Building up the miles

[dodgy]

I did say it’s a theory

Which has been debunked. To save my from typing something up again, here is what I said on another thread on here.

magine 1 person on a gym bike, he rides for 30 minutes at max heart rate. Say he burns 400 calories of which 200 is fat - so 50%.

The next day, after being fully rested, the same guy does 30 minutes at a leisurely pace, say 100bpm. He burns only 150 calories of which 100 is fat - so 66% or thereabouts.

Some people will look at that and think EUREKA! You burn more fat at lower heart rates. Well, you do, sort of, but only proportionately and not in absolute terms.

tl;dr if you only had a limited amount of time and not infinite, you will ALWAYS burn more calories and / or fat at higher intensities in absolute terms.

 

[ColinJ]

There are plenty of overweight sweaty people too

I used to sweat much more when I was very overweight. I sweated out about 6-7 litres on one very hard ride ...

I did a 100 km ride on a hot day once. I drank 2.5 litres from the bottles on my bike, plus 2 x 0.5L of Coca Cola off the bike. I ate a sandwich, a piece of cake and a couple of bars of chocolate ...

I got home dehydrated (3 kg net weight loss, and I'm sure that most of that was fluid loss in sweat), and my face covered in so much salt that I literally scraped it off with a knife. Oh, and I suffered painful cramps too!

PS That ride included 2,500 m of ascent, much of it quite steep or steep!

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good afternoon,

Which has been debunked. To save my from typing something up again, here is what I said on another thread on here.


tl;dr if you only had a limited amount of time and not infinite, you will ALWAYS burn more calories and / or fat at higher intensities in absolute terms.

Just to be clear I agree with what you have said above.

The Fat Burning Zone, doesn't exist but there is a valid marketing/course viability reason for using the term.

Imagine a Local Gym that offers 2 classes, one at 80% max heart rate for 1/2 an hour and one at 50% max heart rate for a whole hour.

Assuming that both classes burn the same number of calories (tweak the heart rate % to make this true) then the people taking the classes could very easily have different weight loss experiences.

The high heart rate class will by using more glycogen, if the class member weighs themselves every day this will result in more weight gains and losses as it is used and replaced.

This may be demotivating for someone who doesn't really understand the role of glycogen and doesn't really want to learn, they just want to lose weight.

Added to this the casual weight loser "knows" that carbs are "bad" and might avoid them, so are in a greater danger of complete glycogen depletion by accident, an unwitting day 3/4/5 of an Atkins diet/bonk. This may put them off exercise completely.

The low heart rate class is much less likely to see weight changes from glycogen depletion because of their proportionally higher use of fat.

The low heart rate, Fat Burning, class may also be more likely to continue to attend because they enjoy the lower intensity and the phrase gives them a good feeling about their exercise programme.

Okay it is not the most efficient plan but that's their choice, after all there is evidence starting to come to light than long rides, Iron Man triathlons etc may cause significant heart scarring that may be a problem in later life. I'm not going to stop longer rides,..... or take up Iron Man.

I do agree that over a reasonable period of time the weight loss from either routine would be the same, unless the see-sawing in weight from glycogen loss/replacement causes the high heart rate class member to stop going.

Bye

Ian

 

[Fab Foodie]

Good afternoon,


Just to be clear I agree with what you have said above.

The Fat Burning Zone, doesn't exist but there is a valid marketing/course viability reason for using the term.

Imagine a Local Gym that offers 2 classes, one at 80% max heart rate for 1/2 an hour and one at 50% max heart rate for a whole hour.

Assuming that both classes burn the same number of calories (tweak the heart rate % to make this true) then the people taking the classes could very easily have different weight loss experiences.

The high heart rate class will by using more glycogen, if the class member weighs themselves every day this will result in more weight gains and losses as it is used and replaced.

This may be demotivating for someone who doesn't really understand the role of glycogen and doesn't really want to learn, they just want to lose weight.

Added to this the casual weight loser "knows" that carbs are "bad" and might avoid them, so are in a greater danger of complete glycogen depletion by accident, an unwitting day 3/4/5 of an Atkins diet/bonk. This may put them off exercise completely.

The low heart rate class is much less likely to see weight changes from glycogen depletion because of their proportionally higher use of fat.

The low heart rate, Fat Burning, class may also be more likely to continue to attend because they enjoy the lower intensity and the phrase gives them a good feeling about their exercise programme.

Okay it is not the most efficient plan but that's their choice, after all there is evidence starting to come to light than long rides, Iron Man triathlons etc may cause significant heart scarring that may be a problem in later life. I'm not going to stop longer rides,..... or take up Iron Man.

I do agree that over a reasonable period of time the weight loss from either routine would be the same, unless the see-sawing in weight from glycogen loss/replacement causes the high heart rate class member to stop going.

Bye

Ian

AFAIK that's more like it. Glycogen depletion/bonk will cause a very strong desire to stuff yourself with sweet goodies, lower intensity longer-time will not. Body is more sensitive to depleted CHO's than Fats.

 

[CXRAndy]

Whatever level of effort you will burn calories. Exercise around 60-75% max HR body fat can be metabolised at a rate to sustain steady riding. It has many benefits for long duration riding. Enabling a rider to go for several hours with much less food intake.

However if you want to do high intensity riding and perform well, restricting carbs will spoil performance.

Steady Z2 riding is more pleasant, which riders will happily do again and again.

It also, if done consistently build mitochondria which improves performance.

 

[dodgy]

Good afternoon,


Just to be clear I agree with what you have said above.

The Fat Burning Zone, doesn't exist but there is a valid marketing/course viability reason for using the term.

Imagine a Local Gym that offers 2 classes, one at 80% max heart rate for 1/2 an hour and one at 50% max heart rate for a whole hour.

Assuming that both classes burn the same number of calories (tweak the heart rate % to make this true) then the people taking the classes could very easily have different weight loss experiences.

The high heart rate class will by using more glycogen, if the class member weighs themselves every day this will result in more weight gains and losses as it is used and replaced.

This may be demotivating for someone who doesn't really understand the role of glycogen and doesn't really want to learn, they just want to lose weight.

Added to this the casual weight loser "knows" that carbs are "bad" and might avoid them, so are in a greater danger of complete glycogen depletion by accident, an unwitting day 3/4/5 of an Atkins diet/bonk. This may put them off exercise completely.

The low heart rate class is much less likely to see weight changes from glycogen depletion because of their proportionally higher use of fat.

The low heart rate, Fat Burning, class may also be more likely to continue to attend because they enjoy the lower intensity and the phrase gives them a good feeling about their exercise programme.

Okay it is not the most efficient plan but that's their choice, after all there is evidence starting to come to light than long rides, Iron Man triathlons etc may cause significant heart scarring that may be a problem in later life. I'm not going to stop longer rides,..... or take up Iron Man.

I do agree that over a reasonable period of time the weight loss from either routine would be the same, unless the see-sawing in weight from glycogen loss/replacement causes the high heart rate class member to stop going.

Bye

Ian

That’s fair 👍

 

[vickster]

I expect the OPs under carriage will be the limiting factor on ride length for at least a month rather than bonking due to over exertion.

 

[boydj]

I'd say that you should stay well within yourself effortwise for the first couple of weeks until you get a feel for where your limits are. Build up your mileage slowly, taking rest days when you feel tired from the previous day's effort, but do try to build a consistent pattern of exercise. Your body will have a lot of adapting to do and there will be some backward steps as your exercise levels increase, so be prepared for this. Little and often is better in the early stages as overdoing it can lead to tiredness and disillusion. Enjoy your cycling.

 

[LemonJuice]

I picked up the bike at about 11am and then I went for a ride that was about 10 miles altogether. I feel pathetic even typing the following, but I feel absolutely shattered.

At least I should be able to sleep well tonight.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I picked up the bike at about 11am and then I went for a ride that was about 10 miles altogether. I feel pathetic even typing the following, but I feel absolutely shattered.

At least I should be able to sleep well tonight.

Well done! Every journey begins with a first step!
Importantly...did you enjoy it?

 

[SGG on a bike]

Ten miles is alright and it will get a lot easier as you get used to riding.

 

[MntnMan62]

That's a respectable amount of mileage to put on for your first ride. It definitely does get easier, sort of.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Now just another 10 miles to get home 😆

 

[CXRAndy]

10 miles is a fair distance for your first ride. I say when asked, ride in time for the the first couple of weeks. 20 mins, and so on. Ride every other day, rest when tired

 

[bikingdad90]

Great to hear your getting out on the bike. Enjoy it and when this whole Covid19 thing is over I’d go out for a ride with you as I’m local, show you some quiet roads if you haven’t already discovered them by then!

I think it is wise of everyone to say focus on time rather than distance. A good way of tracking progress is to ride a local loop and time it and then every time you have done it see if your seconds or even minutes faster each time. Don’t be disheartened if your slower either as sometimes it’s not you but a red light or a crossing or traffic levels effecting times which is why I tend to use moving time instead.

If you want a target to ride to join love2ride and enter the daily, weekly and monthly competitions for riding your bike. It’s currently national bike month.