First and foremost: cycling is an excellent and effective way to lose weight and also simply the most fun way to lose kilos. To give you some guidance in this, we give you tips on what you should and shouldn’t do in your pursuit of a tight cyclist’s body.
endurance training
The faster you cycle, the more fats you burn? Wrong! Even at a very low intensity, the body obtains energy from the combustion of fats. Only when the intensity is increased, the body does not have enough to burn fats and also draws energy from carbohydrates. When you go completely into the red, the combustion of sugars is also not enough and the body switches to anaerobic energy supply, which produces lactic acid.
Training in zone 2, also known as ‘endurance training’ or ‘long slow distance’ (lsd), is therefore sufficient to burn maximum fats. Moreover, you also keep up that effort much longer, so you burn much more fats anyway!
Tip: if you start training sober (before breakfast) for a short time and at a low intensity, you stimulate the body to use fat burning as an energy source.
Interval
We just explained why cycling at a low intensity is ideal for burning fat. Still, the best way is to train in intervals (short intensive blocks, interspersed with slightly longer breaks where you drive very slowly). Scientific research has shown that you burn a lot more belly fat through interval training than with training at a lower intensity.
But beware: interval training is an intensive and taxing way of training! A maximum of 20% of your training volume may consist of this form of training and beginners should be careful with it. Ideally, you alternate low-intensity training with occasional intervals, also known as ‘polarized training’.
Heartbeat
You train at a low intensity when you can just talk comfortably. At intervals, you go so deep that you gasp for breath. To be able to perform these workouts even more efficiently, a heart rate monitor is very useful (but not necessary). However, do not rely on pulse measurement as it is very often inaccurate! A chest strap is better.
Even better is a wattage meter on your bike, because heart rate fluctuates according to your fatigue and is therefore a less reliable monitor of your training than a wattage meter. With a wattage meter you can also measure exactly how many calories / kilojoules you consume – the professional teams also do it that way. The disadvantage of a wattage meter: expensive!
Power supply
Even more important than the training itself is nutrition. No matter how long, far and hard you cycle, if you take in more calories than you burn, you will gain weight instead of losing weight! So think twice before you eat a piece of cake or other sweets and fats after your workout. The same applies to the stops along the way.
On the other hand, you must eat enough before, during and after cycling! Your carbohydrate supply needs to be replenished and you need proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals to recover from your training. If you don’t do this, you may lose weight, but then you are committing predatory activity on your body and that can have harmful consequences in the long term.
Bicycle
Your efforts and your diet determine how many calories you take in and burn. The price and weight of your bike won’t change that. With a very expensive glitzy car with a price tag of a car attached to it, you will certainly not burn more fats than with a 20-year-old steel steed.
The same goes for an expensive bike computer, cycling clothing, cycling glasses, helmet…
Sleep
Finally, a good night’s sleep also helps to lose weight! Studies have proven that a lack of sleep can cause an increase in appetite and stress, which in turn leads to weight gain.
2023-05-27 11:07:35
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