This has the effect of replenishing muscle glycogen and repairing/building muscles.
Some apps that complement cycling will help you lose weight.
MapMyFitness is a popular app that tracks exercise and diet. This app gives you a target number of calories to eat each day. You’ll need to sync it with a fitness app first.
Diet-tracking apps are enlightening. They make you realize what your diet lacks as well as what you eat too much of.
Cycling at low intensity for longer durations (e.g., 90 minutes plus) forces your body to draw on fat reserves for energy, as your glycogen stores become depleted.
💭 In my opinion: Low intensity rides include the likes of “Zone 2”
I personally love these rides as you never feel like you’re getting super tired or out of breath and you can go almost all day long provided you have some base fitness.
It’s a great way to take in what is going on around you and just enjoy the ride, rather than thinking about getting tired or just trying to catch your next breath!
The above being said, it’s wise to eat if you’re going to be riding for, say, more than 2 hours, or you’re quite likely to “bonk”.
That means you’ll suffer an abject loss of energy and struggle to make it home.
Some cyclists follow a keto diet and claim to be able to ride long rides without eating.
A keto diet is a no-sugar, low-carb, high-fat diet.
It’s meant to train your body to use fat as its primary fuel source.
The keto diet is not something to jump into lightly, however, especially if you have existing health issues.
See a doctor, first. Some doctors won’t recommend it, however.
The above is one area where riding outdoors is likely to be more beneficial than riding an indoor trainer, especially if the trainer is in a poorly lit room.
It’s hard to replicate the intensity of outdoor light in the home.
A conservatory is a good place for a trainer.
4. Cycling Becomes A Chore (Bad)
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As soon as you resolve to cycle every day, you’re setting yourself up for potential failure.
And if you happen to have mental health issues, this does nothing to improve your mood.
Lack of motivation is a common symptom of depression.
One way to overcome this lack of motivation is to force yourself to go through the motions of preparing for a bike ride.
It might be the last thing in the world you want to do, but many times you’ll thank yourself later.
It’s also okay to take a rest from cycling, though don’t let it drift into the long-term.
Another way you can motivate yourself is to join an online support community and set yourself goals.
For instance, Conqueror challenges (not free) motivate many people with mental and physical health issues to exercise regularly.
Setting yourself small, attainable goals is a motivational trick.
If you tell yourself you’ll only ride a specific short distance as a minimum, any extra mileage feels like a win.
Other motivating techniques include riding different bikes or taking different routes for a change of scenery.
A sudden take-up of exercise may also result in closer scrutiny of your health in general.
It’s likely to reveal existing health issues or imbalances that previously flew below the radar.
That, in turn, may cause you to drastically alter your diet.
One health issue that many cyclists have is dehydration.
A lot of people don’t drink enough water on or off the bike.
Thus, they’re more prone to heat exhaustion in high temperatures or ailments like headaches and cramps after bike rides.
Alcohol is an indulgence that invariably affects cycling performance.
It won’t make much difference to a 15-minute casual bike commute, but your ability to ride far or fast on a bike is impaired if you drink a significant quantity of alcohol the night before.
7. Binge Eating Junk Food (Bad)
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A sudden regime of exercise can have the opposite effect to eating healthily or losing weight.
Most cyclists have, at some point, been on a bike ride and filled their faces with any food they can lay their hands on afterward.
The obvious advice is not to use exercise as an excuse for eating badly.
It’s okay to consume fast-acting carbs on the bike to fuel a ride, but you should avoid eating fatty or sugary foods in large quantities in between rides.
If you’re starving hungry after a ride, it might be because you pushed yourself hard and burned off all your energy reserves.
Riding hard for 90-120 minutes will do that.
Many cyclists ride at a higher intensity than is necessary to become fit.
And they do it on every ride.
This makes recovery more difficult, especially for older riders, and may cause overeating.
Regular cycling will make you leaner and fitter if you use it as a reason to address other unhealthy habits you may have.
8. Get Fitter & Faster (Good)
Many cyclists would like to ride faster on a bike than they do.
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They’ll push themselves hard to go as fast as they can.
Cycling speed is a sign of fitness, but you don’t need to be super-fit or super-fast to benefit from riding.
The desire to get faster and fitter on a bike is a good thing provided it’s done sensibly.
If you’re commuting, for instance, you don’t want to arrive to work as a sweaty mess or accumulate fatigue.
On top of all the health benefits this brings, it also saves money.
You’ll save on fuel or public transport costs as well as maintenance bills on any vehicle you own.
Of course, if you become hooked on cycling, the cost of buying flashy bikes and components is considerable.
However, you can run a bike for months or years on little money.
It gets cheaper still if you teach yourself some basic bike maintenance.
The kind of knockabout bike you might ride every day for commutes and chores can be acquired cheaply on the secondhand market.
This is a good way to go if you need to leave the bike on its own for any length of time, as theft is less likely.
12. Environmental Benefits (Good)
Every time we drive, we contribute a tiny amount to global warming.
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That happens with most vehicles, whether they throw out toxic emissions from their tailpipes or rely on fossil fuels being burned at some distant power plant.
The future of driving lies with electric cars powered by renewable energy.
Meanwhile, we still need to travel.
Any short journey you can make on a bike contributes nothing to global warming.
Riding a bike reduces your carbon footprint.
What about e-bikes? As mentioned by Bosch (manufacturer of many e-bike motors), electric bikes are patently not as eco-friendly as manual bikes.
On the plus side, they’re great for replacing far more damaging car trips.
A point in favor of e-bikes is that people might use them to replace mid-range car journeys.
Many cyclists aren’t going to ride 5-15 miles on a regular bike to carry out a chore, for instance, but they might do so on an e-bike.
In any case, daily bike riding is a way to reduce the damage we do to the environment.
And that’s on top of all the personal benefits it offers.
Whatever you do, always listen to your body and avoid overdoing it, and consult a doctor before committing to long periods of sustained cycling.
This was a very informative and fun read! Thank you.
Thanks Pamela. Glad you enjoyed it!