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Does bicycling help or not help to lose weight?

leann74016
leann74016 Posts: 242 Member
edited January 11 in Fitness and Exercise
I've read on here and other places that riding a bike really doesn't help you lose weight?! Why is this? Yes I am using muscles which is probably building muscles which can cause it to look like you are gaining rather than losing but sheesh I am sore all over and usually if your sore all over that means you have worked out which means you have burned calories so wouldn't this help you to lose weight?! How could I possibly not lose weight from riding a bike to and from work 3x a week? Any input would be awesome because I really would like to know why? And please be kind.

Replies

  • BigG1978
    BigG1978 Posts: 54 Member
    It does, I can assure you as it did for me!

    I lost around 40 lbs around 2 years ago training for a charity bike ride and rode around 3/4 times a week for an hour or so. This coupled with a good diet seemed to work for me.

    Keep it going, then over a longer period you should be able to see if the results come for you.

    Good luck with it.
  • dfquigley
    dfquigley Posts: 186
    I have lost almost 60 pounds.

    A lot of that was via cycling.

    Cycling is excellent cardio, and it's low impact so it does much less to your joints and is an excellent way to burn calories.

    If you're barely moving on a bike it might not do too much, but as long as you are getting your heart rate up a little, you are getting good cardio on the bike and burning calories!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    cycling is excellent cardio; that said, I've lost all of my weight via a calorie deficit built into my diet. I prefer to exercise for fitness, heart health, and strength and use my diet to manage my weight. If you're following the MFP method, you have a deficit already built into your diet and you will lose weight regardless of exercise. If you do a ton of exercise and don't eat those calories back, you are apt to have too large a caloric deficit and be substantially below your BMR (that's bad)...caloric intake that is well below your BMR (basal metabolic rate...the rate at which you body burns calories in a coma) your metabolism will eventually stall in an effort to defend itself against starvation and you will have a very difficult time losing weight.

    Exercise for fitness, heart health, and strength; use your diet (noun) to control weight.
  • BigRich822
    BigRich822 Posts: 681
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  • dfquigley
    dfquigley Posts: 186
    If I relied solely on diet to lose weight, I'd fail miserably, and did for a long time.

    Once I started to add in low intensity cardio, specifically cycling heavy into my daily habits, it helped me burn calories that I didn't have to replace all of, and it gave me much more freedom with my intake, and I wasn't feeling like I was starving all the time anymore.

    To say weight loss is only a result of diet also ignores the metabolic changes you go through via exercise.


    Best is a combination of daily activity and healthy dietary changes for weight loss ;)
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