Getting the Most From Your Cycling Efforts
If you want to lose weight from cycling, you’ll find that riding on a regular basis will help you do just that, but it will take time. To make your efforts begin to pay off in less time, you should definitely consider designing your own training regimen.
Doing this is not as difficult as it sounds. For one thing, after riding for a few weeks, you will gain a few cycling skills, especially in handling your bicycle on the road. You’ll also be more familiar with the main roads and the more quiet ones that feature gentle hills as well as flats. Even more important, you’ll find yourself riding faster for a longer even trying to keep up with the (probably) more experienced cyclists who speed past you. How you wish you can ride like that! But you can. And you are taking the first step by focusing on training and losing weight at the same time! How’s that for getting great results?
The first step, as I said earlier, is designing your own regimen is by focusing on a single goal.. To do this, you should have been riding a few weeks and have become familiar with your cycling strengths and weaknesses. For example, your pedaling has improved, but you still get winded after climbing a hill. Or maybe you want to improve your pedaling skills. Start with a simple goal.
Next, go online and Google cycling and fitness or consult two or three books on becoming a good cyclist and look over recommended exercises. You might even be lucky to find complete cycling regimens all worked out for you, but be careful about using those. They have good stuff, but are presented as “one size fits all” and that’s not necessarily the case. Everyone is different! To that end, everyone’s cycling exercise regimen will necessarily be different.
Ok, pick at least three of the suggested regimens or alternatively, five cycling exercises that are directly related to your goal, ie, improving pedaling skills.
Now, list the exercise items that you like and can easily do. Then decide which one of those exercises you can do first, then second, then third and so on. Make a list of these exercises.
Next up, on a calendar, mark the dates that you will focus on your first chosen exercise. Because you don’t know what the weather will be like in say, three weeks, you might want to consider allowing three-four extra days for inclement weather.
Plan on one or two exercises per month and keep written records. What did you weigh before you started a month ago? What do you weigh now? What improvements have you noticed? What do you still have to work on? Remember that diets count too! Avoid greasy, sugary foods and stick to eating fresh fruits and vegetables.