Road Cycling to Burn Fat and Get Fit

Prov91

I have always been a keen mountain biker, but nothing serious, and have recently been tempted by road cycling. I didn't have a big budget (student) and bought myself a Claud Butler San Remo for my first road bike. I'm looking to trim off a bit of body fat and help myself back to being really fit again and would really love some tips from the more experienced riders on here. Stuff like the distance I should be covering and how I should approach my rides (pace etc.). Oh and this is my first post on here so hey all!

jonny_trousers

Very hard to lose weight through exercise alone, but it's an excellent aid to a carefully considered diet. Interval training seems to be a particularly efficient way to train where weight loss is the goal. Good luck!

aripallaris

heart rate monitor here would be handy. try to maintain a heart rate of 140 - 160 to stay in fat burning zones

T-Rekster

I started in January weighing in at 255 pounds, along with diet I have been cycling as much as possible since then, mainly weekends 20-40 mile at a time, I ride at a steady pace 14-16mph with sudden bursts of additional effort of 5 minutes every 15, (this may be what people refer to as interval training)...


Bottom line is that as of this morning I currently weigh in at 220 pounds, feel aerobically fitter and am increasing my endurance each time I'm out. just signed up for the London to Cambridge ride

motivation is key along with the need to enjoy cycling and a good diet

Trekster


.

Bozman

Get out on your bike and your weight will come down and your fitness level will go up there's no need for overly healthy diets just use common sense.
Take your time to start off with and just build up your pace, have a few set routes and time yourself which will give you goals to aim for.
If you up the anti then start to look deeper into your diet and your heartrate. Don't make it a chore, enjoy it and you'll want to do it more, the more you do it the fitter you'll get.

mattward1979

Its simple really.. cycling is an amazing way to burn calories, so the more you do, the easier it is to stay under the calorie threshold for your own personal weight loss.

In the last month, I have been sticking to a diet of around 2500 calories a day, cut out booze totally (my wife challenges me to give up booze for lent every couple of years!) and cycled more than I usually do.

Net result is that im nearly a stone lighter and my fitness has improved a lot!

Overthinking it will suck the fun out, especially if you don't see the results that you want immediately.. I made that mistake in the beginning too.

danowat

aripallaris wrote:

heart rate monitor here would be handy. try to maintain a heart rate of 140 - 160 to stay in fat burning zones

Awfull advice.

Firstly, you have no idea of the OP's MHR, and as such can't guess his personal HR zones.

Secondly, the "fat burning zone" is a myth, you are much better off doing high(er) intensity workouts like intervals.

That said, the best losses come with your diet, without monitoring this, you will struggle.

sub55

aripallaris wrote:

heart rate monitor here would be handy. try to maintain a heart rate of 140 - 160 to stay in fat burning zones

that's a complete misnomer at best and complete crap at worst

Bar Shaker

Just take water on the bike and only drink water for an hour after your ride. This forces the body to burn reserves, rather than carbs/sugars from food and drink you have just before, during or after the ride.

By only having water after the ride, you effectively get an hour of fat burning for free, as your metabolism will take a while to climb back down after the exercise.

Don't go too far from home (ride a circuit around your base) and carry some sugary bars, in case you bonk, but don't eat them unless you have to.

Any exercise will burn up calories but you need to be on a deficit to lose weight. Work out home many calories a week you are consuming and deduct 2000 per day for what your body needs and then deduct 600 for every hour you spend riding. Eat so you have a minus total.

danowat

If you bonk on an hours cycling, then there is something seriously up with your diet.

careful

Build up distances slowly - from your mountain biking you must know that cycling can be hard work, but it is important that you enjoy it (at least when you have finished) otherwise youll give up.

Avezius

If it helps, here's my past few months...

I have lost nearly 1.5 stone since xmas (now down to nearly 14) through cycling & I'm not dieting as such, just being a little more careful over how much I eat. To be honest, it's the fitness & change of shape that's better than anything - weight loss has been very gradual over that time.

In Feb & March I clocked about 300miles per month - but unusually for most people little/none at the weekends. April projected total is similar. This mostly consists of 4-5 times per week weekday lunchtime rides of 12 miles with an 8.5 mile TT race in the middle (so high intensity). I also commute in 7-10miles per day, 3-4 times a week. My max distances this year have been the occasional 25miler.

I have a high max HR (203 bpm) so my ave HR is usually in the 170's (180's if it's windy) for my daily "race" & I usually max out my HR in the 190's on the sprints so I'm working very hard (measured by my HR monitor).

I'm aiming to lose another 3/4 stone in the next 2 or 3 months & expect to do that fairly easily with the above routine (maybe some more lower intensity weekend / evening / morning rides).

I'm a surfer 1st & cyclist 2nd - fitness wise I'm much stronger. Also have dodgy knees (ACL replacements knackered again) & cycling has been a revelation for me as I can train & not hurt myself. May even be able to play footy again with new legs!

So - for me the answer to your question is YES.

Dan

Buckled_Rims

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Very hard to lose weight through exercise alone, but it's an excellent aid to a carefully considered diet. Interval training seems to be a particularly efficient way to train where weight loss is the goal. Good luck!

+1 Good advice.

The simple maths (if we ignore the more complex bits) is that if you cycle hard for 1 hour and feel tired so you eat a Mars bar, you've just then undid all that hard work to lose weight.

Mr Dog

If you're new to the road then it may be helpful just to ride and get a few miles miles under your belt rather than worry about weight loss in the early stages. Its a different ball game to mtb. If you want a basic program then you'll find some good sound advice in the cycling press, cut out each sesssion and tape it to your stem. With the summer coming up try a 12 week program and stick to it as best you can. Food wise avoid anything processed, the more they tamper with stuff then the quality degrades. On the label.. if you've never heard of it then it isn't food.
Most of all have fun.. don't be put off by others and be safe. Enjoy. 8)

meanredspider

aripallaris wrote:

heart rate monitor here would be handy. try to maintain a heart rate of 140 - 160 to stay in fat burning zones

I agree with the other on this that the fat-burning zone is a myth. There are, however, a couplev of grains of truth behind the concept

1. Going at a steadier pace allows you to exercise for much longer and therefore has the POTENTIAL to allow you to burn more calories versus going balls-out for 20 minutes.

2. Exercising at <70%MHR conditions your body to increase the efficiency of the fat burning systems which will allow you to draw on fat reserves more effectively at higher intensities.

Neither of these things are really weight-loss aids though. 1 is just sensible and 2 is aimed more at endurance atheletes.

Personally I believe in the calories in vs calories out approach. Recent studies have suggested that exercise (as part of a weight loss regime) is counterproductive as people over estimate how much they've burned (not helped by over-inflated figures on Garmins and various web sites about calorie burns). If it becomes just part of what you do, I'm sure it's a Good Thing.

ireland57

danowat wrote:

aripallaris wrote:

heart rate monitor here would be handy. try to maintain a heart rate of 140 - 160 to stay in fat burning zones

Awfull advice.

Firstly, you have no idea of the OP's MHR, and as such can't guess his personal HR zones.

Secondly, the "fat burning zone" is a myth, you are much better off doing high(er) intensity workouts like intervals.

That said, the best losses come with your diet, without monitoring this, you will struggle.

A beginning rider doing intervals? At what pace?
Give him some advice.

danowat

You don't need to be specific for calorie burning, if you really want to nail it down, you could do some 5 x 5's as hard as you can, failing that, just some fartlek stuff added into a long(er) ride would suffice, so some random hard efforts every now and then.

My advice (coming from someone whos lost 10 stone) would be to strictly monitor what you eat, keep a FULL AND FRANK food diary for two weeks, as its a real eye opener to see just how much stuff you eat you don't need, also, drink plenty of water, and get out and ride as much as you can.

danowat

meanredspider wrote:

aripallaris wrote:

heart rate monitor here would be handy. try to maintain a heart rate of 140 - 160 to stay in fat burning zones

I agree with the other on this that the fat-burning zone is a myth. There are, however, a couplev of grains of truth behind the concept

There isn't any truth in it, its a myth, peddled by gyms who understand that people are more likely to come back and workout if the intesity is low, high intensity stuff isn't fun.

http://www.alanaragon.com/myths-under-t ... ardio.html

In particular.....

Summing Up the Research Findings

• In acute trials, fat oxidation during exercise tends to be higher in low-intensity treatments, but postexercise fat oxidation and/or energy expenditure tends to be higher in high-intensity treatments.
• Fed subjects consistently experience a greater thermic effect postexercise in both intensity ranges.
• In 24-hr trials, there is no difference in fat oxidation between the 2 types, pointing to a delayed rise in fat oxidation in the high-intensity groups which evens out the field.
• In long-term studies, both linear high-intensity and HIIT training is superior to lower intensities on the whole for maintaining and/or increasing cardiovascular fitness & lean mass, and are at least as effective, and according to some research, far better at reducing bodyfat.

stifflersmom

It is easy to over-analyse things and take on too much too soon. Different things work for different people of course, but the approach that worked for me was quite simple:

I didn't diet but I did cut out puddings and chocolate
I used my 4 mile commute for high intensity rides
At weekends I did a longer ride of 40-60 miles (hilly terrain in the Peak District)

Since October last year I have lost 12 kilos (just under 2 stone), and my average speed on my longer rides has risen from 12 to 14 mph.

After a surprisingly short time, the good habits become second nature - this is probably a good time to refine and improve the training/diet. The key thing is to enjoy what you are doing, then it doesn't feel like a burden. Good luick with whatever you chose!

turboslave

My advice as you are new to road riding but have some basic fitness is to just ride your bike as much as possible, from short 30min to 2-3hr sessions several times a week coupled with a sensible eating programme ie no junk food and the weight will drop off.

At this stage ride at a comfortable pace but keep the sessions up, if you feel good put in short bursts (intervals), use hills to build power but dont over do it, remember rest is what brings the biggest fitness gains as the body adapts, so allow at least 2 rest days per week. If riding 5 sessions per week appears to much then start with 3 and build up.

Just ride and ride and the fat will burn off.

I made a return to cycling 18 months ago at 80kilos, I am now 55 kilos through training and sensible eating so as long as you burn more calories than you are taking on board you will lose weight.

atb

meanredspider

danowat wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

I agree with the other on this that the fat-burning zone is a myth.

There isn't any truth in it, its a myth

:roll:

danowat

, you can't have it both ways, get off the bloody fence!!!!

Fat-Boy-Roubaix

Move more, eat less.

Simples

APIII

My experience.
Lowest weight I've achieved is 11st 4 (currently 12st 8lb), through an unscientific method of riding as often as I could, generally at the best pace I could sustain (usually 17-18mph). The important thing was that I could do 50-60 miles on a Saturday and get up and do the same on Sunday, through eating and drinking during the rides, and not overstretching my efforts. I tried cutting out energy drinks last year, but only got down to 11st 8, so I don't agree with the advice of water only, it doesn't work for me. I don't tend to modify my normal diet too much, just avoid too much crap.

Rich Hcp

I agree with the last poster, buld up gradually.

I tend to do more than 40 minutes, twice in the week and a couple of hours on the weekend.

I (Me personally) have found that less and you never warm up and down properly.

I lost a couple of stone over a summer and quickly loose my "winter plumage"

Don't forget the MTB either, although I prefer my roadie, I like to hot the trails as well and a change of disipline improves your cycling skills.

Stops you getting bored too

The main thing is to enjoy it and not over analyse things

meanredspider

danowat wrote:

, you can't have it both ways, get off the bloody fence!!!!

I'm definitely on one side of the fence

I was suggesting a few other ideas about where the myth might has arisen from

I'm actually convinced that eating sensibly is the key. 4 weeks of sitting on my butt in hospital and hardly riding but eating 2000kcals a day and I lost 1.5kg (belt a good notch and a half tighter - my own personal guide to discount muscle). Back on the bike and eating more on riding days (allowing myself up to an extra 1000kcals for 100mins of hard riding) and the weight has crept up slightly (the half notch has been used up). The benefit of riding for me is the fitness aspect (I nearly used the word "tone" but that causes some excitement on here) and other well-being benefits (sleeping, flexibility etc)

tobermory

To lose weight i first changed my eating habits and started walking 4-5 hours 3 times a week then i got on a bike and the weight started to fall off i just maintained a steady pace for 20-40 miles with some hills thrown in,i used energy drinks and bars when really necessary i also carried water as well plus getting into a routine with riding and diet i have managed to lose 5 stone and i am trying to lose another stone and lose the spare tyre around the belly.But as i drive for a living the belly problem may prove harder to budge but i will keep trying.

turboslave

Tobermory,

Wow losing 5 stone is impressive, good effort, hit a bit of a plateu myself until january then increased my interval power workouts, that has shifted the excess around the middle.

flying up the hills now I lost the last stone as my power to weight has really improved.

Good luck with the weight loss

TS

tobermory

Thanks i will have to try harder to lose the spare tyre it's said the last bit is the toughest bit

Prov91

Thanks guys for all the great advice. Looking forward to my bike arriving this weekend so I can head out!

si2k2000

Good luck with the weight loss.

i've been a riding for number of years but for one reason or another I hadn't ridden for about a year and at the turn of the year was at my heaviest.

However since moving to where I work at the beginning of March I have found I can get an hours ride in before work (about 3-4 times during the week) and then a long ride at the weekend. Combined with a sensible diet I have lost over a stone and a half in just over a month.

Once you get into a rhythm of riding regularly you should start to see good results. Also, and quite importantly, make sure you you take proper rest days and don't be tempted to over do it. You'll find this especially when you are doing well that you just want to ride every day and you can over do it and find yourself feeling run down and set yourself back.