Recumbent bike and weight loss?

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sinbadnz
sinbadnz Posts: 3 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I was wondering if anyone has any personal experience losing weight using a recumbent bike for exercise alone?

For the last week I have used mine 4 days a week, doing about 10 miles per day, and I want to continue with this routine. I am wanting to lose ideally about 60 pounds eventually. I aim to strictly stick to my daily caloric limit also of course too. I hope this will be enough!

Any info and personal experiences with doing this?
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Replies

  • Alysgrma
    Alysgrma Posts: 365 Member
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    bump
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Not sure what your question is. Exercise burns calories. Biking is great exercise.
  • fdgetter
    fdgetter Posts: 8
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    I've been using my Schwinn recumbent more than anything else for exercise since January 1, 2011 and I've lost 120 pounds, as of this week.
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
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    Not sure of the question here. Why wouldn't it work? It's cardio much like any other cardio. As long as you're working hard at it.

    Gah (as others have already mentioned).
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    I dunno, I heard the body can't burn calories in the recumbent position.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
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    I dunno, I heard the body can't burn calories in the recumbent position.
    Yeah, once you recumb, it's done.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    Yeah, I've got one, and also use on at the gym. Eventually you'll need to mix things up though...your body gets used to a certain type of cardio and it becomes less effective, so its a good start, but you will want to add some other things into your routine, like walking/running, or maybe some DVD aerobics (I'm guessing you're planning to work out at home and not join a gym right now?)
  • CorinthiaB
    CorinthiaB Posts: 488 Member
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    I was wondering if anyone has any personal experience losing weight using a recumbent bike for exercise alone?

    For the last week I have used mine 4 days a week, doing about 10 miles per day, and I want to continue with this routine. I am wanting to lose ideally about 60 pounds eventually. I aim to strictly stick to my daily caloric limit also of course too. I hope this will be enough!

    Any info and personal experiences with doing this?


    I burned 289 calories this morning for a 30 minute ride. It burns calories so I don't see why you won't lose from riding the bike. My goal is to bill up to 1 hour.
  • yummy♥
    yummy♥ Posts: 612 Member
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    I dunno, I heard the body can't burn calories in the recumbent position.

    just another reason to include a variety of positions in your workout
  • My1985Freckles
    My1985Freckles Posts: 1,039 Member
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    Yeah, I've got one, and also use on at the gym. Eventually you'll need to mix things up though...your body gets used to a certain type of cardio and it becomes less effective, so its a good start, but you will want to add some other things into your routine, like walking/running, or maybe some DVD aerobics (I'm guessing you're planning to work out at home and not join a gym right now?)

    Agreed!.... You can easily mix it up on the bike by doing HIIT (High-Intensity-Interval-Training)... Max out for 30 seconds and recover 90 seconds.... I do this on the elliptical. Gives an amazing burn! I started doing this because I've hit a plateau. Hoping I'll be off it by the end of the week. :-)
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
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    I was wondering if anyone has any personal experience losing weight using a recumbent bike for exercise alone?

    For the last week I have used mine 4 days a week, doing about 10 miles per day, and I want to continue with this routine. I am wanting to lose ideally about 60 pounds eventually. I aim to strictly stick to my daily caloric limit also of course too. I hope this will be enough!

    Any info and personal experiences with doing this?


    I burned 289 calories this morning for a 30 minute ride. It burns calories so I don't see why you won't lose from riding the bike. My goal is to bill up to 1 hour.
    How much are you billing per hour? That would be awesome to bill for the time I run.
  • Gigi_licious
    Gigi_licious Posts: 1,185 Member
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    I've heard that if you burn calories and eat a deficit then you will lose weight. Although, I'm not sure if the calories burned by sweating your *kitten* off peddaling for 10miles would count or not.
  • jayliospecky
    jayliospecky Posts: 25,022 Member
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    I think what you're asking is will this be an intense enough exercise? I would say yes, but you have to be a little more careful not to get lazy about it. If you can adjust resistance to make it tougher, do that. And try not to zone out mentally if you have the tv on (I know how it is, I have a recumbent, too). The advantage for me is that my back does not get nearly as sore as on an upright bike, and it's a nice change from the treadmill (when it's not nice enough to go outside, as we have loooong winters here). My recumbent has a heart rate monitor, so that helps me keep my intensity up. If I think I haven't been biking intensely enough on mine, I often just increase the duration and go for some extra minutes. Calories burned is what you're going for, and a recumbent is better than sitting on the couch any day. I say any exercise is better than nothing.
  • TDGee
    TDGee Posts: 2,209 Member
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    Make sure you wear a helmet, because the weight you lose shouldn't be your brains splattered all over the ground. And bright clothing, people in cars tend to gawk more at recumbent cyclists and they are probably busy texting so you want to be as visible as possible.
    But have fun! :flowerforyou:
  • sinbadnz
    sinbadnz Posts: 3 Member
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    I've been using my Schwinn recumbent more than anything else for exercise since January 1, 2011 and I've lost 120 pounds, as of this week.

    That's the kind of info I was after, personal experiences doing this. Thanks for sharing! That's good motivation for me, 120 pounds is awesome!

    I am a member at a gym too, I just find it more convenient (and admittedly much less intimidating) working out at home. I think i'll try to push myself to go to the gym at least once a week though, and try and increase the frequency as I get more fit and confident.
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
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    You need to add weight training to your schedule. Cardio alone is not the way to achieving a healthy weight and a healthy body composition(more muscle than fat). Obviously, that is because weight training builds muscle. The more muscle mass you have, the better your metabolism is and hence, you burn more fat. Even more important is the fact tht weight loss almost definitely implies muscle loss and unless you are weight training, you are going to end up being "thin fat" which means that although your weight/BMI etc might be under control, you have more fat than muscle and that is never a good thing. I circuit train 50% of the time...this keeps my heart rate elevated(cardio) and builds strength. The other 50% I dedicate to the cardio machines.
  • TheGlen
    TheGlen Posts: 242 Member
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    killagb,

    Thanks for your informative responses. Your condescending sarcasm and ability to quickly point out typing mistakes ("bill", instead of "build") makes everyone feel welcome, confident, and overall just thankful to have been blessed with your presence.

    Keep doing whatever makes you feel good about yourself.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    I've been using my Schwinn recumbent more than anything else for exercise since January 1, 2011 and I've lost 120 pounds, as of this week.

    That's the kind of info I was after, personal experiences doing this. Thanks for sharing! That's good motivation for me, 120 pounds is awesome!

    I am a member at a gym too, I just find it more convenient (and admittedly much less intimidating) working out at home. I think i'll try to push myself to go to the gym at least once a week though, and try and increase the frequency as I get more fit and confident.

    I hope you can let go of the "intimidated by the gym" mentality. There are plenty of unfit people there who are much larger than you, and most people aren't going to judge you at the gym when you're obviously there to improve your health! I think that's a misconception a lot of people have that everyone at the gym is skinny, mean and just waiting to point and laugh!
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
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    killagb,

    Thanks for your informative responses. Your condescending sarcasm and ability to quickly point out typing mistakes ("bill", instead of "build") makes everyone feel welcome, confident, and overall just thankful to have been blessed with your presence.

    Keep doing whatever makes you feel good about yourself.
    Will do! Thanks for the kind words! I feel inspired to keep it up!
  • jayliospecky
    jayliospecky Posts: 25,022 Member
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    Make sure you wear a helmet, because the weight you lose shouldn't be your brains splattered all over the ground. And bright clothing, people in cars tend to gawk more at recumbent cyclists and they are probably busy texting so you want to be as visible as possible.
    But have fun! :flowerforyou:

    **picturing the OP carefully putting on a helmet and bright clothing on her stationary recumbent bike, so as not to get creamed by people in cars**

    I automatically assumed she was talking about a stationary bike, but if I'm wrong, my post makes no sense, either.

    **literally giggling so hard I have tears in my eyes**

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