“Your bike is actually one of the best weight-loss tools around.” Who agrees? ‍

Cycling is a great leisure activity but it is also a great exercise for all of the largest muscles in your body, and by using them, you will burn a lot of calories. Even if you stop cycling, your body continues to burn more calories throughout the day to repair your muscles! That’s cool, isn’t it?

Here are seven things you need to do if you want to lose weight by cycling!

1. Balance your diet

It may sounds cliché, but you are what you eat. If you think of your body like an engine, then you want to keep it running with a good quality fuel. Also, it’s not always about how much you eat, but it is about the amount of nutrition that goes into your body, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, etc. You may avoid sugar and processed food because they have a low nutritional value

Many personal trainers and coaches recommend eating small amounts of good food every three of four hours to help you maintain the stable metabolism while it burns the fat consistently and stabilizes your energy level.

Pic cr: mediabank.com

2. Quick ride before breakfast

A study conducted by Bath and Birmingham Universities showed that those who worked out before breakfast burned twice the amount of fat than those who exercised after breakfast.

It makes sense because, throughout the day, your body is constantly storing and burning fat. And when you are exercising right after you wake up in the morning, your body will be forced to burn your stored fat. On the other hand, if you eat before exercising, your body will burn the fat from the food you have eaten before

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3. Stretch

It is very important to stretch regularly to minimize your body aching from the tension of riding a bike. A study proved that it helps build muscles in our body – it means that the more muscle you have, the better your body will be at burning off calories.

The bonus point is that stretching will help your body flexibility. Actually, there is no disadvantage of stretching if you do it properly. So, make sure to stretch every time you are getting ready to ride your bike!

Pic cr: runnersworld.com

4. Ride at average pace often

You don’t always have to go hard, especially if you are a beginner. If you push yourself too hard, you can actually damage your body – muscle soreness, aching joints, and even it can impact your weight loss progress

According to Andy Wadsworth, a personal trainer and coach, if you want to burn fat, you need to ride at a pace that gives you a heart-rate of between 68 and 79 percent of your max heart rate. So just take it easy and don’t rush!

Pic cr: welovecycling.com

5. Daily commute by bike

The easiest and best way to keep you exercising is to go to work or school everyday cycling! It is also inexpensive compared to other vehicles and of course, offers potential health, economics, and quality of life benefits.

Bike commuting is very common in the Netherlands. It is stated that 36% of the people list the bicycle as their most frequent mode of transport on a typical day. However, be mindful of some inconvenience of bike commuting such as bad weather, personal hygiene issue, and safety risk.

Pic cr: oustideonline.com

6. Stay hydrated

“Healthy people should get 30 to 50 ounces of water per day (about 1 to 1.5 liters), but not all at once.” says Dr. Seifter, a kidney specialist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Drinking fluids is very important to staying healthy and maintaining the function of every system in your body, including your muscles and joints

According to several studies in the US, dieters who drink more water lost more weight than the group who did not! This may be caused by the fact that people often treat thirst as hunger. Beat the heat by stay hydrated!

Pic cr: stylemotivation.com

7. Enjoy it!

We can say the nest thing about cycling is how much fun it is. No matter if it is a mountain biking, commute biking, or lazy biking on the weekend, there is always fun in there. And you will probably forget that you are exercising!

Pic cr: bikeradar.com

References

Average Joe Cyclist. (2017). 7 Steps to Lose Weight by Cycling. Retrieved from https://averagejoecyclist.com/7-steps-to-lose-weight-by-cycling/

European Commission. (2014). Quality of Transport report. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/archives/ebs/ebs_422a_en.pdf

Gemino, M. (2017). Top 7 Reasons to Stay Hydrated. Retrieved from https://www.gardenoflife.com/content/top-7-reasons-stay-hydrated/

Glass, A. (2019). How to lose weight cycling - Cycling tips for weight loss. Retrieved from https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/nutrition/how-to-lose-weight-cycling/

Oguntoyinbo, L. (2019). Skipping Breakfast Before Your Workout Could Help You Burn Fat. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/avoiding-breakfast-before-a-workout-may-help-you-lose-weight#How-the-study-worked

The importance of staying hydrated. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-importance-of-staying-hydrated