- Spin Before BreakFast
- Hit it Hard
- Wear Lycra
- Get Off the Beaten Path
- Head to the Hills
- Pedal from Here to There
- Eat on the Go
- Trade the LA-Z-BOY for the Trainer
SPIN BEFORE BREAKFAST:
Set up your trainer in a pleasant, convenient spot and saddle up each morning for 20 minutes before breakfast. Though you wouldn't want to try to do your longest, hardest workouts unfueled, this simple morning start up will burn more than a 1,100 calories a week and fire up the fat-burning process.
Hit it Hard:
This is one may not be easy per se. But it is fast. Real fast, which cycling lets you be without beating you up the same way. Most of it done on stationary bikes shows that high-intensity sprint cycling helps get you lean, mean and fit fast.
Wear Lycra:
According to Cornell University weight loss researcher Brian Wansink, "signal clothes" like fitted pants help us track our weight gain and loss. Without snug clothes to sound the alarm, the needle on the scale inches up quickly. Wansink's team found that prison inmates gained an average of 20 to 25 pounds six months into incarceration without recognizing the gain because the baggy shapeless orange jumpsits give no feedback. For active folks, there are no more unforgiving signal clthes than skin-tight Spandex cycling attire. Buy some with no room to spare and keep them in heavy rotation.
Get Off the Beaten Path:
An hour of off-road riding burns more than 600 calories an hour more than cruising the same period of time on the road, and it works your whole body, not just your legs. Pulling over rocks, roots,and logs builds muscles in your arms, back, chest, and core. Trade your skinny tires for your fat ones a few times a week to rev your calorie burn and shed your spare.
Head to the Hills:
Hills burn a lot of calories in quick order. They also build your core strength. Standing not only raises your heart rate so you burn more calories, but also builds strong lean muscle in your shoulders, triceps, and core muscles as you rock the bike beneath you and power your way to the top.
Pedal From Here to There:
Commuting by bike, even for just all those short trips around town is often not much longer time wise as sliding into the bucket seat and firing up the car, and it helps peel off pounds. One study found that the average bicycle commuter loses 13 pounds in the first year without overhauling their diet or doing other exercise.
Eat on the Go:
Next time you go for a long spin, take some fig bars, a banana, and other pocket fuel and aim to take in about 200 to 250 calories an hour. The ride in the bed, but won't be ravenous, so you can eat normally for the rest of the day and gradually lose weight over time.
Trade the LA-Z-BOY for the Trainer:
The average person watches nearly three hours of TV a day. Plop your portable trainer in your living room and pedal away to one or more of your must see primetime shows. You barely have to work up a sweat and you'll still kill an easy 1,000 calories, enough to drop a pound a week if you do it three or four nights.