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Riding a bike to lose weight, should I focus on distance or time?

for example today i rode about 6.2 miles, but it was only 45 min. which should i be focusing on? If distance how much should i aim for daily? if time how much time should i spend daily? thank you... na..who are you?email me

Public Comments

1. to loose weight you should be concerned about the intensity and duration hey ruth do you know who i am , cause i know you
2. Well i suppose if you are trying to lose weight i would focus on distance and not on time. If you want to lose weight each day gradually make the distance longer without straining yourself to much or doing damage. Maybe aim for 8-10 miles a day but if that is to much go for 9 miles or lower etc..
3. All the answers are good. Exercise is only part of the equation but it is only going to help along with a proper diet. Aim for 1,500 calories a day avoid sugars and fats and try to do something physical everyday ( a long walk, or a bike ride, or a swim). 45 mins to an hour a day is good along with a healthy diet and sleep and the pounds will start to fly off in no time.
4. I think you should be focusing on booth.
5. If you are interested in losing weight while cycling you should be focusing on your exercise duration and not distance. A one-hour 5 mile ride that is all uphill will be just as effective as a one-hour 10-12 mile ride that is on flat ground. Your workout times should be not less than 45 minutes (just like if you were doing it indoors). Because on the open road you have to deal with starts and stops (traffic lights and stop signs) the workout is not as steady as indoors so I would always shoot for at least 1 hour. This is pretty easy to do outdoors as the passing scenery will take your mind off of what you are doing. Be sure to invest in a good pair of cycling shorts as the padding will make the experience much more enjoyable. Good luck!
6. You should concentrate on making cycling a part of your lifestyle. Use it whenever you can to go places, to school, to work, to the grocery store, etc.
7. DO NOT focus on distance ever!!!!! your body does not know how far you went, it only understands TIME and INTENSITY!!!! Use this site to help figure out how long you need to ride for the amount of calories burnt. http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/jumpsite/calculat.htm
8. For weight loss or strength training, the focus should be on time and intensity. Depending on your weight, you'll have burned anywhere from 2.0 to 2.5 calories-per-pound at the intensity you were riding. If you had worked twice as hard (done the same route in 25 minutes - or traveled twice as far, maintaining the same effort) you'd have burned 5.0 to 5.5 calories-per-pound. As a minimum, you'll need to have at least an hour set aside for riding. Unless you're planning on lengthy "endurance" type events (like a 50+ mile charity ride), you don't need to spend hours in the saddle. Most of the time, that's just to get you comfortable to being on the bike for an extended period.
9. For weight loss, go for time at a low intensity. You'll burn fewer calories per hour but you won't deplete your blood sugar and eat it all back on as soon as you're done.
10. The more you ride (miles or time) the more you will train your body to burn fat for energy. The key is riding with a very high cadence (rpms). See, it goes back to how the human body works. When you do anything, your body has to find something to use as energy. If you are working super hard, like sprinting your body will use glycogen (sugar) that is stored in your muscles as fuel. If you are jogging your body will burn some combination of glycogen (sugar in the muscles) and glucose (sugar in the bloodstream/stored in the liver). When you are walking-- and especially after you've been at it awhile your body turns to fat for fuel. The reason for this is that our ancestors used to walk. And walk. And walk. For days or weeks at a time. If your body used the glycogen in your muscles for fuel and you use all of it and then a crisis happens -- a saber toothed tiger jumped out in front of you -- you wouldn't have any energy to sprint away and you would die. That's bad. If your body used glucose (sugar in the blood/liver) then your brain runs out of sugar (which is the only fuel your brain uses) and you die. That's bad too. So, walking (or, if you're in super good shape, jogging) will primarily use fat for fuel because, after the first 30min or so, your body knows that this intensity level is something you might keep up for hours/days/weeks and your body won't deplete glycogen or glucose (for the reasons above). Part of getting to the "walking" intensity is increasing your fitness level and keeping the individual units of work (each pedal stroke) very easy. Most beginner cyclists pedal in a gear that is way too hard-- they feel they won't get a good workout if they aren't mashing down the pedals. The problem is that high intensity is more like sprinting or running -- exercises that don't use fat as their primary fuel. You can pedal at a lower intensity and higher cadence and go the same speed. So, to burn fat, pedal faster at less intensity, and do it for a long time (more than 30minutes). Second question-- you should ride as much as you can. You should try to increase your weekly mileage no more than 10 or 15% each week. You need to increase to build up your muscles, aerobic capacity, etc but too much will just cause an injury and set you back weeks or months. At the low end (10 miles a week or less) you can probably increase by a larger amount each week... jumping from 10 miles (2 rides of 5 miles each) to 15 miles (3 rides of 5 miles each) is very unlikely to cause you any problems. Later on (50miles a week) you should use the 10-15% weekly increase rule of thumb. good luck!
11. Focus on your HEART RATE. I see the responses here that recommend you focus on intensity, and they are exactly right. You want to maintain an optimal, aerobic intensity to burn body fat. The problem becomes "How do you determine what is the ideal intensity?" Simple: Get a Heart Rate Monitor, learn how to set it up, and wear it on every ride. Can't spend a few dollars on a HRM? You should be in an aerobic zone when you're working up a good sweat, feeling it, but are still able to speak. If you're working so hard that you can't even carry on a conversation, you have likely exceeded the upper limit of your aerobic zone and are now anaerobic (not where you want to be for fat burning). You don't want to burn yourself or your muscles out. Take at least one rest day per week.