Biking not providing enough exercise
besenok
Posts: 7 Member
So, wondering if someone can help me out.
Under the SIP, my only form of cardio was running. But, unfortunately, I think I ended up with a stress fracture in my ankle. So, alas, no more running.
I am in general not a big fan of cycling, but I decided to give it a try as I need something. Well, I just can't get my heart rate up enough no matter how hard I try to push the pedals! I mean, literally, my FitBit won't even pick up my 45 min bike ride as "active minutes", and I would only have 4-5 minutes of cardio, and all of this while I don't feel like I can actually push the pedals any harder. My husband claims that there is some way of learning how to breath harder (as in pant hard while trying to bike, because the body doesn't automatically want to do it while biking) in order to get the cardio benefits but I can't find any information anywhere supporting this.
Any ideas? Sorry this is really frustrating. I gained too much weight while not being able to work out properly
Under the SIP, my only form of cardio was running. But, unfortunately, I think I ended up with a stress fracture in my ankle. So, alas, no more running.
I am in general not a big fan of cycling, but I decided to give it a try as I need something. Well, I just can't get my heart rate up enough no matter how hard I try to push the pedals! I mean, literally, my FitBit won't even pick up my 45 min bike ride as "active minutes", and I would only have 4-5 minutes of cardio, and all of this while I don't feel like I can actually push the pedals any harder. My husband claims that there is some way of learning how to breath harder (as in pant hard while trying to bike, because the body doesn't automatically want to do it while biking) in order to get the cardio benefits but I can't find any information anywhere supporting this.
Any ideas? Sorry this is really frustrating. I gained too much weight while not being able to work out properly
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Replies
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You are still exercising even if your Fitbit does not recognize it. So, you could log the exercise from the database instead.4
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So, wondering if someone can help me out.
Under the SIP, my only form of cardio was running. But, unfortunately, I think I ended up with a stress fracture in my ankle. So, alas, no more running.
I am in general not a big fan of cycling, but I decided to give it a try as I need something. Well, I just can't get my heart rate up enough no matter how hard I try to push the pedals! I mean, literally, my FitBit won't even pick up my 45 min bike ride as "active minutes", and I would only have 4-5 minutes of cardio, and all of this while I don't feel like I can actually push the pedals any harder. My husband claims that there is some way of learning how to breath harder (as in pant hard while trying to bike, because the body doesn't automatically want to do it while biking) in order to get the cardio benefits but I can't find any information anywhere supporting this.
Any ideas? Sorry this is really frustrating. I gained too much weight while not being able to work out properly
If you can't workout properly, and even if you can, you would probably profit more from better balancing your caloric intake than you will profit from expending extra calories. You gained weight due to the balance between your calories in and calories out, i.e. not adjusting your intake when your output reduced.
You are having trouble getting a cardio benefit from your biking because your muscles can't push hard enough before failure---is this understanding correct based on your post above?
You may want to explore if reducing your gear level so that your cadence can increase may be what you're looking for https://www.active.com/cycling/articles/cycling-cadence-101
Whether this is the best way to generate the most power is a question: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/why-amateurs-shouldnt-try-to-pedal-like-chris-froome-191779
And whether the extra exertion, your increased heart rate, and the potential extra calories that show up as a result are real, or an artifact of artificially elevated heart rate, remains a bit of an open question.
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Your effort should dictate whether or not its exercise, not some device you wear on your wrist. If you are working relatively hard, whatever that means for you, then it's exercise.
On a different note, because I can't let it slide... if you gained weight, it was likely more due to your diet than it was exercise... so I'd be hesitate to blame weight gain on imporoper exercise, whatever that may be.4 -
Are you talking about a regular bicycle, outside on the road? Or a stationary bicycle? If the latter, are you saying you're setting the resistance really high so you have to push hard? And in either case, what sort of a bike is it?
The answers to those things would make a difference in how you could get your heart rate up.
How you breathe has no material impact on calorie burn (at least not in a good way!), and in general forcing breathing has no beneficial impact on fitness, either.
You can probably make your heart rate go up by breathing inappropriately, but it would have neither fitness nor calorie expenditure benefits, so don't. Heart rate is really kind of a proxy measurement for the sort of work that causes fitness adaptations, through the oxygen demand the work creates. High heart rate, created artificially, doesn't accomplish the same things. If it did, we could watch scary movies (which increase heart rate for many people) to burn calories and improve our cardiovascular system.
I have to admit, I'm having trouble understanding what you're saying. Unless you're already extremely fit, it should be possible to increase your heart rate by going faster, or by finding hills. Expert cyclists, even professionals, are able to do that. How much, and how far/fast, do you normally run?
On an indoor bike, I'd expect the best cardiovascular results (higher heart rate for beneficial rather than kind of artificial reasons) to be somewhere in a range of moderate-ish resistance and relatively high cadence (revolutions per minute). However, I'm not a cycling expert. (I do a bit of outdoor cycling, and regular spin classes when we're not under "shelter in place" orders. I'm reasonably fit, and mostly am a rower - water & machine - but I have no difficulty working hard enough on either kind of bike to cause exercise-related heart rate increases to fairly high levels. like 85% or so in a heart rate reserve type scheme.)
Can you clarify by answering the questions earlier in my post?3 -
Ignore your Fitbit, it's obviously wrong.
The answer is hill repeats, at race pace. If you don't have a good hill, then do some all out sprints, turn the pedals over as quickly as possible with maximum force, rinse and repeat. Work up to longer intervals, 2x20 minutes is popular among cyclists.
You've seen footage of bike racing, so you know it's possible to work very hard on a bike.
PS - what kind of bike are you using, and what gearing?3 -
My husband claims that there is some way of learning how to breath harder (as in pant hard while trying to bike, because the body doesn't automatically want to do it while biking) in order to get the cardio benefits but I can't find any information anywhere supporting this.
You can't find supporting information because it doesn't exist. You can elevate your heart rate in various ways without increasing your caloric burn (different breathing techniques, watching a scary movie, etc.). Please don't waste your time perfecting your "panting" technique.
Does your FitBit have a HRM? If so, does it have exercises you can select. The Blaze, for example, allows you to enter into cyclying recording; hit start when you begin, stop when you're done, and it spits out your numbers.
Alternatively you can use the database, or track your mileage and time and use an online calculator for a rough estimate.1 -
[1] Step trackers aren't going to recognize cycling. (don't try to log it using a step counter).
[2] In terms of trying for pant-like-a-dog out-of-breath level of cardio and it being hard to hit the pedals, it sounds like either your physical strength is a limiting factor, or you may be trying to ride with a slower cadence in a harder gear.
[3] Cycling is awesome cardio. For most, it can be comfortably done for much longer periods more frequently than most people can do with running.. Which adds up to WAY more calories.
[4] if you want to add more intensity, find some good hills.3 -
(on #3: I can quite comfortably do 30 mile bike rides 4-5x per week, whereas no way in h* could I run half marathons 4-5x per week) (eta: both are estimated for me by Garmin at a bit under 1000 calories)2
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So, wondering if someone can help me out.
Under the SIP, my only form of cardio was running. But, unfortunately, I think I ended up with a stress fracture in my ankle. So, alas, no more running.
I am in general not a big fan of cycling, but I decided to give it a try as I need something. Well, I just can't get my heart rate up enough no matter how hard I try to push the pedals! I mean, literally, my FitBit won't even pick up my 45 min bike ride as "active minutes", and I would only have 4-5 minutes of cardio, and all of this while I don't feel like I can actually push the pedals any harder. My husband claims that there is some way of learning how to breath harder (as in pant hard while trying to bike, because the body doesn't automatically want to do it while biking) in order to get the cardio benefits but I can't find any information anywhere supporting this.
Any ideas? Sorry this is really frustrating. I gained too much weight while not being able to work out properly
1. Use Strava rather than FitBit.
2. Ride longer.
3. Cycle up hills.1 -
Are you riding outdoors?
Are you on an exercise bike?
Are you maintaining a cadence of roughly 80-100rpm?
Are you using gears (outdoors) or resistance (indoors) appropriately?
Are you sure your HR isn't rising? Have you taken your pulse to determine if it is or not or just your fitbit not recording properly?
Your husband is wrong, you breathe hard because you work hard - not the other way round. (Aerobic exercise creates a higher oxygen demand so you have to breathe harder and your heartrate rises to pump more oxygenated blood to working muscles.)
Cyclists are some of the fittest athletes on this planet because cycling is a hard as you make it. Come cycle up a 20% grade hill with me and tell me it's too easy!!
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I bet this is a really frustrating feeling. It can be wonderful getting your HR up, and vexing when you can’t for a while (quarantine is getting to us all in different ways).
Cycling rarely gets the HR as high as running. Especially if you haven’t developed your “biking legs” yet.
That said...effort levels for cycling are usually based on power, watts, not HR and generally you’re working at a higher percentage of max power output, with a lower HR, than running.
For example, let’s say your 10k running pace is 8:00 mile at 150bpm and your max HR is 170. You’re working at 88% max HR.
Max efforts in cycling are based on power produced. Your legs have to work a lot harder (for a constant power output, an increased cadence will generally increase your HR). Max output is referred to as FTP, functional threshold power. You can do an FTP test, during which time you attempt a steady all-out max effort, for 5, 20, or even 60 minutes. Then you build workouts around your FTP, as a percentage of watts produced, and HR is a secondary metric. That same 88% power is a considerable effort on a bike however would likely produce a considerably lower heart rate than 150.
This might seem like just extraneous details however shifting your perspective could help. By comparing your HR running:biking you’re holding yourself to an impossible standard. The strength it would take to maintain a HR on a bike, comparable to running, would be ...for me...unimaginable. Shift the standard by which you judge your efforts, focus on building your legs, and power up hills when you want a HR spike (assuming your ankle can take it).
Sorry about your injury and wishing you a speedy recovery!🤞0 -
Cyclists are some of the fittest athletes on this planet because cycling is a hard as you make it. Come cycle up a 20% grade hill with me and tell me it's too easy!!
I can strongly recall the very loud sound of my panting/wheezing/gasping for air the first time ~2/3 of the way up at least one of those. (and a few lesser hills where I gave in to my stubborn chase instinct with a faster rider up ahead).
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Thank you everyone for the great input!
So, to clarify -
1. I am trying to bike outside, on a normal cheep-o mom bike (some Marin model). It does have 21 gears.
2. I actually never enjoyed biking, but have been using it to commute around town for years.
3. I tried to bike up a smallish hill repeatedly - and yes, I feel like I am pushing the pedals as hard as I can (I do get mild muscle soreness afterwards) , but moving up at a super low speed (which makes sense), but my heart rate is just not going over 120 at most. I understand that if I did that for say 3 hour instead of 45 minutes, then it would do something perhaps, but I just don't have the 3 hours to spare
4. I know that weight gain is mostly diet. I have already decreased my caloric intake over the past 2 weeks by about 30%. Not easy to do as I am constantly cooking and baking for my family...
Thank you!
I think I might just really not be doing it effectively and having no extra time to spare - I would generally go for a 30-45 min run for my cardio, but not enough time for a decent work out on a bike. Argh. Maybe my solution should be to cut down the calories to bare minimum to keep from gaining more weight, and wait until either my ankle heals enough to start running again, or gyms open up again. Whoever comes first!
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Thank you everyone for the great input!
So, to clarify -
1. I am trying to bike outside, on a normal cheep-o mom bike (some Marin model). It does have 21 gears.
2. I actually never enjoyed biking, but have been using it to commute around town for years.
3. I tried to bike up a smallish hill repeatedly - and yes, I feel like I am pushing the pedals as hard as I can (I do get mild muscle soreness afterwards) , but moving up at a super low speed (which makes sense), but my heart rate is just not going over 120 at most. I understand that if I did that for say 3 hour instead of 45 minutes, then it would do something perhaps, but I just don't have the 3 hours to spare
4. I know that weight gain is mostly diet. I have already decreased my caloric intake over the past 2 weeks by about 30%. Not easy to do as I am constantly cooking and baking for my family...
Thank you!
I think I might just really not be doing it effectively and having no extra time to spare - I would generally go for a 30-45 min run for my cardio, but not enough time for a decent work out on a bike. Argh. Maybe my solution should be to cut down the calories to bare minimum to keep from gaining more weight, and wait until either my ankle heals enough to start running again, or gyms open up again. Whoever comes first!
Calorie-wise, I find cycling and running to be surprisingly close per time length. (~400-450 ish per hour for me).1 -
Think of it like running.. When you start out, you will be going slow as dirt... Getting less miles in per time period, and burning less. As you get better at it, you'll get more mileage in in less time.0
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I had the opposite problem of you last summer - fall... Broken collarbone meant I couldn't ride. I had to strap my arm to my chest and trail run (pavement was too jarring) instead in order to keep my sanity.2
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Come with me on one of my mountain bike runs and I guarantee you will get enough of a workout! After 45 min to 1 hour on the trails, I am exhausted and my legs are like jello. 1
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Thank you everyone for the great input!
So, to clarify -
3. I tried to bike up a smallish hill repeatedly - and yes, I feel like I am pushing the pedals as hard as I can (I do get mild muscle soreness afterwards) , but moving up at a super low speed (which makes sense), but my heart rate is just not going over 120 at most. I understand that if I did that for say 3 hour instead of 45 minutes, then it would do something perhaps, but I just don't have the 3 hours to spare
Hmm. Did you pump the tires? Do you know what the tire pressure is?
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I have a stationary bike that says I burn 20 calories in a half hour. That's obviously wrong so I ignore it. Ignore your fitbit. I bike 4km.0
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Thank you everyone for the great input!
So, to clarify -
1. I am trying to bike outside, on a normal cheep-o mom bike (some Marin model). It does have 21 gears.
2. I actually never enjoyed biking, but have been using it to commute around town for years.
3. I tried to bike up a smallish hill repeatedly - and yes, I feel like I am pushing the pedals as hard as I can (I do get mild muscle soreness afterwards) , but moving up at a super low speed (which makes sense), but my heart rate is just not going over 120 at most. I understand that if I did that for say 3 hour instead of 45 minutes, then it would do something perhaps, but I just don't have the 3 hours to spare
4. I know that weight gain is mostly diet. I have already decreased my caloric intake over the past 2 weeks by about 30%. Not easy to do as I am constantly cooking and baking for my family...
Thank you!
I think I might just really not be doing it effectively and having no extra time to spare - I would generally go for a 30-45 min run for my cardio, but not enough time for a decent work out on a bike. Argh. Maybe my solution should be to cut down the calories to bare minimum to keep from gaining more weight, and wait until either my ankle heals enough to start running again, or gyms open up again. Whoever comes first!
Pushing as hard as you can.
I'm picturing a very slow leg moving grind. You may discover your ankle, or knees, won't enjoy that either.
Lighten the push load, and spin faster, to hit the same speed, and get a better aerobic benefit out of it. Match your running turnover for instance, which may give you 80-90 cadence (160-180 turnover). You will feel like you aren't pushing as hard - but using more muscles for the efforts helps.
I'm wondering if the Fitbit is accurately reading HR. Maybe the HR is much higher than running and you discovered the inaccuracy line many find - above which it just won't read right.
When you get to the top of the hill next time - immediately stop and count neck pulse for 10 sec, should be 20 if really hitting that 120, if it's more then device is wrong.
You can make the biking as "effective" as the run (if that means elevated HR for same period of time) - many times it is harder to do though by the interval nature of up and down, stop and start, ect.
Which actually means the same avg HR may be met by actually going through a much larger range of HR's then your running would allow.2 -
Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »I have a stationary bike that says I burn 20 calories in a half hour. That's obviously wrong so I ignore it. Ignore your fitbit. I bike 4km.
Why ignore a useful tool to obtain an estimate? The comparison between your stationary bike and a fitbit makes 0 sense.1 -
Thank you everyone for the great input!
So, to clarify -
1. I am trying to bike outside, on a normal cheep-o mom bike (some Marin model). It does have 21 gears.
2. I actually never enjoyed biking, but have been using it to commute around town for years.
3. I tried to bike up a smallish hill repeatedly - and yes, I feel like I am pushing the pedals as hard as I can (I do get mild muscle soreness afterwards) , but moving up at a super low speed (which makes sense), but my heart rate is just not going over 120 at most. I understand that if I did that for say 3 hour instead of 45 minutes, then it would do something perhaps, but I just don't have the 3 hours to spare
4. I know that weight gain is mostly diet. I have already decreased my caloric intake over the past 2 weeks by about 30%. Not easy to do as I am constantly cooking and baking for my family...
Thank you!
I think I might just really not be doing it effectively and having no extra time to spare - I would generally go for a 30-45 min run for my cardio, but not enough time for a decent work out on a bike. Argh. Maybe my solution should be to cut down the calories to bare minimum to keep from gaining more weight, and wait until either my ankle heals enough to start running again, or gyms open up again. Whoever comes first!
I limp home from a 20 minute MMP test on a bike, because it wrecks me.
What gears (front and back) is the chain on when you do your hills? Should be the small one in the front and the big one in the back.1 -
Sounds to me like you need to take a step back from your fitbit for a while... you're clearly doing something, clearly doing it at the highest effort you can, yet some electronic device is telling you it's not good enough, so now you're questioning yourself. That makes zero sense.3
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So ride up a bigger/longer hill. (But use the gears properly for the sake of your ankle.)
Ride faster up the hill - just plain ride faster!
Unless your HR is being misread (you didn't confirm if you have tested your pulse...)
You also didn't confirm if you are keeping your cadence up (proper use of gears)
As people can hit their true max HR in well under 15 minutes on a bike the problem isn't with your choice of cardio equipment but how you are using it.5 -
Can you rent a fancy road bike for a day? The knowledge you have will be with the modest price.
There's is a placebo effect with racing equipment where people feel like they're on really fast gear, so they can go really fast, and that belief causes them to push harder.0 -
Its not that I rely on my Fitbit more then on my experience of biking - its just that it confirms that I am not getting anywhere near to the same level of exercise as I used to, and I'm just too able to get up there
And yes, I do have my bike on lowest gear This I figured out a few years ago /
Can't rent anythign right now as we are in SIP which who know when it will end.1 -
You're eating enough carbs right? Most of your calorie from carbs?
When I've eaten too much fat and not enough carb, I can't get my HR over my lactate threshold HR. I knew I was capable of 30 more bpm, but I couldn't make it happen because of how I'd been eating. I didn't realize what was going on at first, I just thought I couldn't exercise at my normal intensity.1 -
3. I tried to bike up a smallish hill repeatedly - and yes, I feel like I am pushing the pedals as hard as I can (I do get mild muscle soreness afterwards) , but moving up at a super low speed (which makes sense), but my heart rate is just not going over 120 at most. I understand that if I did that for say 3 hour instead of 45 minutes, then it would do something perhaps, but I just don't have the 3 hours to spare
What heart rate monitor are you using?
When you ride on flat ground, with a cadence of say 80 rpm, and a speed at least 20 km/h, what's your heart rate?
Now trying to keep roughly the same cadence (although it might slow a bit), ride up a hill. Now what's your heart rate?
Another option is to install Strava on your phone, sync your HRM with Strava and do you ride. Then see what it tells you.
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Hmm, mine does. I have Charge2, it religiously logs it as "outdoor bike", but gives me a little less calories than Garmin. Sometimes they are close, but only my road bike has power meter, so i kind of trust those numbers, and a commuter/ hybrid doesn't, so Fitbit provides a good info. You can choose your top activities in Fitbit and allow it to automatically recognize and track those.0
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