Whats the best riding intensity to loose weight but also get fitter? Thanks for any advice.

Get a heart rate monitor – figure out your max then ride at your fat burning rate. Its not as high as you might imagine, a good gym insturctor will tell you, or google it.

Then just keep riding. However, your body will adjust – so be careful what you eat and change the intensity after a while.

I thought all this fat burning rate was a bit of a myth. Just ride lots, that’ll make you lose weoght. Supposed ‘fat burning zones’ are very, very low intensity, I could never keep riding at that level.

ride lots – eat less rubbish

Base training should be the aim.

I always think MTB is rubbish for weight loss. Whenever I come back from a ride I’m ravenous and eat everything I can lay my hands on. It made me gain weight (which may have been muscle).

I did a calculation, and a single Mars bar will lift you about 200m vertically against gravity (100kg all up weight), ignoring friction, so it’s much easier not to eat a thing than to work off the energy in it. Ride because it’s fun and makes you fitter, but eat less stuff if you’re too big :o)

don’t buy anything, simply ride more & eat less shit.

“fat burning zone” is simply the pace you can still talk while riding. – not a great deal of fun to do for hours on end.

What GW said. Even if riding at the fat burning zone works, it’s dull. IME hard or long rides lift your metabolism afterwards also.

Training to get fit may be a better goal, in which case plenty of advice around.

eat less, do more.

Simonfbarns – thats very interesting. I shall mention it to the fat fcukers in my office who stuff their faces all day.

I know what you mean about mountain biking making you hungry. You have to watch out for that, but you can stuff yourself with not fattening foods post ride.

Mtbing is more fun than say running or road riding so at least the excersice is fun meaning your more likely to keep it up.

In the long run, so long as your riding and having fun and not eating shite you will get fitter and lose weight.

never managed to loose any weight just riding although have gotten much fitter. As soon as you add a run in it starts to fall off…

Mtbing is more fun than say running or road riding Not to someone who enjoys running and road riding it’s not.

but you can stuff yourself with not fattening foods post ride.

I always want full fat, and the only ‘non fattening’ foods are lettuce and celery etc which just don’t hit the spot 🙁

Yes Gary_M, but they are not on this forum 🙂

Not to someone who enjoys running and road riding it’s not.

yeah but like, that would be very strange, they might be a alien or something…

Well you could get yourself a pedal powered cooker, that way if you want a nice Sunday Roast you have to expend energy to get it.

Perhaps they should supply bikes at supermarkets, or a jogging track. Then they could print the number of mins of excercise required for each fatty snack they sell. That sort of education may help some.

Those that still ignore it can be put down like unwanted pets.

i found riding the opisite way an the trails you do worked the best for me and taka i have lost 3 stone and taka has lost about 5 !!!!!!!!!1

I found riding with people fitter than me helped the most. On my own it was too easy to stop, or slow down.

Riding alone is fine if you set yourself a target. Try commuting to work and leaving a few minutes late. It helps me push those pedals a little harder. I have lost a stone quite easily.

My take on it is that, unless you’re into mountain biking/cycling whereby it’s part of your life, then there are easier/cheaper/less hassle ways to lose weight, if that is all you want to do.

I’ve got lots of friends who bought an MTB to get fit or lose weight and the novelty lasts a few months before they can’t be arsed with all the messing about cleaning them afterwards, sorting out mechanicals etc.

I’ve lost 10kg since about November last year. Pretty simple plan, I commute 26 miles a day by bike, try to get one 4/5hour plus ride in each weekend, try to do one big event a month to mix it up and keep myself motivated and I’ve cut out all snacking. Lunch and a decent evening meal each day every day. Just 2kg off my target now.

Most of that riding has been on the road though. Its just a lot easier to look after the bike and to regulate your effort than MTB.

aggghhh ffs

the word “lose” has one (1) “o”.

the word “loose” as in “moose” is used to describe the opposite of “tight”.

anyway, add running to your biking – weight control is a lot easier.

I don’t know what you’re talking about you looser!. By the way, you start a sentence with a capital letter. 😉

anyway, add running to your biking – weight control is a lot easier.

Be sure to order in some replacement knees before you start mind 😉

and I’ve cut out all snacking.

you’ve just described my entire diet – I rarely bother with actual meals and mostly just eat something when I’m hungry :o) (goes off for some natchos)

Current issue of the mag has a nice quote by Matt words to the effect of “eat less, ride more it’s not rocket science”

Ignore Fat burning zone, it’s true that you burn a higher percentage of fat in this zone but over all if you work harder you will burn more calories, also if you raise your metabolism higher you will get a calorie burning effect up to 1 hour after. Most important pair of body management isnt just burning more energy is about how much you put back and what quality you use. No point burning 300 calories then putting back 350 etc. Best not to worrry about weight loss, not the best indicator of health or body composision. The easiest way is to find clothes which are tight or take a pic of yourself in shorts only then compare monthly. Remember muscle weighs more than fat so as you burn fat and put on muscle your weight can increase!
If your serious in loosing body fat best also to do some weights to build up muscle mass as well as this will burn moer calories at rest.

you’ve just described my entire diet – I rarely bother with actual meals and mostly just eat something when I’m hungry :o) (goes off for some natchos)

Uh-huh, I was in that habit for about 3 years. There is cake and biscuits in the office kitchen pretty much everyday, which I was powerless to resist and I do plenty of exercise, so a drop of cake can’t hurt can it?

Got to the point where I was having cake for breakfast, cake after a good sized lunch, mid afternoon snooze, then home for a vat of pasta and cheese, maybe an ale and some pudding of some sort.

Very shortly I was 88kg and feeling slow and shite. I knew I’d never stick to a ‘diet’ and I know that I have to eat well occassionally when my body is screaming at me to eat. Besides ale is far too nice to go without entirely.

So now I just eat my lunch (sarnie, ONE slice of cake and fruit or some leftovers) and have a good square meal at home in the evening, trying to forgo pudding, but I’ll have some if I feel I need it. Enjoy and ale or two every now and again. Pretty easy to stick to and means I can still eat pretty much whatever I want. Apart from the cake for breakfast, that was bad.

The inner tubby is growing strong again though. I think after the etape in July I’ll revert to something akin to Vanessa Fletz very shortly after …

I think you need to eat small portions regularly, not avoid any meals – that’s miserable. You need a regime you can stick with all the time, so you are not “on a diet” and then normal, it is the normal state that obviously has surplus calories that led to the extra weight.

Just think 9,000 calories to lose a kilo. If you run for 30 minutes that’s maybe 500 calories. Go 500 less than maintenance calories for the day and the result is 1kg lost every 9 days if you run every day. Not practical but with a few rides etc. it should be possible to drop a kilo in a fortnight and be working with a healthy regime that feels good.

My Polar HRM reckons about 2000 calories for a hard 3 hour ride, which I use pretty much as a excuse to never feel guilty over food. Going to be officially unemployed from Saturday, looking forward to getting back on the bike. Stuck in t’gym at the moment.