How fit does cycling get you?

white apples

I'm toying with the idea of cycling in and out of work instead of re-joining a gym (due to lack of funds) as I need to lose some weight and tone up. Work is about an 8.5km cycle from home, downhill on the way in and uphill on the way home. If I do this 4 to 5 days a week do you think it will have any effect upon fitness or flabby bits?

Colm_OReilly

Provided you don't eat more to compensate, the extra energy you expend should help with fat loss.

Of course, diet is going to play a part. How much of your daily intake is bread/pasta/potatoes/chocolate bars etc?

Cycling will make you better at cycling, and will have some positive knock on effects/benefits to your strength or endurance in other capacities (running, swimming, etc) but these will be limited.

So will cycling help you lose weight? Yes. Is it as good as a decent strength and conditioning program? No.

cozmik

8.5k is a fairly short run on a bike, you might get some benefit from the uphill bit if it is steep enough but generally I'd say you'd need to be covering greater distances for cycling to have an impact on weight loss.

davyjose

Well it's 17km a day, 5 days a week, and unlike the gym you have to go. So yeah, it's a great idea TBH, and something more people should be doing IMO.

Esse85

Its a good place to start, good luck with the weather though;)

rubadub

Cycling to work is one of the best things I ever took up. You cannot just not bother or you risk losing your job! while if raining or some other excuse you might skip the gym. You have it good too, uphill on the way home so you can go all out and arrive home a sweating mess, rather than arriving in work like that!

Once you get fitter you can always change your route to make it longer if required. i.e. I used to take 1 hour to cycle to work, that was 20kg more fat, and on a cheapish mountain bike. Now lighter, fitter, and on a better bike I do it in 20mins.

Not only are you not paying for the gym you save a fortune on all the costs associated with commuting, petrol, servicing etc, or bus costs. Also it is faster to cycle in rush hour traffic in dublin, even if you are not that fast. My full commute is about 40min round trip now, in a car I would have to leave a little early since the traffic can be terrible sometimes, so the round trip would be about 70mins. That is a saving of 30mins a day, 2.5hrs a week. BUT you also negate the time you would otherwise spend in the gym, 2 birds with one stone. So really you end up with far more free time on your hands.

I have the use of a car most days, but if I wake up and it is raining I still cycle, since I would not have time to drive, i.e. I wake up knowing it takes me 20mins rain or shine. But if it is raining every little runt in the country now seems to be driven to school by mammy, the traffic is brutal, driving would take me probably 50-60mins in rain nowadays.

Just make sure you get a decent hybrid bike, min spend should be ~400,

Thomas_S_Hunterson

If it's a trade-up between joining a gym and buying a bike, for me the bike option would certainly win out. With the money you would spend on gym-joining and membership, you'd be able to buy a very nice bike within the space of a few months.

Also there's nothing better then belting around on a bike to get you back on your feet after a 'late' night.

CatFromHue

I used to cycle to work and id recomend it if you are trying to get fitter.

Over an eight month period from september to may i did it. It didnt rain that much when i was cycling to and from work, maybe 5-10 times at the most. I did cycle when the ground was wet as it had just rained.

I'd recomend getting some thermals for your upper body for going down that hill to work and some good gloves.
Also get some proper lights and a high viz jacket.

olaola

Do it! When you start using your bike for getting to work, you'll start using it for other things. The fitter you get, the less red faced & sweaty you'll be. So you'll seeing it as a viable alternative for getting around in general.

MagicMarker

Cycling is grand, but be prepared. I don't know your fitness levels but cycling uphill and against the wind is pretty much hell on earth, maybe get a lend of a bike a try it for a few days. No point in investing in a bike you'll only use a handful of times.

Huggles

Another vote here for the DO IT!!!! brigade!!

I started back last week and I hard at first, but I love it now, so much I am pissed off if I can't take bike for whatever reason.

Get yourself some lights, hi-viz jacket, a lock and have a glace at cycling section on rules of the road website.

Enjoy!

shakeydude

Defo go for the bike, if not for fitness it is just a great way to get around. Does anyone know if there is a relationship between running and cycling, say a 3 mile cycle burns X calories while running burns Y calories?

rubadub

shakeydude wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is a relationship between running and cycling, say a 3 mile cycle burns X calories while running burns Y calories?

Depends on a huge amount of factors. Like on a 20kg mountain bike with full suspension you would burn far more calories over 3 miles than on a 5kg road bike.

I have heard the figure of it being approx 5 times as efficient said before though, dunno if that was running or walking.

Nision

It might be a good idea to do a trial run on a friends bike before buying an expensive one.
If your going to arrive dreanched in sweat and dont have hower facilities this could be a non starter, also cycling can be dangerous.

Pride Fighter

Buy rain gear, that way you can do it every day.

mikemac

Go for it!
Just buy a decent bike and not a heap of junk they sell in toy stores for 79euro. You'll only regret it.
Maybe borrow a bike for week or so and do a few trial runs

And believe it or not, it doesn't rain as much as you think in Ireland.
Before you laugh, I'm sure other cyclists or motorcyclists have seen this

Best of luck

white apples

Thanks for the replies guys. Well, I actually have a bike, a mountain bike that's a good few years old but it was one of the lighter ones when I bought it so I don't think it's the world's heaviest bike, and if that means that I burn more fat then I don't mind too much, that's the point right now!! It just needs a little tweaking and scrubbing up.

I have all the waterproof gear from hiking, and have cycled in & out a few days to try it. I'm just coming from the point of view that would this cycle alone be as beneficial as going to a gym and running, doing weights etc. or would I need to do more. To me, 17km sounds like a long enough cycle, but for those of you who are cyclists it's really not that much?

Also, the other thing that kinda put me off was that it seemed kinda dangerous. A lot of it would be in the dark cos I do shift work and on the days that I did try it I was nearly getting killed by eejits not stopping at Stop signs or getting beeped by cars for being in their way when there's no bloody space on the road for either of us! I had lights and reflectors, no hi-vis but I've got one of them now. It's a pity you have to look like an oopma loompa to cycle around! I've been convinced though, I'll give it a go.

With regards to my diet, it used to be grand but kinda lost my discipline over the summer, hence the belly! But I'm trying to stop eating the crap again now, I'd have maybe 2 slices of bread a day, and prob one portion of pasta/rice/potatoes. And trying to snack on fruit rather than crap. I'm a bit wary about cutting out carbs altogether. The bread is brown, wholemeal and try get brown rice / wholewheat pasta most of the time. Why does it all cost twice as much? Anyway sorry for the rant. Thanks again.

Krusty_Clown

micmclo wrote: »

And believe it or not, it doesn't rain as much as you think in Ireland.
Before you laugh, I'm sure other cyclists or motorcyclists have seen this

As a motorcyclist and runner, I absolutely agree! Most of the rain we remember is actually falling while we are inside, looking out a window!

To the OP: Another vote: go for it! Two birds, one stone! Also, if you still feel the need for a gym, visit one of the pay-as-you-go gyms. There are a couple on my side of the city (Loughlinstown, Monkstown, Newpark).

Macha

white apples wrote: »

To me, 17km sounds like a long enough cycle, but for those of you who are cyclists it's really not that much?

I used to cycle 12km round trip to work. It was grand but I think 20km would probably be my upper limit.

white apples wrote: »

Also, the other thing that kinda put me off was that it seemed kinda dangerous. A lot of it would be in the dark cos I do shift work and on the days that I did try it I was nearly getting killed by eejits not stopping at Stop signs or getting beeped by cars for being in their way when there's no bloody space on the road for either of us! ... It's a pity you have to look like an oopma loompa to cycle around! I've been convinced though, I'll give it a go.

As they say, better to look like an idiot than be one. Cycling is not as dangerous as people like to make out. I usually hear how dangerous it is from people who don't cycle and are using it as an excuse not to do so. I've been cycling in Dublin for 4 years now and have only had a few incidents on the road.

It is unfortunate that there's an "Us v Them" attitude between motorists & cyclists. For example, I've had jerks trying to get past me on a narrow laneway & then tell me to take my headphones out when they have their car stereos blaring. It isn't helped by many motorists blatant disregard for your safety but I'm sick of watching cyclists go through pedestrian lights/red lights/hop up on the pavement/go down one-way streets. Often I'm the only cyclist left at a red light while all the others weave their way through crossing pedestrians and traffic. Respect works both ways. So please be one of the cyclists who respects the rules of the road (if you aren't already .