Indoor bike training question.

[walid97]

Hi,

I am a little bit over my natural weight, I need to lose about 10 kilos (about 20 pounds).
I wonder if an Indoor bike would help me?
Would it help reduce the fat of my abdominus? Because I think that cycling would exercise the lower part of the body only. Am I wrong here?
What about the thighs??


Thanks a lot guys.

 

[frenchyge]

I am a little bit over my natural weight, I need to lose about 10 kilos (about 20 pounds).
I wonder if an Indoor bike would help me?

If you ride it, yes.

Would it help reduce the fat of my abdominus? Because I think that cycling would exercise the lower part of the body only. Am I wrong here?

What about the thighs??

Yep, you'll need those. Ok, enough sarcasm. If you're riding for fat-burning I think you'll find biking to be a great, low-impact aerobic workout which will also help tone your legs, hips/buttocks, and abs/back. Get an indoor bike if you like, but outdoor bikes are much more fun and riding with others will help motivate you to ride longer and more often. Good luck.

 

[Mansmind]

Agree with what French told you. You will (if you're like most) ride much more on a real bike, because it's a LOT more fun. Riding more = more weight loss... assuming you're diet is under control.

Of course, then you're going to want to ride faster, so you'll buy a trainer so you can train at home too.

Have fun!

 

[GettingFaster]

Hi,

I am a little bit over my natural weight, I need to lose about 10 kilos (about 20 pounds).
I wonder if an Indoor bike would help me?
Would it help reduce the fat of my abdominus? Because I think that cycling would exercise the lower part of the body only. Am I wrong here?
What about the thighs??


Thanks a lot guys.

Don't worry at all about cycling not directly exercising your stomach muscles (although it does!) if that's where the fat you want to shift is. There is no evidence at all for the idea of 'targeted fat loss' despite the lies put about by some con-artist companies - indeed there is evidence to the contrary. Exercising only your legs will only build up muscle in your legs, but you will lose fat from the whole body according to the same distribution however you exercise.

Note that if you're a man, you're unfortunately likely to find it hardest to shift the fat from your stomach. But don't ditch the cycling because of it, just persevere! Good luck.

 

[joule]

Good recommendations from the previous posters. I'll add a couple things.

1. Make sure you are in good health otherwise, that is check with your doctor before doing any exercise regiment.

2. Focus on aerobic (verses anerobic) exercise as it is the most beneficial for weight reduction. Aerobic exercise uses fat and oxygen for fuel, anerobic uses carbohydrates. If you are unsure of what that is, the ideal riding pace would be just below where you have difficulty talking normally. A heart rate monitor would help here, but I'm assuming you are just starting out and not interested in investing the bucks initially on such a piece of equipment.

3. Work your time up on your rides. When I started I could barely do 20 mins on an indoor trainer. Once you can spend 30+ mins on a bike (indoor or out), make sure you allow yourself 5-15 mins of warm up time and and 5 mins of cool down time. Try to extend your exercise sessions a bit each week till you are comfortable with your weekly weight reduction average. Should you find your weight lost leveling off, check to make sure it's not due to diet changes and if it is not then try to bump up time on the bike more.

4. Finally do try to ride outdoors more than on any indoor trainer. Besides being more interesting, it's far too easy to cut short an indoor exercise than an outdoor one. Weight lost only comes with burning more calories than you are consuming which means eating less, exercising more or ideally both. Studies have shown that the location of fat reduction is not based on the type of exercise so you have no need to worry about whether cycling will reduce weight where you want it.

Hi,

I am a little bit over my natural weight, I need to lose about 10 kilos (about 20 pounds).
I wonder if an Indoor bike would help me?
Would it help reduce the fat of my abdominus? Because I think that cycling would exercise the lower part of the body only. Am I wrong here?
What about the thighs??


Thanks a lot guys.