Intensity level of a stationairy bike

Stationary Bikes for Weight Loss

Jan 5, 2011 | By Martin Zabell


Riding a stationary bicycle vigorously tops Harvard Heart Letter's list of best gym activities for weight loss. It also compares favorably to the weight-loss potential of most other exercises, including outdoor bicycling. Riding a stationary bicycle also helps many people lose weight because it's an activity you can do at all hours, is safer than outdoor bicycling and running, and can be accomplished while you're doing another activity such as reading, studying and watching television.
Effort

How much weight you lose while riding a stationary bicycle depends on how intensely you exercise. Intensity is measured by your heartbeat. Your heart rate should be at least 45 percent of your maximum heart rate to improve your fitness, according to "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease." You're bicycling vigorously if your heart rate is 80 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate, which is 220 heartbeats per minute minus your age. Your effort is moderate if your heart rate is 60 to 80 percent of its maximum and light if your heart rate is 45 to 60 percent of its maximum.


The Harvard Heart Letter studied how many calories are burned via about 150 exercises, including 20 gym activities. Riding a stationary bicycle vigorously burned 782 calories per hour for a person weighing 155 lbs., the medical journal reported in its July 2004 issue. Heavier people burn more calories than lighter people. Riding a stationary bicycle with a moderate effort burned 520 calories per hour in a 155 lb. person. The state of Wisconsin's "Calories Burned Per Hour" study reported similar figures -- 739 calories per hour burned if you bicycle vigorously and 493 calories per hour burned if you bicycle moderately. You lose 1 lb. when you burn 3,500 calories.
Comparisons

Faster outdoor bicycling burns more calories than stationary bicycling because bicycling more than 20 mph burns 1,228 calories hourly in a 155 lb. person, while bicycling 16 to 19 mph burns 892, according to the Harvard Heart Letter study. However, vigorous stationary bicycling burns more calories than slower outdoor bicycling. Bicycling 14 to 15.9 mph burns 744 calories hourly for a 155 lb. person, while cycling 12 to 13.9 mph burns 596. In the gym activity category, high-impact step aerobics, the ski machine, the elliptical trainer and vigorous stationary rowing rank second through fifth behind vigorous stationary bicycling on the Harvard Heart Letter's calories burned chart. Moderate stationary bicycling is tied for eighth.
Expert Advice

Exercise expert Dr. Kenneth Cooper wrote that outdoor and stationary bicycling, cross-country skiing, swimming, running and walking are the best fitness and weight-loss exercises. He added that stationary bicycling and walking cause the fewest injuries and are the best exercises for people older than 50. He recommends that people under 50 ride a stationary bicycle for 25 minutes five times weekly, while their heart rate is 150 beats per minute and people over 50 bicycle for 30 minutes four times weekly, while their heart rate is 130 beats per minute. He also recommends 3-minute slower cycling warm-up and cool-down exercises before and after the main exercise.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/350070-stationary-bikes-for-weight-loss/#ixzz1sAICC1Sh