Body Workout Plan

Cycling is a great exercise for weight loss. Think about Lance Armstrong and the other cyclists who participate in the Tour de France. These guys are always look lean and mean. While other types of workouts tend to be high intensity and draw on the body’s stores of carbohydrates and glycogen, cycling is more low intensity and makes more use of the body’s fat stores than its carbohydrates.

Your body also becomes more efficient at burning fat as you increase the amount of time and distance you cycle. Cycling helps you become your own lean, mean, fat-burning machine. Cycling is also great for just about anybody because of the low impact nature of the sport.

Running is another great fat-burning exercise, but it’s also an incredibly high impact activity. Think about each stride and how your foot bears your weight on impact. Over the course of time, these continuous impacts can damage both muscles and joints. On a bicycle, of course, there is virtually no impact.

The exercise which results from cycling comes in the form of resistance as you pedal. Runners tend to have far more injuries than cyclists do. Cyclists not only suffer fewer injuries; they also tend to be able to perform their activities for longer periods of time, to go for longer rides. High impact activities can cause muscle and joint strains that take days to recover from.

While your muscles will certainly feel the effects of cycling, they will recover much more quickly allowing you to resume your workout more frequently and thus giving you the ability to burn more fat and lose weight. One myth about cycling is that you have to pedal harder and faster to lose more weight.

Spinning classes tend to perpetuate this myth as instructors cajole spinners to pedal harder and faster. However, pedaling harder and faster tends to build muscle rather than endurance, causing your body to tap into carbohydrates rather than fat for energy. The best bet for weight loss through cycling is to cycle longer at lower intensities. The long, slow approach will make you burn fat faster and more efficiently.

If you want cycle from the comfort of your own home, then you definitely need to get an exercise bike.  One of the best around is the Schwinn IC Elite Exercise Bike.