There are so many reasons to love cycling. You can do it indoors or outdoors, at home or at the gym. It's also low-impact, making it easier on achy joints, and of course, it burns calories! But if you're someone who uses cycling as your go-to workout or you're considering adding it to your workout regimen you may be wondering if cycling can really lead to better overall health, especially if you have little time to spare. POPSUGAR spoke with experts to find out if cycling for even 30 minutes a day is enough to lose weight and put you on the path to feeling stronger and healthier.
"It is possible to lose weight from cycling 30 minutes a day," Jennifer Chew, MPT, MSc, an NASM-certified personal trainer and weight loss specialist, told POPSUGAR. Thirty minutes of cycling burns 200 calories on average, although that number depends on a few factors, including your weight, the intensity of your workout, and the resistance, Chew explained.
If you're looking to burn the maximum number of calories you can in those 30 minutes, there are a couple of ways to make that happen:
While weight loss is possible while cycling 30 minutes a day, Sayer and Chew stressed the importance of incorporating strength training and making other lifestyle changes in order to ensure you make progress on your goals.
"When you're pairing a strength training regimen with cardiovascular activity, [like cycling], your body composition will change significantly by increasing calorie burn and muscle mass," Krystal Goodman, an NCSF-certified personal trainer and coach at Orangetheory, told POPSUGAR. Goodman explained that the combination of elevating your heart rate through cycling and adding in that strength-training component will "give you the real bang for your buck" when it comes to fat burn and weight loss. Chew agreed, noting that increased muscle mass "promotes better metabolism," which ultimately allows your body to lose weight more sustainably.
A combination of cardio and strength training, paired with a healthy diet, should help you get results. But the diet is key: "At the end of the day, the most important point to losing weight is daily caloric intake versus daily caloric expenditure," Chew said. "If you are constantly eating less calories than you are burning, you will lose weight."
So, now that you've committed to cycling 30 minutes a day, you may be wondering how you can sustain that moving forward! Here are some effective, easy-to-apply suggestions from the experts.
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Is 30 Minutes of Cycling a Day Enough For Weight Loss? Experts Say Yes and No - POPSUGAR
