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using an exercise bike, can you help on some tips please?


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i have recently just started using an exercise bike (4 days ago) for the first day i did half an hour an the past 3 days i have been doing an hour and a half and burning 1000 calories at a time.

 

What i am wanting to know is if i keep this up for a month straight will my legs become more 'bulky?' all i am wanting is to tone the area up n just slim down my leg area, i know you cant focus on just one area and that ill have to work on other areas, i am just afraid that my legs will become more bigger than they already are!

 

Should i reduce the amount of time i am doing the exercise for? as i don't want to cause some damage to myself.

 

if you could please reply i would be very grateful!

 

x x x x x x

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As a competitive cyclist, I can tell you that riding a bike a lot WILL indeed add quad, hamstring, glute and calf muscles. But it will also really tone you up and help you lose fat due to the aerobic benefits. I would say unless you are using a high resistance (which you should not as it is bad for your knees) you should not worry too much as in the end it will lean you up (muscle burns more, and your legs will have muscle tone making them look leaner too).

 

You WILL however need to ensure you are getting adequate rest as you are just starting and without rest you can do damage to your knees (ESPECIALLY if bike is not set up properly for you) and you can overtrain as well and burnout. So you will NOT want to ride 1.5 hours everyday for a month straight - you also want something you can keep doing long after the month so something manageable. So take a couple rest days a week, and vary your intensity when on bike - have some harder days and some easier spin/shorter days. Otherwise you will burn out and give up altogether, as well as actually be detrimental to your leg endurance. And it is better to use "easier" gearing and spin more (like your legs should be doing 80-100 revolutions per minute and not feel taxed or strained when doing it - you can figure this out by counting how many times one leg goes around in 30 seconds then multiplying to get a minute).

 

Also verify the calories burned - 1.5 hours to burn 1000 calories you either weigh heavier or are really really pedalling fast. Outdoors its usually assumed about 500 cals an hour at a moderate-fast speed and that is including things like wind resistance, etc and for a 175 pound male. So be wary of what the machine tells you. I ride a couple hours or more a day for training (except rest days) and at decent speeds most of time, and don't burn 500 c/hour due to my weight and efficency. Make sure to hydrate well (one bottle of water for every hour on the bike) and eat before and after (just something small if you are trying to lose weight, but eating something before you work out will actually have you boosting your metabolism higher than if you did not eat!).

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i guess i forgot to mention i weigh 10st 4lbs.

 

thank you so much for the time you have taken to help me, i am very grateful!

 

THANK YOU!!

 

x x x x x x

 

Glad to have helped! I would recommend trying to get a bike for outside too, can help make it a little more exciting when there is some scenery to look at

 

Good luck!

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Cycling will help you loose some weight. The reality of it is women do not have to worry about getting bulky, even lifting weights. Women do not produce enough testosterone, yes women do produce test as well as estrogen.

Women produce about 1/15th the amount of test a man produces. If you want to loose fat, and not just weight I would suggest doing some resistance training 2-3 times per week. Fat is burned in the mitochondria of muscle tissue. What happens when you do extensive aerobic activity, you will burn fat, muscle, and water. Yes, you will lose weight if you expend more energy than calories you take in. When you loose muscle your metabolic rate slows down, once that happens it makes it easier for your body to store body fat. there is about 3500 calories in one pound of fat, so an expenditure of 3500 extra calories per week should equal a pound of fat loss, you could also decrease your weekly calories by 3500, depending on the amount of food you eat daily. It is safe to loose .5-1 pound of fat per week.

this is the best way to keep the fat off. Increase the number of times you eat each day. go for 5 or 6 small meals per day, instead of 2 or 3 large meals. this will keep your metabolism in high speed. Good luck. sorry about the conversion rates. this is just some helpful hints, to help you get lean. It is more important to loose bodyfat, as compared to body weight.

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