Originally Posted by stapfam
Ok - I do not have a weight problem- but I read a very interesting article today about weight loss whilst exercising. By going out out hammering a ride- pushing yourself to the limit and doing lots of high milage does not work.
The way to burn off fat is to put the heart rate in the correct zone to burn fat instead of energy.
Find your maximum heart rate and your resting HR. In my case that is max 165 and resting of 70- difference of those is 95. The best heart rate for burning fat is at 65 to 80% of the difference so for me- My fat burning heart rate is between 132( 70 + 65% of 95) and 146 (70+ 80% of 95). Thats good as I like to ride between 140 and 145.
If you go above the upper limit your body changes from burning fat to burning energy (Muscle Glycogen) which is stored in the muscles. You need plenty of Oxygen to to burn off the fat so the bottom line is- if you are getting breathless- you will not be burning fat.
Now in the same magazine- It recommends that we reverse our normal eating process for rides. Normally we eat to build up energy for a ride and they recommend differently. Go for a ride and then pig out- Longer the ride- more you can pig out. The suggestion is a 4 hour ride in which you will burn off 1800 calories. Then you can have a Steak and kidney pie, Mash and gravy= 1280 calories and a couple of pints of Guinness= 420 calories. Net loss on the ride= 100 calories.
Sounds good to me- providing the pig out is a breakfast halfway on the ride, and instead of the Guinness- a good slice of pie at the end.
That contradicts everything I've read about weight loss...the so-called "aerobic fat-burning zone" is a myth. For weight loss, it doesn't matter if you're burning fat or carbs. It's all about calories burned vs. calories consumed. When you ride at a low level of intensity, you're burning less calories per hour than if you were riding at a higher level of intensity...thus, you'll lose weight more slowly because you're not burning as many calories.
As for "pigging out" after a ride...that's just insane. I can't tell you how many cyclists I've talked to who say "I ride my bike 150 miles per week but can't lose a pound". Mostly it's because they use their cycling to justify "pigging out".
It's really easy to subvert a good exercise program with a few poor food choices each week, and intentionally "pigging out" is a really good way to keep the fat on. I demonstrated this myself on one of my first weeklong Bicycle Tour of Colorado vacations - despite riding over 400 miles, with nearly 35,000 feet of climbing, I gained weight over the course of the week! It's because I was using the hard cycling to justify 4 meals per day, and a couple of beers each night.