Cycling offers many health benefits: it strengthens the heart and lungs, improves blood circulation, and builds muscle strength. Additionally, it helps reduce stress. It also significantly impacts your physique if you train more intensely. So how much and how should you ride a bike to burn the most calories and actually lose weight?
How Much Weight Can You Lose by Cycling?
First, an important note: you won't lose weight by casually pedaling occasionally on flat terrain. To lose weight through cycling, you need to put in some effort. Experts from Healthline.com outline four key cycling strategies that can help with fat loss and muscle building.
Increase the intensity of your ride
- suggest the experts.
The faster you ride, the better, as you'll burn more calories. And the more calories you burn, the faster and more significant the weight loss (though this also depends on your body type, degree of overweight, and diet). It's estimated that moderate, steady cycling burns about 300 kilocalories per hour. You’ll burn even more if you ride faster or tackle some hills, increasing the intensity of your workout.
Choose high-intensity interval training (HIIT)
- another tip from experts.
This involves a series of short but intense exercises, alternating with slower exercises. For cycling, a HIIT workout might look like this: "Ride as fast as possible with high resistance for 30 to 60 seconds, then ride calmly with low resistance for 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat this pattern daily for 20 to 30 minutes."
Go the extra mile
- another expert recommendation. Even when you feel like you're too tired to continue, push yourself to ride a few more kilometers. In other words, focus on endurance training.
Try cross-training
- the fourth tip from experts. The idea is to keep your workouts fun and avoid boredom. You can alternate activities, for example, take a ride one day and hit the gym the next.
When Will You See Results?
It's not easy to give a definitive answer to this question. Cautious estimates from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) suggest that you need to ride for at least 30 minutes at a time, and at least with moderate intensity, for your body to start burning a significant number of calories. Of course, the longer you train, the better. They also recommend incorporating two activities into one session (cross-training) to speed up weight loss. For example, spend 20 to 30 minutes cycling, then switch to another activity for an additional 20 minutes.
