Outdoor cycling to lose weight?
Mom25monsters
Posts: 4 Member
Who does it? How long did you bike for in the beginning? Is it preferred to walking?
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Replies
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I do some biking. It was one of the first "real" exercise things I did after chemotherapy.
Personally, I just started with a short ride (based on my subjective perception of "short" - IIRC it was something like 2-3 miles on a level, paved surface). That felt OK, so I increased from there gradually, until it was a little bit of a challenge, but I still felt good afterward (not exhausted or in pain). Over time, I could go faster and further.
Both walking and cycling are good exercises in the abstract. IMO, one of the most important considerations in choosing exercise for weight loss is to find something you personally think is fun**, that fits into your overall life balance well. Some people have health conditions (joint problems, for example) that make biking more achievable than walking, or vice-versa, but that's also very individual. Another option is to do a bit of both, alternating days, which can be more entertaining and also challenge your body in slightly different ways.
Best wishes!
** Edited to add: The fun factor is important, because things that we find fun are things we'll actually do. Theoretically perfect exercise we don't do results in less calorie burn than theoretically less beneficial exercise that we actually do. Also, for many of us, managing food intake - by calorie counting or other means - is a bigger factor in weight loss than exercise is. Exercise is great for improving fitness and health, though - well worth doing for that alone!4 -
When you get in good shape as a cyclist you can easily lose weight. I can burn 700-800 calories an hour with only moderate effort.
But the key is good shape, which means lots of miles and time.
John5 -
I cycle outdoors for fitness, enjoyment and a challenge.
But when I was losing weight I found it easier to stick to a calorie deficit when I had a higher calorie allowance boosted by my exercise calories as opposed to doing little exercise and having a small volume of food to eat.
My initial rides were about 8 miles, progressed to charity rides of various distances, bought better bikes and steadily built up my performance and distance over a number of years. Now do century rides, Audax events and sportives.
5,000 miles last year, might be more this year as I'm now retired.
I don't find walking for exercise that much fun, it's something I do as part of an active lifestyle rather than as dedicated exercise. YMMV - try everything!3 -
I love cycling. I have found it a great way to add some exercise that is easy on the knees.
To answer your question about miles - if you have never ridden, 2miles may toast you in the beginning. Your body will adapt quickly though. I was at 265 pounds and couldn’t ride 2miles in January. Now I’m back on my road bike - much thinner - and usually ride 12-15 miles every other day. Your speed will svck in the beginning, but be patient and give your body time.
As @jlklem said - lots of miles and time.3 -
I concur with all above.
I'm back on a bike after 30+ yrs, my family bought one for me as a Christmas/Retirement gift. 40+ years in IT sitting in front of a computer did not do my body any good. I'm down, as of this morning, 25lbs from Jan 1st, riding 1-2x/wk in "the real world" and 1-2x/wk in the gym. Weight loss is not just from the exercise, but also dietary mgmt (hence MFP). It takes time, lots, and effort, to chip away the weight - anyone who tells you it will drop off quickly isn't accurate - there might be an initial spurt, and occasionally more, but it's more like drip, drip, drip each week. You have to keep pushing. And, I've had some ups and downs - as the comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to quip, "sure, I've lost weight - but I keep on finding it again."
I'm still struggling with moderate hills, but I'm doing 12-18 miles per ride on trails and roads here in coastal NJ. The very first post-Christmas ride was about 1 mile, and tough. My written New Year's resolution has a minimum of 750 miles this year, and I'd computed potentially 900+; I am on track. "Getting fit is my retirement job," is how my family cheers me on. I saw a cartoon the other day, "No matter how slowly you're cycling, you're still lapping the couch potatoes."
I have some underlying physical issues setting the contextual parameters of my riding; it is best to be sure you've gotten a Dr's opinion and guidelines before setting out on a new exercise program. I got 5 Drs cheering me on; they all say cycling is the best option for me to pursue, besides swimming.6 -
garystrickland357 wrote: »I love cycling. I have found it a great way to add some exercise that is easy on the knees.
To answer your question about miles - if you have never ridden, 2miles may toast you in the beginning. Your body will adapt quickly though. I was at 265 pounds and couldn’t ride 2miles in January. Now I’m back on my road bike - much thinner - and usually ride 12-15 miles every other day. Your speed will svck in the beginning, but be patient and give your body time.
As @jlklem said - lots of miles and time.
Good for you.0 -
I cycle outdoors for fitness, enjoyment and a challenge.
But when I was losing weight I found it easier to stick to a calorie deficit when I had a higher calorie allowance boosted by my exercise calories as opposed to doing little exercise and having a small volume of food to eat.
My initial rides were about 8 miles, progressed to charity rides of various distances, bought better bikes and steadily built up my performance and distance over a number of years. Now do century rides, Audax events and sportives.
5,000 miles last year, might be more this year as I'm now retired.
I don't find walking for exercise that much fun, it's something I do as part of an active lifestyle rather than as dedicated exercise. YMMV - try everything!
5000 miles was worth a "woo"! Good for you. That's an unbelievably remote statistic from where I straddle the saddle. I'm working on 750-900 this year (written new year's resolution of 750, but computer project says 900 is reachable).0 -
@mjbnj0001I cycle outdoors for fitness, enjoyment and a challenge.
But when I was losing weight I found it easier to stick to a calorie deficit when I had a higher calorie allowance boosted by my exercise calories as opposed to doing little exercise and having a small volume of food to eat.
My initial rides were about 8 miles, progressed to charity rides of various distances, bought better bikes and steadily built up my performance and distance over a number of years. Now do century rides, Audax events and sportives.
5,000 miles last year, might be more this year as I'm now retired.
I don't find walking for exercise that much fun, it's something I do as part of an active lifestyle rather than as dedicated exercise. YMMV - try everything!
5000 miles was worth a "woo"! Good for you. That's an unbelievably remote statistic from where I straddle the saddle. I'm working on 750-900 this year (written new year's resolution of 750, but computer project says 900 is reachable).
Erm...
Woo doesn't mean woo-hoo, well done. It means woo as in BS, bro science, WTF.
But thank you for the kind words!
(BTW - If you click the woo button again it goes away.)
I was around 1,000 miles total in 2013 and found there's a bit of a take off point when you become able to ride further in day. You get to explore new areas rather than being restricted to local routes, big hills aren't such a barrier and the enjoyment level goes up and up.4 -
I ride to and from work, 10km a pop, whenever it's not raining or freezing. Added up to about 2000km last year. The commute was exhausting at first, had to stop for breathers, bring water, rest the next day, all that jazz. However, our bodies adapt pretty fast and in about a month I could do it every day. In three months it became routine. After I used the cycling for a cardio base to jump into running, it doesn't even feel like a "proper" workout any more unless I try to go really fast. (Cue weekend hills and long runs here.)
750 miles is a great new years resolution. Cycling is one of the more fun ways of exercise and it burns lots of calories once you get into the groove. Good luck!1 -
I cycle a lot, but I find that if I want to lose weight by cycling I have to cycle quite a bit just about every day.
In the years when I've cycled 8000+ km/year, my weight has been good.
Less than that, and I also have to watch what I eat.0 -
Mom25monsters wrote: »Who does it? How long did you bike for in the beginning? Is it preferred to walking?
I've been cycling since I was 6 years old. Not sure how far I was going then.
But between 17 and 23, my cycling kind of died off a bit. When I decided to start cycling "seriously" on April 29, 1990, my first ride was 2 miles and I had to take a break after the first mile.
In 1994, I cycled my first century (100 mile ride).
Since then, I've cycled 187 centuries or long rides.
Start ... stick with it ... build up your distances ... and who knows where it will take you!3 -
Because cycling is low impact it can be repeated every day for a long time.
I eat constantly, I mean constantly but I want to ride every day. It’s my therapy from life. Most weeks in the winter I ride 2 hours a day, one hour in the AM and one hour in the PM. All indoors. I burn 1600-2000 calories that way on my hard/moderate days. One easy days I burn around 500-1000 and ride less. I do 2 easy days a week. Weekends I add a third hour so up to 3000 calories.
In summer I am averaging 2:30 a day....with 100 miles every week at least once. 100 miles rides for me burn 4000 calories. So far just in May I am over 1100 miles and 58 hours.
My goal this year is 800 hours.
I started with a 2 hour ride in 2003. Took me 2 hours to ride 25 miles. Felt like a hero.
On Saturday I did 111 miles in 5:10 minutes...21.6 mph average with a lot of hills. Solo. Then rode with the wife that evening for 14 more. Got up yesterday and did another 65 and feel good today.
I am training for a 24 hour continuous ride June 16-17. The goal is 400.
If I wanted to lose weight it would require little effort.
The key is you have to love what you do and be ok with discomfort.
John2 -
I personally have found cycling to burn fewer calories than those touted here. It takes a lot of miles to burn anything significant. I put down 7000-8000 miles in 2011 (including PBP), but have since had kids and lack the amount of time I used to have.
The key is...as everyone "knows," Balance what you eat with your exercise. Maximizing calories burned does not always equate to maximizing weight lost.2 -
I ride because I enjoy it. Any weight loss I've seen as a rust is purely coincidental.0
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I wish I could bike, but all the roads in our area are narrow, hilly, and no shoulders and just busy enough to be dangerous with speeding cars. I would not feel safe.
3 -
@mjbnj0001I cycle outdoors for fitness, enjoyment and a challenge.
But when I was losing weight I found it easier to stick to a calorie deficit when I had a higher calorie allowance boosted by my exercise calories as opposed to doing little exercise and having a small volume of food to eat.
My initial rides were about 8 miles, progressed to charity rides of various distances, bought better bikes and steadily built up my performance and distance over a number of years. Now do century rides, Audax events and sportives.
5,000 miles last year, might be more this year as I'm now retired.
I don't find walking for exercise that much fun, it's something I do as part of an active lifestyle rather than as dedicated exercise. YMMV - try everything!
5000 miles was worth a "woo"! Good for you. That's an unbelievably remote statistic from where I straddle the saddle. I'm working on 750-900 this year (written new year's resolution of 750, but computer project says 900 is reachable).
Erm...
Woo doesn't mean woo-hoo, well done. It means woo as in BS, bro science, WTF.
But thank you for the kind words!
(BTW - If you click the woo button again it goes away.)
I was around 1,000 miles total in 2013 and found there's a bit of a take off point when you become able to ride further in day. You get to explore new areas rather than being restricted to local routes, big hills aren't such a barrier and the enjoyment level goes up and up.
Oops. Well, glad you got my intention. Fixed it by re-clicking.
Thanks for your advice. Five months in to my "new life," I'm happily making decent incremental getting-fit progress after all the years in career wasteland. Don't get me wrong, I loved my work while doing it - and do miss it - but I now fully get the "never met anyone on their deathbed that wished they spent more time at the office" type of sentiment. Starting to ride in wintertime was interesting; spring time has been great, looking forward to summer and autumn, and expanding my radius.2 -
Outside cycling - my next big, big objective! As soon as I fit onto a bicycle, any bicycle!1
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I wish I could bike, but all the roads in our area are narrow, hilly, and no shoulders and just busy enough to be dangerous with speeding cars. I would not feel safe.
I totally understand. 30+ years ago, I didn't have the apprehension I have now on the roads. For one thing, there weren't as many cars and I don't think they were as assertive (not necessarily "aggressive" but I think you'll understand) and distracted as they are now. I got a trail bike with the intention that I'd be 75%+ off road riding.
If you don't mind advice from a relatively new rider (well, new returning rider) ---
1. I find trails to be a good place.
My county park system has a good multiuse trail network. I don't know where you are, but Traillink.com has a good list of US rail-to-trail locations and is very helpful. I've ridden trails in FL and MD as well as NJ so far this year, and am heading to Ontario to visit my daughter in a few weeks (married a Canadian). http://www.canadatrails.ca/biking/ is a useful starting place for up there in addition to specific locale websites, such as Ottawa where she is.
2. Choose Better Riding Roads.
When I am on the roads, I make careful route choices - lower speed, less traffic, smooth and fairly level. Share-the-road and designated bike lanes are fairly common around here, although they aren't fully separated bike lanes. Sometimes the better roads are not the ones outside our front door - it pays to pack up the bike and take it somewhere else to ride.
3. High-Visibility Gear.
I wear hi-vis gear when I am on the roads. My helmet is day-glo yellow, I wear a hi-vis/reflective bandolero-type vest, use daytime running lights (they weren't "a thing" 30 years ago, now they're recommended and useful) and reflective bands for my left arm (for hand signals) and my left leg (just because). I may have joined the black lycra tights/shorts brigade, but I wear brightly colored jerseys/jackets. I'm a big guy and all this color helps me stand out.
4. Use a mirror.
My bike is a trail bike, so I have flat handlebars. I thought about a "best" mirror solution (good for road and not an issue on trails), and wasn't happy with anything I saw. Until I saw something called RearViz, an armband mirror from Australia (avail on Amazon). Works very nicely for me.
The mirror lets me know when a car is coming up behind. Doesn't give a lot of detail, but that info is great. It's a lot easier than trying to turn my head around all the time.
5. Proper Riding Technique/Hand Signals/Etc.
Observe proper road riding techniques, signal your intentions, make eye contact with drivers, etc. There are dozens of youtube videos on this stuff.
6. Be Alert and Responsive.
All this stuff above might fail you and you might need to deal with something. Be prepared to be nimble and adaptable to try and get yourself out of a potential impending situation. Sometimes, despite everything, drivers don't see us at all.
As YOU drive around, newly-sensitized to biking, note all other riders you see. What they're doing well and not. And, I hate to say this, some riders are pretty irresponsible or careless themselves.
After a few months and some miles, I'm not entirely always comfortable on the roads, but as I do it more, I become more accustomed to it. I live fairly near the beach, and there was one route I wanted to take that involved a complex, multi-stoplight, very busy intersection (actually a couple within a few feet). It took my a few weeks to work up my nerve to do it. But I did, including "taking the lane" as the lead vehicle at one of the lights, and consequently had a pleasant ride over to a great beachfront park.5 -
I ride because I enjoy it. Any weight loss I've seen as a rust is purely coincidental.
Weight loss is a goal for which I'm using cycling to help; cardio fitness is another prime benefit, and getting outdoors is itself a great objective. Wherever you are in your profile pic, I can see it's a great location and probably a great feeling.0 -
Mom25monsters wrote: »Who does it? How long did you bike for in the beginning? Is it preferred to walking?
I'm an avid road cycling enthusiast. But I've lost weight, maintained weight, and gained weight cycling...all comes down to how much I'm eating. I just love being out on the road and I enjoy cycling events.
Just did the Tour de Santa Fe yesterday...it was awesome. I only did the 1/4 century route, but it was pretty tough starting at an elevation of 7,199 and climbing to 8,599 ft above sea level with a 15 mph head wind...glorious scenery.3
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