Cycling for maintaining my weight?

[btb]

Hi Guys,

I have a GT Aggressor 2.0.

I am 5 feet 5 inches and was around 106kg 8 months ago and my current weight has dropped to 65kg.

Hang on, not just because of cycling Did some strict diet control, went to gym n started a daily morning cycling routine from Feb' 2012.

My route is around 15kms to 17kms and the average speed is around 20km/h to 25km/h. I try to keep the gear combination of 2 & 6 for the entire journey (irrespective of incline's in the route).

I am not trying to reduce my weight anymore; but obviously would like to maintain it. Have certain queries regarding the same -

- Is it enough what I am doing; I mean to maintain my weight? I am following the strict diet as well + evening walk of half an hour + after dinner walk of half an hour again.

- As I said, to keep the cycling hard, I don't change the gears even on incline's. So, do we burn more calorie's like this or is it just a myth? Please a little bit of guidance on cycling in terms of burning calories, if I am not following the correct way!

Thanks

[PatchyBoy]

Wow!!!! You lost 41 kgs in 8 months?????? Amazing.
Rajan

[Bhargava G]

I dont know about the maintenance part..
But as to the gear combination 2 and 6.. well, its a bit of a high gear.. You burn equal number of calories by maintaining a higher cadence at a lower gear if you are going on an incline..

Going on a higher gear when you cant maintain the recommended 80-100 cadence may be bad for your knees..

[btb]

Wow!!!! You lost 41 kgs in 8 months?????? Amazing.
Rajan

Thanks bro

[btb]

I dont know about the maintenance part..
But as to the gear combination 2 and 6.. well, its a bit of a high gear.. You burn equal number of calories by maintaining a higher cadence at a lower gear if you are going on an incline..

Going on a higher gear when you cant maintain the recommended 80-100 cadence may be bad for your knees..

So, if I am getting you rite; say if I am on an incline & I can climb it easily on 2 & 4/5, I should do that. It would burn equal number of calories as on 2 & 6?

And what about the speed part? Is a speed between 20 km/h to 25 km/h ok?

[krishna.sjc]

hats off to u. thats what we call dedication. im always on and off my weight loss journey. i have read in an article that just 45 minutes of exercise (of any kind) is enough to maintain your weight, keeping in mind u have a healthy eating habit.
it would be great if u could tell us how you managed to lose weight without falling off the wagon.im sure there a lot of `em who are trying to do the same.

[krishna.sjc]

i dont agree with Bhargava G. most of the time when on incline i shift to a higher gear and then stand up n pedal im sure ill be burning more calories then when i sit n pedal at a lower ration. more like interval training.

[alphazed1]

chuck those walks off from the routine.. they do nothing for weight loss.. keep them if you enjoy though..
high cadence would be of help.. lot depends on your heart rate during the journey and coasting during commute only nullifies the effect.. (its like running.. you keep HR up and it helps in burning fat.. 60% of max HR is where the target should be or i am much mistaken).. interval training is good but not at the cost of crapping your knees out in the long run... i have said this earlier and i say it again.. weight training is damn important if you ll be cycling everyday.. you need to build those quads and work the VMO too.. apart from upper half workouts etc..
diet --- atleast 5 meals a day at intervals of 2.5hrs is good.. 6 meals would be ideal.. tons to talk but i am bored right now and late to go home too..

[btb]

My daily routine including Diet Chart is -

7:00 AM -
- 45min Cycling - I cover around 15km to 16km.
- Once I reach home, one glass of Luke warm water with one full Lemon n one tea spoon Honey

9:00 AM -
- Breakfast - I eat 4 Idli's (home made - small size in Idli maker). Basically, made from Semolina (suji).
- One cup Tea (sugar-free)

11:00 AM
- 1 Orange or some grapes

1:00 PM
- Lunch: 2 Chapati's (or 2 brown bread) + any green vegetable

4:00 PM
- 2 Digestive Biscuits + Tea (Sugar-free)

6:00 PM
- 15 to 20 min Aerobics or half an hour walk

7:30 PM
- Dinner: 1 Chapati (or 1 Brown Bread) + 1 bowl pulse (dal)

9:00 PM
- Leisure walk for half an hour


Points to keep in mind -

- Drink 5 to 6 glass water in a day
- No water for the next half an hour after Lunch and Dinner

====================

BTW - Please answer to my cycling queries too....

- Is speed between 20km/h to 25km/h Ok?
- I keep the gear combo to 2 & 6. Say, if I change gears on incline to 2 & 4/5 (for ease), will I burn less calories? or is it just a myth?

[krishna.sjc]

thats decent speed. try to manage this speed through out the ride. i mean to say try not to cost as much as possible n pedal.regarding the gear ratio it will not make any difference. u will probably be giving the same amt of effort if not more. i believe u dont commute to office in bike so try to make the morning ride as intense as possible. but that does`nt mean u just rip apart ur knees.

[Quizling]

If you are bent on sticking to one gear, sell your bike and get a single-speed roadster. Problem solved!

Gears are there for a reason. Shift appropriately, and give your legs a break. I'm sure there's no harm in sprinting in a high gear for brief bursts, but if you're struggling to spin your legs you're doing it wrong. Look at it this way: running at 20 kph burns far more calories than running at 10 kph, but what's the point if the former tires you out in a few minutes? Much better to jog at a steady 10 kph for an hour than burn yourself out attempting to set a land speed record. (Note that brief bursts of speed as part of interval training is a good thing.) As for speed, whatever puts your heart rate in the fat-burning zone would be ideal. This could vary from person to person, so I think you're unlikely to get any hard-and-fast answers. It's difficult to maintain the same speed through your ride anyway; what may be a better idea is to ensure that your *average* speed increases with practice. My average speed for my regular 20 km neighbourhood loop has gone up from 17.5 kph to 21 kph over time.

[hitanshu]

Sir,

sorry to be rude but in BZ's best traditions:


pics or it didnt happen!!!

not gear, but you need to ensure your HR is in the range u want it to be. Therefore you would ideally need to change gears imho.

[btb]

Sir,

sorry to be rude but in BZ's best traditions:


pics or it didnt happen!!!

Did not get you brother?

[bubbu64]

^^ start eating a little more proteins. U seem to have made good progress in losing weight but in doing so also cut drastically on good food. If ur going to cycle more and more longer distances expect a significant muscle loss if there is no food in the body. What ur eating now looks like extreme dieting to me. Maintaining weight doesnt mean now u should be doing the same dieting as before since now u visit the gym as well as cycle. So body needs some more proteins and carbs when on a work out.

[granacci]

it looks like you are starving your body. Your diet intake hardly adds upto 1200 cals. I guess an adult male needs about 2000 Cals.
and considering a daily bike ride and aerobics, your net calorie intake drops down further.