Cycling and weight loss

[Fenix11]

Good morning.
How much time per week should you practice cycling to effectively lose weight please?
THANKS

 

[JayKosta]

Every day would be best, but done at a moderate intensity and duration that allows you to be fully recovered by the next day. Most important is to not increase your daily calorie intake - DO NOT treat yourself to a high calorie snack as a 'reward' for doing the exercise, and you probably do not need to eat more to 'fuel up' due to doing 30 minutes of exercise.

Cycle (or any other exercise) at a moderate intensity for about 1/2 hour - hard enough to feel that you are working, but not so hard to become exhausted. Afterwards, DO NOT eat or drink more calories for about 2 hours - that is the time period when your body continues to 'burn fat' to replace the blood sugar that you used during the 30 minutes of exercise.

If you enjoy cycling for longer period - perhaps several hours, then you will need to eat or drink during the ride to maintain enough fuel for your muscles. But again, avoid eating more for a few hours AFTER the ride.

 

[sevenall]

Only personal experience, but. For medical reasons, I decided to lose 8 kgs and to get my resting pulse down under 60 bpm last year. Of course, I also stopped sugar, alcohol and most carbs, which could have contributed to the weight loss.

I would ride my bike 5 days (3 days, rest, 2 days, rest) a week, different loops and terrains, on average 45 mins at moderate intensity which for me is about 130 bpm. Then recover the 2 days in between with yoga or walking for about an hour. I was very hungry a lot of the time, but ok. No issue to lose 8 kgs in about 10 months.

Oh, and always brought water and a snack, but unless I was feeling really bad, I did not eat the snack.

 

[cogwheel]

Every day would be best, but done at a moderate intensity and duration that allows you to be fully recovered by the next day. Most important is to not increase your daily calorie intake - DO NOT treat yourself to a high calorie snack as a 'reward' for doing the exercise, and you probably do not need to eat more to 'fuel up' due to doing 30 minutes of exercise.

Cycle (or any other exercise) at a moderate intensity for about 1/2 hour - hard enough to feel that you are working, but not so hard to become exhausted. Afterwards, DO NOT eat or drink more calories for about 2 hours - that is the time period when your body continues to 'burn fat' to replace the blood sugar that you used during the 30 minutes of exercise.

If you enjoy cycling for longer period - perhaps several hours, then you will need to eat or drink during the ride to maintain enough fuel for your muscles. But again, avoid eating more for a few hours AFTER the ride.

I am regularly doing a few hours rides (and eat something light during them), would not eating after the ride increase muscle catabolism or would it use just the fat?

 

[JayKosta]

This article provides a lot of related info - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577439/
An important consideration are the goals of doing the exercise - weight loss, performance increase, general conditioning, etc. Also, how soon after an exercise session do you need to perform other activities, or can you just relax.

 

[cogwheel]

This article provides a lot of related info - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577439/
An important consideration are the goals of doing the exercise - weight loss, performance increase, general conditioning, etc. Also, how soon after an exercise session do you need to perform other activities, or can you just relax.

Thanks!
This is exactly what I needed, some well researched, credible article on the subject.

 

[Unchained]

Only personal experience, but. For medical reasons, I decided to lose 8 kgs and to get my resting pulse down under 60 bpm last year. Of course, I also stopped sugar, alcohol and most carbs, which could have contributed to the weight loss.

I would ride my bike 5 days (3 days, rest, 2 days, rest) a week, different loops and terrains, on average 45 mins at moderate intensity which for me is about 130 bpm. Then recover the 2 days in between with yoga or walking for about an hour. I was very hungry a lot of the time, but ok. No issue to lose 8 kgs in about 10 months.

Oh, and always brought water and a snack, but unless I was feeling really bad, I did not eat the snack.

Super cool story, good luck with your goals. Lots of current data is leading us to get nutrition on the bike for longer efforts and to have proper calorie consumption before exercise. I came from the old school of go out and ride and try to eat a tiny something or nothing. Old thinking was your body would find something to use for energy and the net outcome would be you were lean and mean. Turns out you are not doing yourself any favors, short or long term by not having ready calories while exercising