8 tips with which you will lose weight with indoor cycling.
In addition to burning 400 to 600 calories in a 45-minute session, cycling indoors also helps speed up your metabolism (your body's calorie-burning engine). This makes it possible to tone up and strengthen all the muscles of the legs, buttocks and cortex.
While leisurely cycling outside is unlikely to help you lose weight significantly, cycling indoors can help. But to get the most out of indoor cycling, you have to follow some basic nutrition and workout rules. Here's what you need to know about including indoor cycling in your weight control plan.Eat before training
Contrary to what you may have heard about the benefits of fasting exercise, it is wise to provide your body with the energy it needs for intense riding and getting the maximum benefit from training. Even if you exercise on an exercise bike in the early morning, eat something small 30 minutes before riding. It can be a small banana, a slice of toast with jam or a handful of whole grain flakes.
Do the same 1 or 2 hours before the afternoon or evening bike workouts. Try to combine protein and carbohydrates.
Besides the fact that eating before a workout will help you recharge your energy, it will help you burn extra calories thanks to the thermal effect of food. Be sure to drink plenty of water before, during and after the trip. Your body needs sufficient water intake to maintain metabolism and burn calories efficiently.
Restore your muscles after a workout
Within an hour after training, take a combination of carbohydrates and proteins (for example, a little low-fat chocolate milk or a small handful of walnuts with a pear) to replenish muscle glycogen reserves and provide amino acids for muscle recovery and building. This will ensure the smooth functioning of muscles and metabolism and prepare the body for the next workout.
Vary the pace and difficulty
As with most exercise, interval training can boost your metabolism more than steady state exercise, and the same goes for indoor cycling. Think of it as a way to get your body to burn calories faster.
Alternating bursts of stronger pedaling (that is, a faster rhythm with more resistance) with a more comfortable pace, you will burn more calories during training than at a stable moderate pace. Changing the pace and load also leads to increased excess oxygen consumption after exercise (burnout effect), as a result of which you continue to burn more calories for several hours after cycling.
Switch your workouts
Do the same type of riding day after day, and your body will adapt to the activity, and you won't get as much metabolic effect from your efforts as at the beginning. The solution is to regularly change the types of workouts (alternating endurance, strength, interval and race-oriented races) and intensity to persuade your body to burn calories faster during and after training.
Divide the workouts
If you don't have time for a 45-minute cycling class, do two 25-minute solo sessions and you'll burn as many calories in between as you would in one longer session. You can even strain harder during a shorter session, burning more calories. In any case, you will reap the "burnout" effect twice a day instead of once, which will allow you to burn more calories in 24 hours.
Train with weights
The more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be and the more calories you will burn 24/7. To build muscle mass outside of the bike studio, perform at least one type of strength exercises for each major muscle group two or three times a week.
Strength training helps you build muscle mass and in the process increase your calories burned at rest. Whether you use weight machines or free weights, expanders or weights for training with weights, it's up to you.
Refrain from giving yourself freedom from dieting
Some people make the mistake of thinking that because indoor cycling is such a high-intensity exercise, they can eat whatever they want and still lose weight. Even if you give your best, you will burn a maximum of 400 or 600 calories in 45 minutes. If you treat yourself to a piece of chocolate cake, you will eat 537 calories, which virtually eliminates the calorie burning that you did while cycling.
Keep moving
If you're tired after a tough bike ride, don't let yourself fool around for the rest of the day. By doing this, you will end up jeopardizing the calorie burning effect of your cycling workout and your progress towards achieving your weight loss goal. The best approach is to move more to lose more.
Result
Indoor cycling is a great way to burn calories and get in shape at the same time. If you want to get the most out of your workout and influence your weight control efforts, be sure to focus on nutrition before and after trips.
You should also diversify your workouts, keep moving throughout the day, and stick to your nutrition plan. And, if you're new to exercise and weight management, talk to a trainer and nutritionist before making too many changes to your diet and exercise regimen.
