urban biking for fitness

[deepn0va]

I recently bought a bike to ride in the state parks where I dive, but so far have only rode it on roads and paved trails. On day 1 I found my limit to be around 38 miles, day 2 I took a short ride before the sun set for 8.5 miles and on day 3 i did a quick morning ride for 5 miles before it began to rain.

I was wondering how good biking is for the body as far as weight loss goes. I am 5'5" and 160lbs and I think I could stand to shed a few lbs.
I am thinking of weighing myself every few days to see my progress and help push myself further. is anyone interested in biking around to get some pounds off with me or anybody that already does this for fitness?

[James R]

It's been my experience, both personally and helping others, that interval training is more effective than just riding for a couple hours. Of course any exercise is better than none, right?

If you want, you can try this - the worst thing that can happen is you'll burn some calories, right? This is something I do often:

5 min warm-up
1 min 60% effort
1 min 70% effort
1 min 80% effort
1 min 90% effort
repeat the above 4 times
repeat again (5th round) then add one more interval
1 min 100% effort
5 min cool down

This is a pretty hard core routine, so scale it to your fitness level by reducing effort a little or backing off to less rounds if needed.

One more bike-related workout I do every now and then:

For Time:
Ride 3 miles, known course distance
50 steps walking lunge
75 pushups
100 situps
Ride 3 mile course again

--
Keep in mind that everything starts with what you eat. If you don't eat well, and by well I mean healthy & balanced, you're not getting near the full benefit of your efforts. Really, you'd be better off to eat healthy all day and not work out than to workout and eat crap.

Good luck,

[deepn0va]

Cool, I will try the first ride tomorrow morning. I have the beat place in mind for that since it can take me a few minutes to get to the trail, then it has markers every 1/4 mile which is roughly ~1min for me. I will post back tomorrow and let you know how it went.

[wb416]

Last June, I started cycling again, both road and mountain bikes... riding about 1600 miles during that time frame. Almost every evening that we could, we would ride until sunset. Ended up losing 15 pounds from June to November without focusing on weight.... partially because we weren't sitting on the couch nibbling junk food, nor were we as hungry when we got back home. Many of these trips even included stops at the ice cream shop at the turn-around point.

Are there more effective ways to lose weight? Sure! But the important thing was that we were having fun, and NOT exercising, so it was much more enjoyable. Be careful turning it into exercise... the next thing you know, your bike will be hanging in the garage... lol

Disclaimer: In January, we started an exercise program and doing the Zone Diet in earnest now (was doing mostly the Paleo Diet before), but the bikes are not an "official" part of it. They are just for getting out, reducing work stress, and feeling the wind in our face!

YMMV

[Lone Frogman]

On day 1 I found my limit to be around 38 miles,

Wow !!!!!!, I've been biking for a few years. I'm riding about 100 miles a week, but I still find 35 miles in one stretch is a lot. I ride mostly for fun. I have dropped weigh from 235lbs to 185lbs. Now I'm going to add swimming to the mix.

[Drewpy]

Man Deep! 38 miles on day one is pretty damn good!!

I just recently got back on my bike..Ive had 2 knee surgeries in the last year and a half and the stairmaster and treadmill are just too painful. I have two wheelsets for my mt bike (knobbies and slicks) it is so much nicer riding the slicks on the pavement!

Good luck!

[wb416]

I have a road bike that got very uncomfortable in the seat after about 30 miles. Tried a few different saddles and settled on a leather Brooks B17. The leather takes time to break in to your sit-bones, but my first ride on it was 50 miles with no pain whatsoever.... remarkable difference a saddle can make! But it's a very personal choice, so YMMV!