Weight loss helped by cycling.

[Benthedoon]

How many miles per week should I do?
How should I do them?

1st question is self explanatory the 2nd not quite so. I'm doing about 60 miles a week but I currently have an inability to ride sedately, I get on my bike and go hell for leather on a circuit that is between 7.5 and 14.5 miles long depending on time and which turns I take, I average around 18mph which I'm happy with but would it be more beneficial (in regard to losing weight) to do considerably more miles at a slower pace or up my mileage slightly and try to keep at 18mph (or more)?

Any suggestions to help me shift some of this extra me I'm carrying around greatly received.

 

[defy-one]

A mix of slower longer riding mixed in with short sharp bursts will give you the best results IMO. I'm trying to do the same, and this routine applies in other exercise so I see no reason why it shouldn't apply to cycling

 

[cycleruk]

The best thing to do is start small and bulid your way up.
the burn rate is affected by how fast you go but if you go to fast to soon you could tire you muscles out, this could mean you would miss a session on the bike. remember over doing it can be just as bad as under doing it. good luck and hope all goes well for you

 

[Keith Oates]

It's not just the cycling, you also have to be sensible with your diet and then the weight will come down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jimmy Doug]

The way I've always understood this is that your body has a choice of two fuels: fat or sugar. Obviously, if you want to lose weight you'd prefer to burn fat rather than sugar. Aerobic exercise goes for sugar because it's readily available and gives energy fast; if you want to burn fat, you need to do slower, longer exercise. Also, for the first ten minutes or so of any physical activity the body will burn sugar to start with, then begin to burn fat. What this means for you is that you need to choose longer routes and stop trying to go hell-for-leather all the time. Aerobic exercise is good for the heart and lungs so it's always a good thing, but it won't help you lose weight effectively. So, find a pace you're comfortable with and try to stick to it (60 to 90 revs per minute is considered the most effective). You may find it hard at the beginning - I've got a theory that if the body isn't used to burning fat too much it needs to be trained (don't know if this is really true) - so be prepared to help it out from time to time. If you feel that your starting to get weak, which can happen to even the fittest atheletes if they don't refuel after around 90 minutes or so of continuous exercise, don't hesitate to snack. The bonk is potentially dangerous and isn't in any way healthy. So make sure you carry emergency sugar in whatever form you prefer.
Also, as Keith just said, any exercise programme coupled with a good diet will be more effective.
Good luck!

 

[cyberknight]

More mileage at a pace you can maintain , you could look into getting a heart rate monitor and workimng out your training zones for your specific goals .I just got one and it came with a chart to track the right heart rate based on age etc.

 

[melli65]

Hi

I have been riding for about 9 months but in the last couple of months I have increased my mileage doing between 70 and 100 miles a week - the weight has literally dropped off - I have lost over 3 stone in under 3 months. I have been watching what I eat at the same time but dieting in the past has always failed the thing that I have done differently is the cycling - hope you get similar results

 

[ColinJ]

I burn about 3,500 Calories per 100 miles cycled, equivalent to the energy stored in 1 pound of fat.

If I rode 100 miles as 4 x 25 miles or 5 x 20 miles then I wouldn't eat or drink any extra calories to fuel me so I'd actually lose all of that weight.

If I went out and did a century ride, then I'd probably eat and drink at least 1,750 Calories extra so I'd only lose about 0.5 pounds overall so - for weight loss - several shorter rides are better than a few longer ones.

As for speed ... It doesn't makes as much difference as you'd think in terms of Calories burned. Riding faster burns the Calories quicker and gets you fitter, but you'd still lose the weight if you rode more slowly.

Since you enjoy riding quickly, just keep on doing that. The secret is not to eat more to replace the Calories you burn off! And ideally - eat less as well.

 

[stephen.rooke]

i usually ride to work every day 5x15miles. then on one of my days off ill do something like a 40-50 mile ride. the other ill have a day off or have a 15-20 mile ride. so in all about 120-150 miles a week. although bike trouble has reduced this a lot in the last few weeks. do what you enjoy the most as your most likely to stick with it. might be worth trying a few longer rides. if you can hold 18mph for 15miles, you should be pretty good at the longer distance stuff at a slower pace.

i think mixing up what your doing will get your body more used to different types of rides and youll get better at it

 

[Sittingduck]

As already mentioned by some - mixing it up is a good idea.

I would probably start by building up steady (but not necessarily sedate) longer rides. Once you have the base there to be able to turn the cranks for a few hours on end, try to factor in some intervals and faster rides in between rest and the longer stuff.

On the dietary side, I would encourage you to start logging your calories - even if it's just as a way to make you aware of what you're consuming and what you need to consume (taking the cycling into account) to lose, maintain and even to gain weight.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

I've never used it for this, but I believe map my ride has a very good calculator for this. You put in your weight and height, feed it with information on the food you've eaten, and log your rides - it'll then crunch the numbers and tell you the ratio of your calory intake/calories burned. It's even got a very good mobile app that'll trace you via GPS and monitor your speed. Sounds great for you. God, I sound like an advert!

 

[MacB]

As Colin says shorter rides shouldn't need any additional fuel, how short is short? well that depends on the person. Working hard I reckon I'm ok up to about 35 miles but 25ish would be better. If I want to go beyond this, and am still aiming at weight loss, then I'd take on board the minimum I felt I needed...this will be another trial and error bit.

I also find that regular exercise/rides tends to suppress my appetite whereas less frequent longer rides can increase it.