Commuting and fitness

Huwie

Hello everyone, I'm new to this message board. In fact, I'm new to cycling even though I'm approaching my thirties! I never had a bike of my own as a kid; I learned to ride on my brother's bike but that was about it.

Now, though, I've bought one and I've been bitten hard by the bug! Some days I feel jittery until I've been out for a ride. I'm absolutely loving it!

Anyway, I have a question about fitness. I've recently made major changes to my previously awful diet. I now eat fruit throughout the day at work, which is joined by a wholemeal roll with poultry for lunch. At home I will usually eat a "normal" meal, that is to say not a light meal but not high in fat content either. Currently I only go out on my bike for a short ride most evenings.

I'm thinking about commuting to work. It would be seven miles each way on relatively flat ground. I could ask a lot of questions about fitness here, but I have one burning question:

I have a smallish beer belly. Given my new diet and my planned commute, would it go away?

Strawbs

Good news if you commute regulary over that distance yes you will lose your beer belly in my experience. i used to do a 8.5 mile commute each way and it had a good effect.
The one thing i will add is that you need to push it a bit to get the old ticker going.
i found that after a while i enjoyed the cycling so much that i was going the longer route home.
Also you need to being do it at least 3 out of five days would be my advice amd go out for a longer say 20 miler at the week ends

adifiddler

Exercise is the key to wight loss and stabilization, i thing the new guidelines are an hours exercise for 1 hour 5 days a week. If you can do more than this the better but for wight loss it is best to do low intensity exercise for long periods if you are not overly fit but if you are fit you can do high intensity exercise for for a short period of time and burn a same or more calories.

A 7 mile bike ride should be possible to do in around half an hour so for the biggest wight loss benefits you would need to do high intensity by pushing yourself and getting your heart rate up and breathing hard.

I am sure that gut will disappear after time but dont watch your wight by jumping on the scales every other day you may find you start losing wight to begin with then start putting it back on this is because you muscle mass will get bigger, dont get on the scales watch the inches around your waist you will find that it is a far better indicator for the amount of fat your shedding.

Noel PT

Definatly gonna help reduce your belly by riding, but watch the fruit, its packed full of sugar! everything in moderation.

Hairy Jock

Commuting every day will give you regular exercise, as you fitness builds so you can add on extra distance. The important thing is not to rush it at the start and allow your body to adjust.

Huwie

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate all the advice!

I'm definitely not going to be jumping on the scales all the time. In fact we don't even have one. To paraphrase Lester Burnham in American Beauty, I just want to look good naked.

Good advice about pushing myself. I'd have missed that one. I will be sure to get the heart rate up on my commute even if it means a shorter journey (I plan to enjoy the commute). No worries about minimum three days a week, either, as I intend to commute every day.

Can we talk food? I don't know a great deal about nutrition and I thought I was doing the right thing by eating fruit whenever I was hungry. If I need to moderate that, then what are some favourite snacks you could all recommend?

is_76

As for nutrition, try to make sure you eat enough protein. Fruit is good but does have a lot of natural sugars which cause the blood sugar rollercoaster effect. So by adding things like nuts, yoghurt, cheese, milk, tuna, chicken, eggs etc you may feel fuller longer. Well its helped me, although I would go easy on the cheese (it has protein and plenty of fat).

Well it really helped me and good luck with the commuting.

fossyant

Bananas and more of them - perfect exercise fuel. Just don't go mad - I eat about 5 portions of fruit alone a day, excluding any veg - you just need to burn it off !

Just cut out sweets, crisps etc.... argghhhhh especially at work - that's where it got me...

Oats or a really good balanced cereal in the morning (no sugar), and the weight will just drop off.

Evening meal is fine - for me it was the snacks at work and alcohol - that's been knocked back big style - it's hard but you'll loose the belly !

I also changed job - stress makes you eat rubbish !

lateralus

7 miles each way is enough to burn some calories and make a big difference to your fitness especially, as others have suggested, you push it a bit.

Chriscommuter

Would suggest after you get used to the 7 mile commute that you start to do one or two longer rides home, maybe 14 miles or so. The the weight will really come off.

Bets of luck.

cupofteacp

Eat food with a low GI when possible

Seek out hi protein food and moderate the carbs, stop the fat.

Watch what you drink, i.e. not too much beer.

When you are bad, make sure that you enjoy yourself that way it's easier to be good with your diet most of the time.

baudman

I've lost a lot of fat off the belly and around my face. I've lost a bit of weight, but I've also put on a lot of muscle (nice calves now!) That's pretty-much just through commuting, although currently I'm training for a 210km bike ride around Port Phillip bay in Melbourne.

However, I'm now eating more than I ever did. The machine needs fuel! I eat healthy(ish), but I'm comfortable when i do go for some...err... comfort food, I'll burn it off.

Huwie

Thank you so much for all the help, everyone! I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in now; I might even try a dry run this weekend to make sure I'm up to it and get to know the route. I need to get some equipment sorted though.

Roll on, Saturday!

Huwie

Baudman, that's a very comforting post, thanks for that! All I really want is to get fit and lose my gut - the fact that I really enjoy riding is a very nice bonus!

Tariq

I ride a reasonable amount (approx 70 miles over 5 days) at a fairly brisk pace but not so fast as to compromise safety. I never break out in a sweat, my heart never beats fast and I feel as if cycling offers little exercise value.

But when I go for a jog 2-3 times a week, my word do I sweat and my heart starts pumping and it feels so good. I love cycling but I don't think it is making me fitter, not unless I go all out at it but that is too risky and joyless for my liking.

baudman

Tariq wrote:

... I feel as if cycling offers little exercise value.
... I love cycling but I don't think it is making me fitter, not unless I go all out at it but that is too risky and joyless for my liking.

Just rub it in why don't you? Perhaps you should do some competitions? :P

In all seriousness, your heart rate would lift, but perhaps not to the extent that happens when you are jogging, or if your route involved some decent hills etc. In any case, 30 mins on the bike is certainly going to be better for your fitness than 30 mins of public transport, or even driving yourself. (Although, with the P/T there's the added bonus of catching the virus de jour).

Huwie, I would still heartily recommend the commute to slowly increase your fitness and drop weight/change your body shape. I didn't talk figures on my last post - but how does 15kg over 18 months sound? (I haven't dropped any, really, in the last 2 years - those figures were from when I first started).

BentMikey

Tariq wrote:

I ride a reasonable amount (approx 70 miles over 5 days) at a fairly brisk pace but not so fast as to compromise safety. I never break out in a sweat, my heart never beats fast and I feel as if cycling offers little exercise value.

But when I go for a jog 2-3 times a week, my word do I sweat and my heart starts pumping and it feels so good. I love cycling but I don't think it is making me fitter, not unless I go all out at it but that is too risky and joyless for my liking.

That's partly because cycling fitness and running fitness are two very different things. Different muscle movement speeds and joint angles mean that you can be a very fit cyclist, and yet suck at running, or vice versa, for example. Running is also a lot more intense than cycling, and will get your heart rate up much higher.

I would expect you to have a significant amount of cycling fitness at 70 miles/week, even if done slowly.

thamacdaddy

Jogging is not advisable really for those not training for sports. The damage and stress on the knees and ankles alone is enough to put me off even thinking about it.

I push my cycle commute and it certainly increase my heart rate and I sweat no problem there. Its defo a great workout for me but then I have some decent long but steady climbs in my route.

I think it depends on the person but jogging is defo a dodgy one in terms of the effect on your bones and joints.

Overall your weight might stay roughly the same so judge my visual signs and your clothes. In theory you are looking for cuttinjg fat not weight as building muscle will retain overal weight sometimes while bodyfat plummits. Head for the 10-15% bf and you should look pretty lean. Cycling will defo increase your heart and lung capacity and you should feel fitter no doubt. Add in some home weights if you want to get proper serious but most of all the guide to cutting bodyfat lies in your diet.

Here is an interesting post from a dude I know posts over on menshealth.

http://blog.mattmecham.com/2007/05/11/losing-weight/

aulda

How'd it go Huwie? By my reckoning you should have done a practice run over the weekend and now be half way through your first day as a cycle commuter. 8)

As far a food and fitness are concerned, one of the things I love about being a cycle commuter is the fact that I can eat pretty much what I want, when I want. I eat pretty healthily anyway as my partner is a vegi so we have a lot of vegetables and not much in the way of bad fat.

One thing I really think helps is your choice of breakfast when you get in. I have a couple of pieces of fruit chopped up with some home-mixed muesli. I mix it myself by buying all the basic ingredients from a health food shop in reasonable bulk. This means I can guarantee there is no added sugar or salt (a killer in pre-mixed cereals) and also I can make sure there are loads of really good things like linseed and pumpkin seed as well as the nuts I like the best. This sort of breaky keeps me going all morning without even thinking about food.

My commute is 13 miles each way and I try to do it 4 times a week.

Tariq

Yes, I agree with what you guys have said about jogging and cycling being totally different. The problem (or good thing) about cycling is that it is probably the most efficient means of motion available. The downside is that this means you have to cycle far longer to get the same benefit as jogging a shorter distance.

Keep cycling, you'll feel all the better for it after you are used to it.

Greenbank

Walk or Run. Don't do the half-arsed thing in between called jogging, it's much worse on your joints than either walking or running.

If you don't know what the difference is then try using a treadmill in a gym.

At 8kph you should be above comfortable walking speed and into a jog. The problem is that you very quickly get lazy and you end up bouncing up and down putting huge stresses on the knees and other joints.

At about 10kph (or maybe above depending on your stride length) you'll start to run. Your torso will stop bouncing up and down so much and you legs are predominantly used to propel you forward rather and push you up.

Granted, running is still an impact exercise so it will have an effect on your joints, but it's less damaging than jogging.

cupofteacp

I disagree with anyone who says cycling is not an intense form of exercise.

Ok you can bimble along and hardly raise your heart rate or you can put the effort in until your about to explode

Just get some numpty on a stationary bike, clip a heart rate monitor onto them, get them up to just under their V02 max and leave them there. After 15 minutes ask them if they feel cycling is intense

Or maybe get them to try competing in a race, see if they like being lowered into a lactate acid bath of hell.

At least with cycling you won't blow your knees or shin's

BentMikey

It's still not as intense as running or cross-country skiing, not by a long way. And you can definitely blow your knees with cycling, most likely either a bike setup problem, or changing your exercise regime too much too quickly.

cupofteacp

BentMikey

I'm afraid I disagree, I think cycling is just as intense, their just different, you'll still hit the wall, you'll still run out of puff, I think the big diference is that you need to be really switched on.

Thats what gets novice MTB racers, being juiced up and still being able to concentrate is not as easy as it sounds

BentMikey

It's easy to prove - cycling isn't weight bearing, and you can't get as high an MHR for it as you can for running. For that matter, running comes below xc skiing.