, and that it's generally not a good idea because your body gets used to it.

I love to bike, and do it every day if I could. Nothing else is quite as enjoyable or gives me the same calorie burn.

But, is there anyone here who has done the same exercise every day and lost weight? Would love to hear some success stories about weight loss with the same exercise and how much you had to vary your workout to reach that loss.

Thanks
Pam

Been on the bike since December 02. It has helped me lose 20 pounds doing it. I also do weights 2 x a week, and core work 1 day per week.

It's not about the bike. It's about CICO. You have to maintain a deficit to drop the weight. The bike can help you fire up the CO portion of CICO, but you still have to eat at deficit to drop the weight.

quiltlovinlisa

The easiest exercise to maintain is the one you enjoy.

cwolfman13

I primarily cycle and lift...haven't had any issues...been doing that for over three years. The whole, "your body gets used to that" is pretty much bunk...there are very minor changes to the calories you would burn due to greater efficiency, but they're nominal...not to mention, the better you are at something, the harder you're going to go which is going to negate any effect of becoming more efficient in the work you're doing.

Look at athletes...they do the same thing because they have to train for that specific sport...I don't see any cyclist all of a sudden becoming too fat because their body got too used to cycling and just stopped burning calories...logic.

drachfit

The idea that you body "gets used to" one particular exercise and that you need to "mix it up" is a myth.

in terms of weight loss, 30 minutes on the bike will burn the same number of calories today as it will in 3 months.

In terms of progressing your fitness, it is true that if all you do is bike 30 minutes every day at the same speed and distance, you will reach a certain level of fitness (good enough to do 30m of biking at whatever speed) and then stop progressing. This does not mean you should switch to running in order to improve your biking. It means you need to increase SOME aspect of what you are doing over time. Bike 35 minutes, then 40m the next week, then 45.... and so on. This will keep you improving. If you don't have more than 30m or 60m, maybe work on biking FASTER for the entire time. A little faster each week. Add in a more hilly route. And so on. Keep increasing the challenge. If at any point you stop attempting to increase, your FITNESS will stop progressing and you will merely maintain.

to reiterate, this has very little to do with weight loss as the only purpose of biking for weight loss is to burn calories. the calorie burn will be roughly the same no matter how often you do it.

Triathlete1502

If you enjoy cycling, consider Trainer Road for indoor cycling training:

www.trainerroad.com

It has structured workouts with over 80 training plans and an excellent customer/technical support.

Best of luck!

47Jacqueline

Whatever you enjoy, keep doing it. If you get tired of it, do something else. I don't know why people make things so complicated.