Regular cycling stimulates and improves your heart, lungs and circulation, reducing your risk of cardiovascular diseases. Cycling strengthens your heart muscles, lowers resting pulse and reduces blood fat levels.
Cycling can help change body shape by burning calories and resulting in weight loss or by helping build muscle in the lower and upper body. However, for a dramatic change in body shape, cyclists will need to add strength training, especially if they're looking to increase power for speed over shorter distances.
As a general rule, the average person should start seeing noticeable results after one month of using an exercise bike as part of their regular routine. Exercising is a long-term commitment, so don't be discouraged if you can't see results straight away. Push through and you will notice results in time.
Besides being a recreational activity, cycling is an excellent cardio workout that helps one shed weight and lose belly fat.
Exercising on the bike for at least 30 minutes a day will build up your cardiovascular and muscular endurance. By putting in consistent effort, you'll notice an improvement in your aerobic capacity, enabling you to bike longer or on more intense rides.
30 minutes of cycling daily is great for cardiovascular health and muscular endurance. 30 minutes per day satisfies the aerobic activity recommendations from The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention which advises 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity weekly.
Cycling is great for toning the lower body, particularly the legs. The hamstrings and quadriceps are two of the most targeted muscles during a cycling workout, as they play a huge role in pedalling. The hamstrings are positioned at the back of your thighs (the posterior) and are involved during the upstroke motion.
According to research, you can burn around 688 calories in an hour if you ride a bicycle at a moderate speed of 19 km/h. So it will take around 77,000 calories from the body to lose 10kg of weight which means you have to cycle approx 110 hours to achieve your desired weight-loss goal i.e., 10kg.
How Much Cycling to Lose 1kg in a Week? Research suggests steady cycling burns 300 calories per hour and 600 calories in 2 hours. To lose one kilogram of weight, an average person must burn 8,000 calories. So it will take 4 hours of cycling on a weekly basis to lose 1kg of weight.
How much distance to cover for weight loss. On an average, one must do cycling for around 20 to 30 kms. But Channa suggests that instead of focusing on the distance, one must focus on the duration of cycling, which should be for one hour or more.
Aim for a rate of weight loss of up to 1kg per week
“For most people, if they have an hour a day, and they are happy doing an hour a day of exercise, then they can expect to lose a kilo a week,” says Andy Wadsworth, a personal trainer and coach.
Cycling for 1 hour a day is likely to help with weight loss, but it's also important to build rest days into your schedule, especially if you're riding intensively or participating in other high-impact and intensity forms of exercise.
Muscle strength and toning: Cycling primarily targets the muscles in your lower body, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Regular cycling can help build strength, endurance, and tone these muscle groups, leading to improved overall leg strength and a more defined lower body.
Toning Your Thighs
While riding an exercise bike will not directly reduce fat on your thighs, it will help you tone your thigh muscles. Since cycling is a leg-focused exercise, it will help form stronger and toned legs.
Yes, cycling can help lose belly fat, but it will take time. A recent study showed regular cycling may enhance overall fat loss and promote a healthy weight. To reduce overall belly girth, moderate-intensity aerobic exercises, such as cycling (either indoor or outdoor), are effective to lower belly fat.
Riding builds heart and lung strength, so you can get leaner. High-intensity cycling increases your heart and lung capacity, says Gottschall. Better cardiovascular fitness makes you a better fat burner. It also means you can ride faster for longer, and burn more calories.
A 10 km bicycle ride helps burn around 300 calories which is the same as running on a treadmill at 8 km/h for 30 minutes.
For a person of reasonably average size and weight, research suggests you need to cycle 54 hours a month to lose 10 pounds (5kg). This would be close to 2 hours per day.
Recommended Minimum Daily Allowance - 15 km
At a moderate rate of exertion, 30 minutes of cycling at a rate conducive to maintaining health equates to covering about 15 km at an average speed of about 30 km/h. 15 km per day equates to about 100 km per week or about 5500 km a year.
How Long Does It Takes To Lose 20 Kgs. If you are following a proper diet as recommended by your dietitians then you can achieve your goal in one month. But if you are following no regular diet chart then you should target at least 6 months which is a realistic one.
Cycling 20km A Day Weight Loss – What To Expect
The average rider would burn somewhere between 450 and 1500 calories per hour while cycling. (Source) More normally, the figure would usually be somewhere between 500 and 900. This depends on a range of factors, including: The intensity of the ride.
How many calories you burn in an hour of riding a bicycle depends on your speed and other factors. As a rule of thumb, you'd achieve the following calorie consumption during 60 minutes of cycling: Speed up to 15 km/h ≈ 300 kcal. Speed up to 18 km/h ≈ 420 kcal.
Cycling makes knee joint bend and stretch gently and helps to ease the movement of the joint. Cycling also improves the muscle strength around the knee joint, which ultimately protects the knee joint if there are any impact actions. So it's wise to say that cycling promotes knee joint health in many ways.
In conclusion, cycling more and eating better will certainly help lose belly fat. But the benefits of cycling aren't reserved for lean riders and weight is no barrier to cycling.
Exhaustive endurance exercise such as cycling has been shown to decrease testosterone levels for up to 72 hours after exercise [1].