Conference noted::bicycle

    First and foremost make sure you enjoy it! The best long term wieght
    loss program is a love for an activity like this, if it's done as work
    I know I tend not to keep at it very long. 
    As far as the kind of ride my opinion is that the longer rides, that
    keep your heartrate elevated the longest will do you the most good.
    Short intense rides will be more of muscle and strength builders.
    Good luck and enjoy!						
    Larry

    Well, I definitely don't qualify as an expert, but in note 1233, which
    I started last year, there is some advice on riding from people who
    are.  
    
    I wholeheartedly agree with .1 - if you don't like what you're doing,
    you won't do it.  For me, it meant getting up to longer distances
    (35-50 miles) so I could get to more distant places and see something
    new.  I also get to burn up some calories which would help me continue
    losing weight if I DIDN'T EAT SO MUCH ICE CREAM!  In an early note,
    there's even a chart of clories burned per minute and per mile.  
    
    One of the things that helps me is periodically going on organized
    rides with other people.  It makes the miles go by a little faster with
    someone to talk to.  At the same time, one of the great joys is getting
    out all alone somewhere, with a nice icy bottle of water, some fruit, a
    paperback to read while resting, and an off-road bike route that goes
    nowhere.

    Absolutely - a super elaborate exercise schedule that you won't stick
    with will do little good.  Settle on the pace/frequency/distances that
    you enjoy and take it from there.  I've been riding for, I guess, about
    two months now.  I started, also, as a weight loss activity, but have
    discovered that I absolutely love it.  I ride to work (5.5 miles) 4
    times per week (one day I'm off site), and have gotten up to 40 miles
    on weekends (gonna go for 50 this weekend).  I'm finding that I prefer
    the longer distances 'cause it takes me a good 8-10 miles till I really
    come onto my second wind & start getting into it.
    
    	One small comment on your base note - don't be AFRAID of building
    up some muscle.  First of all, it's a SLOW process - you won't wake up
    one morning and find that you have 30" thighs or anything.  Also, a
    pound of muscle is a lot more compact and shapely than a pound of fat,
    so even if you build muscle at the same rate you lose fat, you're gonna
    look a lot better.  Finally, all else being equal, if you have a bit
    more muscle, the same daily activities are going to burn more calories,
    so you'll find that you lose weight faster as you get stronger.  A lot
    of women are afraid of building muscle and looking like men, but unless
    you're pumped up on steroids, that's really not going to happen.  For
    the most part, women will not tend to get as bulky as men, no matter
    how hard and heavy the work out.

    
    The foregoing replies are good advice.  Be warned, however, that
    bicycling is not the optimum way to tone up/slim down your whole
    body.  If you *just* bicycle, you will do very little for your gut
    and only some for your upper body.  Also, cycling is appetite producing
    (or rather, hunger producing).  Racers going out for a 20-40 mile
    sprint lose all liking for food for hours, but more moderate cycling,
    especially high mileage per week or long distances make the
    practitioner evolve into a "food-vacuum" (speaking from experience).
    
    That's not bad in itself, but it means you must be *careful* to (1)
    keep your appetite from running away with you, and (2) eat the right
    things, since you will be eating more things.
    
    RE: .-1 - the good women cyclists I've seen don't turn into Arnold
    Schwarzenegger, but they do have more massive quads and other leg-parts,
    at least many of them.
    
    The best exercise I've found for losing weight, by the way, is jogging
    or running.  (Not sprinting - jogging or running.)  For some reason it
    just melts the fat (and even the muscle mass!) off.  But it is
    potentially more harmful to the body (joints, etc.).  Still, it might
    be a good cross-training for bicycling.
    
    good luck!
    -john

>	I would like some info from experienced riders on what is the best 
>	way to approach biking as a tool to help in weight loss and toning.
>	I have been doing 10-12 miles a day for the past 3 weeks or so
>	(I have a 15-speed mountain bike).  I do not want to build a lot
>	of muscle right away--I'd prefer to burn off fat.  


One point. I've seen inexperienced riders out on their bikes cranking along in
one of their highest gears. I'm not talking about plodding along slowly pushing
the pedals but grinding it out in a gear much too hard. I asked a girl one day
I saw doing that and her reply was that she wanted to lose some weight and she
figured that the harder it was to pedal the more weight she would lose...
My first thought was, her knees better be in good shape to handle that
stress and Yuch, what a losy way to "lose weight/ride a bike". Then as I
continued my ride I thought about weight lifting and the way this girl was
riding. I know a slow, heavy rep's with the weights tears muscle and builds bulk
while  fast, light reps tone the muscle. I don't know if this is completely
true for all people but my guess is that a fast cadence (pedal revs) with an
easy gear while still getting your heart rate up into a target range will tone
you faster than trying to crank/grind it out in the bike.

Also use a tape to measure your waist and hips and so on. Going on weight alone
might discourage you, because you will be toning up and losing fat but holding
water and gaining some muscle weight.

OK lets here from Jim Pammer...

tom

    I agree with .4 that running is the best way to lose weight however
    speaking from experience, you are much more prone to injury.
    
    I had been a devoted runner until I destroyed  my knee last October
    by overuse,  I had increased my weekly milage from 20 to 70 for
    a couple weeks while attending training.
    
    I started riding my mountain bike 70-100 miles per week to keep
    in shape, but it just isn't the same.  As sson as I can return 
    to running I will be carefull and do both riding and running or
    both fitness and weigth control. 
    
    I prefer to go on  longer rides , 30-50 miles.

Just a recommendation for for weight-loss, as I've been at it for a 
while now. Reduced food intake and a moderate increase in exercise level 
seems to be working for me. Both my wife & I have been on a reduced cal. 
diet (ala one of the commercial weight-loss programs) and I've been 
doing 10-12 mile rides at lunch a few daze a week and somewhat longer 
rides (35 or so) on one day on the weekends. So far I'm thinning out 
rather nicely (as pointed out, doesn't do much for the upper body 
tone...). In the past 9 weeks or so on this program have dropped more 
than 30 lbs.... maybe 15 to go?
                                  ken

re::           <<< Note 1700.7 by SUSHI::KMACDONALD "IronFish Tamer." >>>
   
>>            -< Keeping fork away from face helps A LOT! :-) >-

espcecially if it's your bicycle's fork  :-).

I wouldn't worry too much about getting muscles. I had knee surgery in May, 
and since then I've been trying to build up my badly atrophied muscles. 
Believe me, it's not an easy task. I've made lots of progress but I still
haven't caught up with my good leg. Since I'll be having more surgery in
less than 3 weeks (ugh) I'm gonna have to start the whole thing over again,
and this time it's really gonna be ugly.

Jenna (whose bike will soon be retired for the season :-( ).

    All the foregoing offer good advice. I agree that middle to distance
    running is definitely the fastest way to lose weight but also that
    it produces a lot of torn ligaments, sprains, swollen tendons, etc,
    etc. I know this from personal experience. However biking is also
    not without it's mishaps and some of them can be a lot more painful
    than any of the above, broken ribs, fractured pelvis and numerous
    cuts and bruises, again from personal experience. However bright
    clothing, helmets and sensible route planning can go a long way
    towards at least lessening the risks that go with riding a bike.
    
    I personally now do very little running concentrating more on weight
    training (light weights with more reps), skipping (great for toning
    and easily transportable when travelling) and cycling. Cycling is
    far and away the most enjoyable sport I have ever tried and there-
    fore the most sustainable. I cycle to and from work every day (30
    miles) also I usually go out for short evening run with my girlfriend 
    who is trying to tone herself up rather than lose weight (she is
    very pleased with the results so far). At the weekends I use the bike 
    for longer runs to visit friends all over the country and usually
    manage to cover between two to three hundred miles. 
    
    I find however that my weight alters very little from week to week. In 
    the winter my weekly cycling reduces by about two hundred miles
    on average but then so does my appetite. What does come down however
    is my level of fitness and muscle tone in my legs. The advice offered
    in a previous reply is worth taking and that is if weight loss is
    the aim then you will still have to watch your appetite. Biking
    is a definite appetite builder and I find eating increases in line
    with the distances I cover. Also go for the higher cadence, I personaly
    know a girl who pushes very high gears and has done so for years.
    From the back you would swear you were cycling behind a guy who had
    done years of squats with heavy weights. Pushing high gears also
    greatly increases the risk of knee problems, as has already been
    mentioned. 
    
    I'm sure you will achieve your aim. This notesfile has many entries
    from people who took up cycling to loose weight and ended up doing
    so and also loving the sport.
                      All the Best Richard
    

    As it turns out I have been riding for many years and found that there
    was no way to loose weight without "Dieting".  Its true that bicycling
    seems to increae your appetite.  Exercise and Diet for the weight loss.
    
    As for biking as an exercise its important not to starve your muscles
    from food stuff.  You'll find that you really need the food, keep it in
    moderation.  After reading a lot about the topic for the best results
    keep your pedaling at a constant rate of 80 RPMs.  Going up hills or
    down hills keep it at 80.  Also when your at that rate you have to keep
    it up for no less than a full ten minutes.  As mentioned in .6 and as
    in weight lifting, more reps less weight for exercise, and if you want
    to bulk up more weight less reps.  If you keep to 80 Revolutions Per
    Minute you'll find that the sweat will just start dripping off,
    therfore remember to constantly drink water.  You wont loose weight if
    you don't drink enough water (no salt, is important).  
    
    Since it sounds like you've just started riding, let me give you this
    other tip, "At the begining and the end of your ride, make sure you
    warm up and then cool down".  At least 5 minutes on either side of your
    ride.  Without that you may be in for some real pain and suffering.
    
    David (who lost 20 pounds when my wife went on Weight Watcher)
    
    

    THE most optimal way to reduce your body fat is to exercise at the
    LOWER end of your training heart rate (THR) for an extended period of
    time.
    
    Generally speaking, your body uses two different kinds of fuel sources.
    One is fat and the other is carbohydrates.  The molecular bonds of fat
    needs more oxygen in order for it to be combusted.  Keeping your THR
    between 50-75% of you max and keeping there for 30+ minutes is best to 
    burn the fat.
    
    At the higher ends of your THR, your body tends to burn those carbos
    that are easily combusted without much oxygen (your may be near
    oxygen debt anyhow....;-) )
    
    This whole principle can be proven if you've ever bonked.  You ride
    along, feeling snappy....then all of a sudden the world starts moving
    in slow motion.  What happened?  Well, you've used up all your glycogen
    (carbos) stores and now you need to slow way down in order to burn the
    fat reserves.  Since most of us aren't effecient at burning fat, this
    is an unpleasant ride home.
    
    I'm not saying to bonk all the time...it's unhealthy.  Start
    execising at the lower ends and work on increasing the DURATION rather
    than the INTENSITY.
    
    Jim
    
     

    Being someone who has gone from being nearly completely sedentary to
    riding on a regular basis I've found my appetite decreasing. This
    goes along with what I've read about the appetite control circuits (?)
    in your brain not functioning correctly without excersize. So if you've
    been fairly active and are taking up riding then you may see an
    increase in appetite, if not you may see a decrease as I've
    experienced.
    One other good thing to note is you can eat like a starved pig and
    still cut calories if you just cut out the fats, problem is you'd
    be amazed at the fat present in foods you wouldnt guess is loaded
    with it. 

    
    Hi again,
    
    I feel compelled to say here that I am NOT trying to lose weight
    simply by biking!!  :-)  I guess I didn't make myself clear in the
    basenote.
    
    I have already lost a substantial amount of weight and now am just
    trying to tone up and get in shape.
    
    My question was not "can I lose weight if I continue to pig out and
    just ride my bike", but rather, "what is the most OPTIMAL way I can
    ride my bike in terms of exercise and toning"?  
    
    Sorry I didn't make that clear.  Thanks for all who have taken time
    to reply; I think I got the answers I was looking for.  Duration and
    proper shifting are more important than killing myself for shorter
    times trying to ride up hills--at least to meet my particular goals.
    
    Laurie
    
    p.s.  Gee, I can see where y'all got the wrong idea, based on the
    title I gave the base note!!!  
    
    :-)

     Yes, you can loose weight... and maintain weight by cycling. It will
    be like any other activity... effectivity and intensity go hand in
    hand. What's better? -- What do you like best? How much time do 
    you have? 
    
     The equation is rudimentary... intake vs. output ratios......
    
     Chip

    Laurie,
    
    Just a quick note on climbing hills.  Don't push hard on hills,
    or do any "hilly" rides until you have a solid milage base.  I don't
    do any hills until I have about 200 or so miles.  I then start with
    some small stuff, and work from there.
    
    I have done Mt. Tom a few times after the 300 mile mark.
    
    John
    
    who_just_got_back_from_a_2_week_bikeless_vacation_and_has_to_start_over!