Recommend me a Exercise Bike...

unklerosco

Mainly one from Argos cause i've a €150 voucher for it... Decided if i'm gonna spend it I might aswell spend it on getting healthy.

Really really need to exercise and I used to cycle everywhere so I figure I'll get a exercise bike....

rubadub

If your aim is losing fat I would recommend this set of weights.

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=30001&langId=-1&catalogId=1500000801&productId=1500119829&clickfrom=name

€9 off at the moment

€150 wont get you much of a bike, shoddy yoke at best. I would sooner get a real bike and cycle around like you used to do, I cycle everywhere, in todays traffic it is much faster, no parking worries either. I was able to go xmas shopping easily, 35mins into town, would have driven in around 30mins BUT parking and walking would have been a nightmare, so it is much shorter in the long run.

Also a chinning bar is handy and can be got there too.

unklerosco

I'm living out in ashbourne, most of the roads out here are dodgy at the best of times... I wouldn't be up for cycling on them, not till the summer at least....

I'm basically looking to get fitter, loose weight and tone up.... I'm 27, 6'3, about 105-108kg... Was quite ill last year and was off work for 6 months, put on a load of weight due to lack of exercise and sitting at home with nothing better to do but watch tv n chow down....

As for the €150, i've no probs adding to that to get something a bit decent...

rubadub

If you were to exercise doing 1hr or 45min full body workouts 2-3 times per week you would probably lose far more fat lifting weights than cycling on the bike.

Weights are fantastic for fat loss, after lifting 2-3 times per week you will be using up calories on your non-workout days. Calories are used to develop the new muscle, like a pregnant woman needs more caloires for developing a child. Once the muscle is on you need more calories every day just to sustain your new body tissue, just like a grown man needs more than a toddler.

"Toning" is achieved by low body fat and building muscle, weights will do this, cycling wont build much muscle at all.

But do bear in mind you really want to lose fat, not "weight", I remained a steady 12 stone for over a year, building muscle and losing fat at the same rate, my clothes & belt were a better gauge than a scale.

unklerosco

So I take it then wieghts to burn off fat(not weight) and build muscle/tone up...

Exercise bike to increase general fitness level n get the ticker moving???

Also, what would u recommend I start off with doing.. ie. amount of reps/time on the weights. And how should I change my diet.?.

rubadub

unklerosco wrote: »

So I take it then wieghts to burn off fat(not weight) and build muscle/tone up...

Exercise bike to increase general fitness level n get the ticker moving???

Also, what would u recommend I start off with doing.. ie. amount of reps/time on the weights. And how should I change my diet.?.

I could spend an hour listing stuff but you would be still better off reading the stickies, they are full of useful info.

Basically a calorie deficit will result in fat loss. i.e. ingesting less caloires than you expend. Approx 3500kcal is needed to gain or lose 1lb of fat. So in a week you could eat 500kcal less each day, or exercise 500kcal more each day. Better to do a combination, like exercise 250kcal more a day and eat 250kcal less per day too.

For 1 hour on a bike the average person might expend 500-600kcal, lifting the weights with short breaks might expend 500kcal. Around the same amounts depending on intensity. BUT on the day you did the weights AND every other day your body is expending calories developing and maintaining new muscle. So in the long run if you were to eat the same amount and either did cycling or wieghts for hte same duration, then you will get a greater calorie deficit doing weights- which in turn leads to more fat loss. You might weigh less after cycling for a few years, but would you rather be a thin 10 stone bloke, or thin 12-13stone toned bloke.

Exercise bike is cardiovascular, personally I get enough cardio work in my daily life, in work, cycling to work, walking to shops, cleaning, gardening etc. I do not have to set aside time to do it, and since I get it done during the day AND save time, so end up with more free time (e.g. cycling to work/shops is faster than driving).

Reps & diet info is in the stickies. Also check out www.exrx.net

unklerosco

Cheers for all the info... Now all I need is someone to beat me everytime I dont exercise..

Pj!

If you honestly know you won't be into weights as much as the bike and as a result will skip sessions or even give up the weights altogether just get yourself the bike.

Weights may be better than the bike but the bike is definitely better than nothing.

(but yet another person replying but not answering your original question! Don't have a clue about bikes mate)

The FitnessDock

If you're going to use your token in Argos, I recommend you buy a punchbag and a set of boxing gloves.

As well as the fantastic workout you get from boxing, you can also use the bag as a "weight" for many exercises. Many wrestlers and mixed martial artists do whole workouts using just a punchbag. A cheap but very effective way to work out at home.

Just a suggestion.