Cycling isn’t just a lovely leisure activity, but it comes with plenty of health benefits for the cyclist.
From bettering flexibility, fitness, and muscular strength to improving the metabolism, lowering the stress, and enhancing the blood flow, cycling is one of the most praised physical activities of all time.
Cycling is great for people on a weight loss journey-it helps burn body fat and lose extra pounds.
However, to ensure this is happening, you’ll need to take a different approach from the one that you would have when you’re out on a bike ride with a friend.
To ensure maximum weight loss with cycling, check out the five tips below!
5 Tips for Cycling to Lose Weight Optimally
- Cycle often at a moderate pace
Riding your bike at a steady pace will help you burn around 300 calories per hour.
If you’re a beginner, start with half an hour to an hour of cycling per day and increase the speed as you go.
Although it may feel tiring at first, this won’t cause you to feel drained at the end of each ride.
- Commute to work with your bike
Rather than driving or using public transport for your commute route, opt for your bike if it’s doable.
A bike is one of the easiest and cheapest transportation options and cycling to work will add to your weight loss efforts.
Interestingly, in a study with 23,732 women and men from Sweden, biking to work was linked with a lower risk of obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension, and hypertriglyceridemia.
What’s more, the study noted that using a bike to work plays a pivotal role in reducing the risk of heart disease in middle-aged men and women.
As cycling betters creativity, memory, and focus, it will help you arrive energized at your workplace.
- Take a short ride before breakfast
Cycling before breakfast can help your weight loss efforts since there is no food in the system and the body will have to use the fat stores, resulting in fat loss.
A half-an-hour ride before breakfast is an ideal way to start the day refreshed and energized.
- Closely monitor your progress
You can track your progress by measuring the lost weight once per week.
Always measure yourself in the morning, after using the bathroom, and before breakfast. You may not have reached your goal yet, but you’ll be there.
Focus on bettering the fitness and cycling efforts and the results will come.
- Stationary cycling is also great
If you’re not a fan of riding a bike outside or if you’re short on time, you can opt for indoor cycling.
This method can actually be really helpful in encouraging weight loss. This cardiovascular workout can help you burn more than 600 calories hourly!
By burning the calories and building muscle, you’ll also burn surplus fat.
This is a safer option than road cycling where you have to worry about the weather, other participants in the traffic, the road conditions, etc.
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