Losing weight boils down to burning more calories. You can burn calories on a treadmill, elliptical, exercise bike and more. The harder you work on the bike, the more calories you will burn. There are several reasons an exercise bike might be the right mode of cardiovascular work for you to lose weight.
Types
Not all exercise bikes are the same. You have choices, such as stationary bikes, recumbent bikes and upright bikes. If you want an intense, instructed cardio workout, use the stationary bike as part of indoor cycling classes. If you want the freedom to pedal at your own rate and intensity, you will prefer a recumbent or upright bicycle. If you need back support, or cannot sit for long on typical bike seats, you might want to use a recumbent bike as opposed to the upright bike.
Features
Bicycles have the ability to provide you with an intense cardiovascular workout, without a lot of impact on your joints. If you have knee concerns, the bicycle is a more suitable option than the treadmill. You can adjust the resistance and speed on the bicycle to vary your intensity. Increase the speed and resistance to burn more calories and lose weight more quickly. Each model of exercise bike has its own programs, but some common ones to help you work out at a higher intensity are hill mode, cardio mode and random mode.
Research
According to a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, bicycling is just as effective as brisk walking for preventing weight gain. In the study, pre-menopausal women were followed for 16 years. Those who reported no bike riding at the beginning of the study, but who had increased to as little as five minutes of daily bike riding by the end of the study, gained less weight than the women who did no bicycling.
Practical Application
Burn 3,500 calories more than you usually do per week to lose one pound a week, as is discussed by the Mayo Clinic. If you choose to, you can burn all 3,500 calories on the exercise bike. For a person who weighs about 150 pounds, pedaling at a moderate intensity on the bicycle can burn roughly 500 calories per hour, according to Harvard Medical School. If you pedal at a vigorous intensity, you can burn about 400 calories in 30 minutes. If you bicycle every day of the week at either of those combinations of time and intensity, you will lose one pound per week. If you want to lose two pounds per week, either double the time you spend on the bike per day or combine it with a reduction in caloric intake.
Considerations
Although using an exercise bike can help you lose weight, cross-training will help you lose weight quicker. Cross-training involves participating in different modes of exercise. Completing a variety of exercises throughout the week can help you lose more weight because your body will burn more calories due to the challenge of different workouts. Add two to three days of weight training, a day or two of the elliptical, and even an aerobics class so you will lose weight and prevent boredom.
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