Exercise cycling and calories are one of the most popular topics of discussion on the Internet. The debatability of this issue is breaking records. People are interested not only in how many calories can be burned on an exercise bike in one workout without harming their health, but also in the specific place of this sports unit on the pedestal, where they stand next to:
- treadmill
- ellipsoid
What is more effective? What's better? Which is safer? What is more suitable for men and what for women? We want to talk about all this and much more in our new article. Let's start with the advantages.
The advantage of an exercise bike over other cardio equipment
Let's put safety at the forefront. Which exercise machine of all those existing in nature will be the safest? Let’s not rush to conclusions and say that riding an exercise bike is the safest, as it also burns calories, but let’s think logically.
The treadmill, for all its effectiveness, cannot be called the safest cardio exercise machine. Despite the fact that its height does not exceed 5-10 centimeters from the floor, this is still a parameter other than zero. And from this height you can fall. And if you take into account that this is the height “moving” under your feet, then an hour on an exercise bike in a seated position looks much safer.
An exercise bike that burns calories is by no means the best option only for those people who are in their seventh decade, have information on their medical records about impaired coordination of movements, or suffer from sudden dizziness.
Let's assume that you haven't played sports for N number of years. But do you want to start regular cardio exercises, which can help you get rid of excess weight and a treadmill? But no.
Even if you are a strong 30-year-old, do not forget that as a result of hyperventilation of the lungs, which occurs during any cardio exercise, you may feel dizzy and lose coordination of movements. This can happen in as little as half an hour on a treadmill or elliptical (which many call an orbitrack).
This can easily happen in 30 minutes on an exercise bike. But on it you are in the most stable position. You can stop training by stopping pedaling. By the way, you can also stop on an ellipsoid almost immediately. But on a treadmill, you still need to remember about the emergency (“emergency”) stop button, which is not so easy to do in case of sudden clouding of consciousness.
If you are attentive and follow safety precautions, you may have noticed that there is often a wire running to this “panic” button, and the clip with which it ends is fastened to the student’s clothing.
But how often do treadmill runners wear it? Very infrequently. A sharp deterioration in well-being, on the contrary, often occurs. And, what’s a shame, suddenly.
The advantages of an exercise bike over an elliptical are obvious to anyone who has exercised at least once on both an elliptical and an exercise bike. You can draw conclusions after studying for about an hour. An exercise bike burns fat better. What calorie results did you manage to get from the orbitrek?
The author of this text, who has been involved in sports at a semi-professional level for about 12 years, burns 220-230 Kcal in 1 hour on the elliptical. And riding an exercise bike “destroys” calories, not exactly in the same way as on a treadmill, where both the upper and lower muscle groups are involved, but quite decently - about 500 kcal, if you “don’t really strain.”
We will return to the question of how much an exercise bike burns and under what conditions, but we can summarize the chapter on its advantages by concluding that an exercise bike purchased on Mir-Sporta.com, no matter how many calories it burns, is the golden mean between treadmill and elliptical. The orbitrack, of course, has its advantages (we will not go into the specifics of pumping individual muscle groups, which can be especially successfully worked on the ellipsoid). We are more interested in what the exercise bike pumps and how much it burns.
Who burns the most?
Oddly enough, you have to be either very athletic or very big to achieve the notorious 900 kcal per hour.
Athletic people are able to work their muscles quickly, they make more contractions per second, and consume more oxygen. Therefore, their bodies are like huge blast furnaces, and their energy expenditure is corresponding. What cyclist meets these criteria? One that can travel at a speed of 25-30 or more kilometers per hour. Yes, all the time. Big people also spend a lot. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a 120-kilogram bodybuilding fan, a 70-kilogram powerlifting athlete, or a girl who just really likes to dine at fast food. The more we weigh, the more positive the answer to the question of who burns how much. So even if you haven't done anything before, this should inspire some optimism, right?
Is an exercise bike effective for burning calories?
Believe me! If a calorie-burning exercise bike could talk, he would ask exactly the same question to someone who is about to start training on it.
There is only a bit of humor and gentle irony in this statement, because we, the creators and organizers of one of the most popular online discounters of sports equipment in Russia, often have to deal with dissatisfied customers.
No no. We offer only serviceable and proven equipment from well-known domestic and foreign manufacturers. But here's the thing: the exercise bike burns your calories in direct proportion to:
- the degree of your efforts that you make during classes on it;
- intensity of the lesson;
- the speed of metabolic processes that are invisibly carried out in your body, beyond your control;
- a diet that you can, depending on your desire and capabilities, either follow or not follow (yes, the hearty breakfast or lunch that you ate before starting classes also determines exactly how many kcal are burned on the exercise bike).
Someone who leisurely pedals in the “lightest” workout mode, looking at the clock or out the window, and enjoying life, is unlikely to burn more than 250 kcal per hour on the coolest exercise bike.
Well, a person who spins an old “belt” or “block” exercise bike as hard as he can can lose 850 kcal. And it is not at all a fact that he will be right, because the level of permissible load is a completely separate topic that should be discussed not so much with the specialists of our sports discounter, but with a personal therapist or a specialized medical specialist involved in the treatment of an existing chronic disease. So!
How to exercise correctly to lose calories on an exercise bike?
When deciding how many calories you can burn on an exercise bike, as well as how much you will need to spend, you should not forget about the main rules for performing such physical activity. You should not violate them, so as not to get the opposite effect - harm to health.
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Burning calories on an exercise bike should be carried out according to the following rules:
- Only after examination by a doctor and obtaining the appropriate permission. There is no point in prescribing intensive exercises for yourself.
- For a minimum of 30–40 minutes, so that the metabolic process is started. The intensity will depend on desire and physical capabilities.
- It is important to adhere to the previously stated formula. The pulse rate often determines a person’s capabilities, as well as the level of load.
- It is better to conduct training under the guidance of an experienced trainer, who will determine the level of training and the real need for the amount of training. For beginners, only 203 sessions will be required, which can be increased over time. But people with an average level of training can be prescribed training more often - 4 times a week.
- It is necessary to monitor your breathing. An intensive supply of oxygen allows for a normal metabolic process. Oxygen is involved in the process of fat breakdown.
- Monitor the amount of incoming water. The minimum you need to consume is 2–2.5 liters of fluid per day. During training, which involves increased sweating, it is important to drink a lot so as not to disturb the water-salt balance.
- Proper nutrition - don’t think that even the most exhausting workouts can work a miracle if you don’t reconsider your diet.
The process of weight loss directly depends on the quality and quantity of food consumed - by 70%. That is why, first of all, nutritionists and trainers advise to forget about fatty, sweet, high-calorie foods.
How many calories are burned per hour?
If we put this indicator at the forefront, focusing on how an exercise bike burns calories in an hour, then it turns out that we are taking into account the average pace for a person who is able to withstand such training over time. But it is very important and must always be kept in mind that a calorie is just a conventional unit of energy measurement that does not indicate the number of grams or, especially, kilograms lost. It only tells us about a certain release of heat from our body. But only.
Real weight loss depends on your behavior pattern, the natural outflow of energy during the day (if you are a courier who spends your life on the move, then you hardly need an exercise bike and calculating calories!)
And if you effectively worked out for an hour on an exercise bike, and then occupied McDonald's with friends for two hours to enjoy high-calorie Big Macs and a couple of kilograms of fried potatoes, is it any wonder if in the evening, when you step on the scales, you see a significant weight gain?
30 minutes on an exercise bike or 3 hours? What difference does it make how much you worked out if you leave the gym for barbecue, where you will more than make up for lost time?
Very important and extremely interesting! How much does an exercise bike burn in the case of a thin person, and in the case of someone who weighs more?
It turns out that the numbers will be completely different. Because people who are overweight lose significantly more calories. This is exactly what is meant when we read on forums that “fat falls off very quickly.”
Let’s take a fairly modest speed - 14-16 km/h, which corresponds to the “light” driving mode. For a person who weighs only 50 kg, an exercise bike will burn only 270-272 calories per hour, and for someone who weighs 65 kilograms - 350. But these are the minimum speeds, and what is the picture for those who train at the maximum?
Let’s set a “speed echelon” of 35-37 km/h, which a trained and well-prepared athlete can hold on to. For a 50-kilogram athlete, an exercise bike burns approximately 770-780 calories, and for an athlete who weighs 65, as much as 200 more.
How many calories should you burn on an exercise bike to lose weight?
The planned calorie consumption on an exercise bike is an individual value. It will depend on the person’s actual weight, as well as the amount of food consumed every day. For those who control their diet and do not go beyond what is permitted, you can exercise on an exercise bike for a short time. Often 30 minutes is enough to lose 200–400 kcal. The frequency of training will also not be strict and everyday.
If the starting weight is significant, and a considerable amount of food is consumed every day, then the training should be tough, and its duration should be longer. Obese people need to exercise every day or every other day, losing 700–1000 kcal from such activities. But they alone will not help if a person consumes several thousand calories every day. You will also have to work on your diet.
How much is burned in 30 minutes?
Not every person has the strength and endurance to pedal an exercise bike for an hour. And not every person in the realities of the world around us will allocate 60 minutes for training. It's much easier to do 30.
The question - how many calories can be burned on an exercise bike in half an hour, does not at all imply that you need to divide the hourly indicators in half. Most modern sports units can allow you to complete the program “with a bang” in 30 or even 20 minutes.
Is it possible to increase the efficiency, to make the exercise bike burn calories more intensely, but in the “maximally compressed” period of time? Yes.
If you want to buy an exercise bike, first stop by any gym. You will see that on almost all modern units the minimum training time is 20 minutes. It can be made smaller. Or, on the contrary, you can set it to an hour and a half. But the manufacturer, as it were, points out to us that an exercise bike (of different, we repeat, brands) burns calories very productively in half an hour and in a third.
Please note: the next thing the on-board computer will prompt you to select is a program. But again, she is different. 20 minutes is not always “light mode” on a flat road.
The “Hills” or “Interval Training” modes are much more effective. It simulates movement in different planes. At first you seem to be driving in a straight line, and then the load suddenly increases, and you... break out in sweat, because it seems to you that you are driving uphill. At maximum amplitudes, you get the impression that you are riding almost... vertically. Need I say that such a workout will squeeze all the juice out of you?
By the way, subconsciously we always avoid these “Hills” and programs, after which the tongue falls on the shoulder. Therefore, the claim that software can replace the services of a trainer is very controversial. It depends on who! For a disciplined person who has decided to do away with extra calories and kilograms, yes. But for those who periodically “sit down” on a bicycle for 10 minutes to conduct a meeting on the phone or a detached dialogue, alas, no!
Home training rules
Sports trousers should be such that the legs do not restrict movement; the priority shoes should be sneakers for fitness or running (they do not have a massive sole, they are lightweight). You will need a sweat-absorbing headband and a T-shirt made of hygroscopic, breathable material.
Advice! If you start training at the same time every time, you will develop a useful habit and, as a result, your workouts will be simple, without internal resistance, everything will happen “automatically.”
To create a training schedule and session program taking into account how many calories an exercise bike will help you burn, you should take into account:
- condition of joints and ligaments, general physical fitness;
- psychologically comfortable frequency and intensity of training;
- weight;
- independent study experience.
The instructions included with the device will help you start it, enter initial parameters for statistics, and select one of the proposed built-in modes. To avoid discomfort or heartburn during warm-up (excess weight often occurs due to problems with the gastrointestinal tract), you need to wait half an hour after a glass of water or a meal.
Before boarding the exercise machine, it is advisable to lay out a gymnastic mat and do stretching for all muscle groups or a basic warm-up, which everyone remembers from school physical education lessons. Rotations of the arms, legs bent at the knees, body, squats and bends will prepare the muscles and cardiovascular system for intense work.
In the first month, beginners can exercise three times a week for half an hour, pedaling with a light load at a moderate speed. Next, they move on to the interval mode, introducing it first for half the time, then for the entire training period, with the exception of the warm-up and the final part.
Which exercise machine will burn calories better: rules for choosing
In order for the weight loss process to be continuous and effective, you should pay attention to the features of the technique:
Dimensions, manufacturer, as well as a guarantee of quality and reliability are taken into account.
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