New roadie, wanting to burn fat quickly on a turbo trainer.

b16 b3n

Hi guys, new to the road scene and im just after some advice.

my main goal this year is to burn as much fat as possible as i need to get down to my ideal weight.

i commute to work and back everyday but i dont feel im putting enough in as i dont want to bugger myself up for work.

I have however gutted my garage and setup my turbo trainer.

I have been going on it etc but i dont know what im doing really.

Im just after some workouts etc ie what gears i should be in, how long i should do it for etc.

im running a triple with a 11-23 8speed block.

All help will be appreciated and i will keep you posted with feedback.

Many thanks

CarbonCopy

Do it til it hurts then dig deep and go a little more.Refuel, mop up the sweat, rest well, sleep well, then go again.Basically keep it simple.you could invest in a cycle coach thats what i did.I payed good money for somene to inflict pain on me in a manner of speaking

Shaun20

It is usually suggested long, low intensity rides are best for fat burning. Not the most exciting thing to be doing on the turbo. Why the rush? If your new to the road biking just enjoy it, losing the weight will come as a by product.

If you are doing lots of work on the turbo it is worth getting someone to double check your bike position the relentlessness and fixed position on the turbo can lead to injury quite easily.

That is just my opinion, but I hate my turbo.

amaferanga

Turbo trainers are good for structured training, but not many people could sit on them for hours on end, day after day just to burn fat.

No-one can tell you what gear to use as we have no idea what turbo you have nor how fit/strong you are. You should either get a heart rate monitor and use that as a guide to intensity or use perceived exertion. Make sure you have a good fan as well - if you're massively overheating it'll feel a lot harder.

b16 b3n

thanks for the advice so far, im fairly active and play football 3times a week, the reason why i want to loose wait fast is because next year im aiming to get back to semi pro level and i wouldnt mind doing some local tens.

dulldave

As has been said on other threads in this forum, long low intensity rides aren't always the best for burning fat. Add to this the fact you'll need to been on the turbo for ages in order to burn a lot of calories and I'd argue that higher intensity rides are a better option.

Like many others on here, I'm also trying to lose some more weight. I did pretty well last year and I'd like to do more this year.

I find it a lot easier to do so with a sports target in mind. I'd urge you to aim for one yourself. It's very hard for me to lose weight for the sake of losing weight or looking better. But having a goal to aim at that require me to drop weight makes me more focussed on it.

jonmack

Might be worth checking these out,

http://www.cptips.com/weight.htm
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fatburn.htm
http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... etter-1065

b16 b3n

thanks for that, some interesting reads there, im getting the picture now though, higher hr burn more calories. makes sense really. Sprints and increased efforts on the turbo and rides to and from work will soon get me down.

Alex_Simmons/RST

You could try eating less.

Mr Dog

Sort out your diet.. follow a few basic principles. Keep your training as fresh as you can.. try the sufferfest. 8)

Zachariah

Hi B3n, was it a typo saying you are new to the road scene but want to get 'back to semi-pro levels', or do you mean something different to getting back to high levels of cycling fitness? That just confused me a little. I take it you've already achieved a high level of competition in another sport?

Garz

On top of eating better, I would invest in a specific rear wheel for turbo use (with tyre) so you can swap in the normal road wheel and off you go.

I generally spend no more than an hour on the turbo unless I'm following a specific Sufferfest vid for e.g.

On weeks that I have little time to train I may even do a high intense 30 mins after a short warm-up.

If your playing football that regularly and commuting to work then I'm surprised that your not shedding the weight already. :?

b16 b3n

Hi there, as for the semi pro I meant I used to play semi pro football,but due a serious shouldeř injury I had to retire before I caused permanent damage to my ligaments. But I was at a good weight then and thats the target im aiming for. As for my diet I am doing a low calorie one, as the fest thing, whats this?

Alex_Simmons/RST

b16 b3n wrote:

Hi there, as for the semi pro I meant I used to play semi pro football,but due a serious shouldeř injury I had to retire before I caused permanent damage to my ligaments. But I was at a good weight then and thats the target im aiming for. As for my diet I am doing a low calorie one, as the fest thing, whats this?

If your diet is a low calorie one, and you are not losing weight, then perhaps it's not as low calorie as you think.

Are you recording everything you consume?

acebobby

A good diet is really the only way to lose the weight, the 2 best things are a big no no, alcohol and pastries! Anyway I have been doing triathlon training, 12 hrs per week split between cycling, running and swimming and have barely lost any weight, I have lost about 6% body fat though and am the fittest Ive ever been in my adult life!
Today I start a healthy diet and am hoping to lose a couple of stone for the triathlon season.
You say your on a low calorie diet is that 1200-1750 per day? For your sports that may not be ideal because to train you need energy and calories = energy, Cutting out saturated fats is the way to go, people make diets hard but in reality its very simple, everyone already knows the pitfalls in their diet thats holding them back, whether it be the pizza, macdonalds, KFC, chippy, curry nights, booze, the bad things are obvious however you try to justify it to yourself, everyone does, the simple way to loose weight is to increase the amount of fruit and veg in your diet, and reduce the crap. its that simple, do not starve yourself!

Bobby

ajmitchell

Basically for weight loss you want to burn as much energy as possible. That equates to as much intensity as you can manage for as long as possible. But too high an intensity and you may give up too soon. Too low and there is no point really sitting there! The afterburn effect (EPOC) suggests that high intensity intervals may be the way to go because you may burn more calories after you stop than during the effort (assuming the effort is above 50% of max).

Assuming you have no equipment per say; you can push yourself to do say 15-30 min intervals "as hard as you can" which is of course "as fast as you can" on the turbo assuming resistance stays the same (or higher). Thus all that is actually required is a normal cycle computer (or the rear wheel).

b16 b3n

many thanks for advice guys, weighed my self today and ive lost 8lbs in a week ad a half. so good news. now for the bad news, my training is going to have a few days off as ive started with severe back pain to the left side. been to check my bike over for positioning and i noticed my saddle was offset to the :oops: left a fair bit hence the back. I will sure learn from this one for sure

G-Wiz

Weight loss is all about calorie defecit. Generally you can do it 2 ways, bloody hard, needing more recovery, or gentler which you might be able to do every day. Or a mix of the 2 which is easier on the motivation.
If you already commute, you might be more time efficient by finding a linger route home, then saving the turbo for some short, hard sessions on the days when you have time to recover after.
That's when the sufferfest might be fun. There's another thread on the forum about it to help you choose the best one.