Does cycling make your belly smaller?

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A smaller belly is often considered the pinnacle of effective fitness, and cycling can help you get there. Smaller belly will look better and also help promote health. Abdominal obesity can increase the risk of metabolic cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. Combine strategic cycling exercises with a healthy diet and weight training, and you've got a recipe for a flatter belly.

1. Does cycling make your belly smaller?

Bicycles are a great tool to help you burn calories and promote fat loss. Plus, it gives you access to a variety of intensities, helping to promote good fitness and a flat stomach. Start cycling to slim down and get closer to the goal you're after..
1.1. Cycling Time Interval training has been shown to be an effective way to lose both subcutaneous and visceral fat. A meta-analysis of 39 studies published in Sports Medicine in 2018 concluded that HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is an effective and time-saving exercise method for overall weight loss. body fat and belly fat.
High-intensity interval training exercises that alternate between high intensity and low intensity. For example, after you've warmed up on an outdoor (or indoor) bike for 10 to 15 minutes, work up to the hard part. Ride to a point where you're breathing heavily and really challenging your heart rate. Hold the hard effort for 30 to 60 seconds and then reduce the intensity to easy for about a minute. Repeat these intervals for 5 to 10 bouts and then cool down.
Another study published in the journal Diabetes and Metabolism in 2016 found that interval training just twice per week for 16 weeks significantly reduced belly fat in postmenopausal women with diabetes. It's likely that the same schedule could also help most people lose belly fat.
Excessive cycling will cause the production of cortisol levels - a stress hormone that interferes with fat burning. Therefore, you should also only maintain interval exercises each week at a controlled pace. You try to build stamina and burn calories without putting your body into overdrive.

1.2. Cycling alone with other exercises Cycling alone can help you burn fat, but you will accumulate more pedaling power and lose fat faster if you do endurance exercises. A 2014 study published in the journal Obesity found that combining weight training with cardiovascular exercise — like cycling — can prevent age-related gain in belly fat and may also reduce existing belly fat.
A weightlifting workout doesn't have to be complicated. Try 20 minutes a day most days of the week. Target different muscle groups every time you hit the gym. For example, lift your chest and arms on one day, your legs and abs the next, and on the third day work your shoulders and back. Take a day off and repeat the pattern above.
Exercises like push, row, pull-up, curl, dips, crunches, squats and lunges are good choices. Use heavy weights that tire you out in a short period of time, try to keep training and increase the build up little by little, or do it in a way that doesn't put too much pressure on you with up to three sets of intensity for each exercise.

2. How to reduce belly fat by cycling

2.1. Keep a steady pace Cycling burns fat, that's right. While your abs aren't as intense as crunches, the aerobic nature of cycling is that you're burning calories.
Workout at a moderate pace about less than 80% of your maximum heart rate three times a week for 2 hours.
This type of lower-intensity exercise burns a greater percentage of fat than high-intensity, but keep in mind that the overall calories burned will be less than with higher-intensity sessions of the same duration. , so don't overdo it with snacks after cycling.

2.2. Try interval training To really boost your calorie burn, add in interval training. After a long ride, take some time to relax, or if you only have a short time to work out, do 6 full effort pedals, two minutes each, 30 seconds rest. between movements. As you get used to the intensity of the exercise, you can continue for longer.
The benefits are that you will burn a lot of calories in a short period of time and your metabolism will increase for the next 12 hours, which means you burn extra calories throughout the day. You will soon notice the weight loss effect!
2.3. Exercises that incorporate endurance training Cycling alone can only improve muscles, but not bring comprehensive benefits. That's why there are so many exercise combinations to improve your cycling performance, which means you may be more likely to ride farther and longer. And this will burn more of your calories.
Try muscle aerobic exercises like the 'recumbent bike' exercise. Lie on your back with your hands behind your head and lift yourself up so that your shoulders and feet are off the ground at a 90-degree angle, knees bent.
Touch right knee to left elbow while extending left leg, followed by left knee to right elbow extending right leg. Repeat this move, at a controlled pace, for 20 sets with 30 seconds rest.
Planks are also great for toning the core muscles and increasing strength.
Aerobics like Zumba and Body Combat are aerobics so give you an intense workout where you'll burn some serious calories, while at the same time can be a lot of fun. taste, as well as giving you a full body workout.
Yoga and pilates may not be as intense, but they are highly recommended for cyclists as they help stretch muscles that may become strained after the repetitive motion of cycling and sitting on the bike hourly. This helps to avoid injury, which means fewer obstacles when you ride.
Weight training and strength training can also be helpful. Bodyweight exercises like squats and planks can help improve your core strength, shoulder strength, and leg strength.
There is also evidence that weight training improves muscle performance on longer rides. A study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports found that female doubles athletes who added weight training to their regimen saw more muscle gains than those who didn't. two hours of cycling.

3. A few tips to enhance the ability to reduce belly fat of cycling exercises

3.1. Eating right In theory, losing fat is simply burning more calories than you consume.
Be careful to fuel your workouts with slow-burning carbohydrates (whole-grain pasta and bread) and lean protein (turkey) and avoid overeating anything high in fat. saturated, such as cheese, butter, and sugary sweets.
You should also be wary of foods labeled “low fat”. Some so-called low-fat foods are very high in sugar, high in calories, which the body converts to fat during digestion, so check labels carefully. You may be better off buying a moderate, occasional portion of the real deal rather than the “low-fat” option.
Note that you should not significantly reduce your calorie intake. If you don't fuel yourself enough during your workouts, you won't be able to get the most out of your core workouts. When your body is hungry, it will slow down your metabolism to save calories. And that's definitely not your goal.
Ideal weight to lose is 0.2 to 1kg/week. The best way is to choose healthy foods and increase your physical activity level. Limit your intake of foods and drinks that can cause bloating. While this isn't actually belly fat - it's caused by water retention in the tissues (edema) around the stomach and elsewhere on the body - it can make that belly look a bit big.
You may already know about some foods that have this effect, but salty foods and alcohol definitely have this effect so it's best to avoid or limit - and that's not to mention the hidden calories. in alcoholic beverages.
And another important thing is that you should not eat dinner after 9pm or eat all night, will make your body store more calories - according to research published in the journal Cell Metabolism

3.2. Reduce stress Stress and its accompanying mood swings can affect your weight. Some people stop eating properly and lose weight, but some people can't control their appetite and gain weight again. Stress can also affect sleep levels. So controlling or managing your stress levels can have a beneficial effect on weight management.
The good news is that regular aerobic exercise like cycling has been shown to be a great way to combat stress, reduce anxiety and improve your mood.
Furthermore, being in nature also reduces stress levels according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and cycling is a primary form of outdoor exercise.
3.3. Rest after cycling and restore health
Getting enough sleep is also an important part of the weight loss process. A study by the Kaiser Permanente Health Research Center in Portland, USA, demonstrated that people who get six to eight hours of sleep per night are more likely to succeed in their weight loss goals.
A good night's sleep is also important for recovery from exercise and injury prevention.

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Reference sources: livehealthy.chron.com, livestrong.com, bikeradar.com