It sounds simple, but it’s important aim for a quality sleep of around seven hours every night to give yourself the best chance of losing that weight. Research has also indicated that people who don’t get enough sleep at night are more prone to feeling hungry and less likely to feel satiated when they eat.Īnd of course, a good night’s sleep is essential to help the body repair and build muscle after each day so you are ready for the next. Studies have shown that people who get six to eight hours of sleep a night are much more successful at losing weight and keeping it off, and also tend to be less stressed. The atmosphere is competitive, yet inclusive and cyclocross skills will transfer to tarmac.Ī good night’s sleep is key to weight loss. But laps will fly by, making it much less bleak than slogging through interval sets on your own. Your legs and lungs will burn as you accelerate out of bends and up banks. You’ll ride flat-out for up to an hour on muddy technical courses. Over the winter, there are few better ways to fit in quality work than cyclocross racing. Wadsworth recommends adding this on top of your regular workouts: “Your body starts to work in an anaerobic mode, so your body has to repair itself after the exertion and burn fat that way, as well as increasing your aerobic capacity and muscle mass… The more muscle you have, the more fuel you’ll need to keep it going, the more calories you’ll burn.” You don’t need to hold this pace for the whole session: interval training is very effective. High-intensity interval training sessions will help improve your cardiovascular fitness, making your body a more efficient calorie-burning machine.Įither swap these for two or three of your regular rides or, if you feel up to it, add them on top or combine them by adding a high-intensity session at the end of a moderate ride.įor these efforts, you’ll need to be riding at 70 to 90 per cent of your maximum heart rate for most of the session, or riding hard enough that you can’t hold a conversation. Add two or three high-intensity sessions a week A 2015 study by the University of East Anglia and the Centre for Diet and Activity Research showed that people who switched to cycling from driving or public transport lost on average 7kg/1st over the course of a year when riding 30 minutes each way.Ĭycling also helps improve your concentration, creativity and memory, so you’re also likely to be more productive when you get to work.Īerobic exercise, including cycling, has been found to reduce anxiety and stress levels. One of the brilliant things about cycling is that it’s also an efficient form of transport, so switching your commute to two wheels means you’ll be getting in a regular amount of exercise in time that you would have spent travelling anyway.Ĭommuting by bike can have a huge impact on weight loss. Ride at a moderate pace oftenĬommuting by bike is an efficient way of making exercise and cycling part of your everyday life. “For most people, if they have an hour a day, and they are happy doing an hour a day of exercise, then they can expect to lose a kilo a week,” says Andy Wadsworth, a personal trainer and coach. You don’t just want to lose the weight, you want to keep it off too. Instead, think of this as a gradual process and a change of lifestyle. While it can be tempting to try to lose more, studies have shown that sudden and rapid weight loss is rarely maintained, with many people putting the weight back on and more. Aim for a rate of weight loss of up to 1kg per week There are lots of weighing scales that will measure body fat percentage, so buying a set could be a good investment. A healthy man would typically have a body fat percentage of 15 to 18 per cent, and a woman of 25 to 32 per cent.Ī man who trains and rides regularly can reach a body fat percentage of 8 to 10 per cent and a woman training and riding regularly of 24 to 28 per cent. BMI is far from a perfect metric, but it’s a good place to get you started.Īn alternative is to aim for a target body fat percentage. Use an online tool such as the NHS BMI checker to identify a healthy weight for you. BMI is good for identifying a healthy target weight to aim for. This is based on a person’s height-to-weight ratio, and is used by many medical professionals. You can choose a target weight using Body Mass Index (BMI) as a guide. How to lose weight by cycling: 14 tips to help you shed the pounds Set a realistic goal
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