5 Ways To Lose Weight With Your Bike

June 07, 2018

Along with providing endless hours of fun, and free transportation, your bike is a great tool to help you lose weight. You can whittle away or bust calories by hopping on your bicycle daily or just take it out a couple of times a week.

Wondering about the best bicycle workouts for weight loss? Here are 5 ways to lose weight with your bike:

Ride, Ride, Ride

Take your bike out whenever you can. Ride it on short trips to the grocery store and farmers’ market, and take it on long journeys to see friends or go to work. Just ride. The average cyclist burns roughly 40 calories per mile. Even if you travel at just 15 miles per hour, you can burn 6,000 calories by committing to 10 hours of riding per week.

Consider the Long Route

If you take a slow, long ride once per week (meaning a ride of approximately 6 hours, you’ll burn tons of fat. You’ll also increase your endurance, which means future extended rides will get easier and hopefully longer. Not sure you have the motivation for a super long trip? Map out a route that lets you take in the beautiful scenery or offers some kind of reward when you get to your destination.

Charge Up Properly

Don’t expect your body to appreciate your frequent or extended rides if you’re not fueling it properly. Charge up with plenty of proteins and carbs. You’re not going to lose weight fast if you avoid the essentials. You’ll just feel week and unwell.

Stay Hydrated

Every time you ride, make sure you’re hydrated and remember to bring extra water with you. Summer riding can be especially challenging, and even dangerous if you don’t drink enough water. If you’ve ever noticed that your body seems suddenly heavier and fuller, it may simply be because you’re dehydrated. Drink the required daily amount of water and you might find that the pounds just fall off.

Sprint Hard

Challenge yourself to go hard at least once a week. Do a short 40-minute sprint where you give the ride everything you’ve got. It may not appear to be much of an exercise at all, but you’ll be really working out your leg muscles and your heart, which will boost metabolism and help you shed pounds. Wondering “What muscles do bikes work?” exactly? Your quadriceps and hamstrings in your upper leg, and your soleus and gastrocnemius in your calf will get most of the workout. These are the muscles that generate the pedaling action that is going to move you to weight loss and good all-around health.

Many of our customers come to us looking for the best bike for working out. When they end up purchasing one of our men’s trail bikes or our trail bicycles for women, they’re amazed at how great of a workout they get on our bikes and how comfortable their rides are. Check out our inventory to see which bike will be best for you to lose weight and have fun at the same time.

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