Bike for fitness

[booyaka]

Just get out on the bike you have - anywhere/somewhere etc - 5 miles to start/10 next week etc. see how you get on, then consider a suitable upgrade.

Also saying you eat 3500kcals a day is a lot - remember - you can't out train a bad diet. Have a look at what your eating - there is no requirement for a 20 year old who is not training to be eating 3500kcals a day.

 

[Mr-White]

But what I mean is the tyres on the bike are for offroading very wide and loads of tread to of course be gripy in offroad situations however looking to sell my old bike on or just buy a new one for this new venture, new bike new me something like that.

Go offroading then, it's safer (no traffic), more fun, more healthier (no pollution) and you'll burn more calories due to the terrain and surface and the extra weight and suspension of the bike.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Stuff ......

I 100% agree with Scrutinize and something I didn't pick up on.

Basically a human male uses around 2200 calories a day so doing normal stuff and eating 2200 calories should keep you at the same weight (I unfortunately have a calorie burn rate of 1200).
This means you have to either cut down your calories or find some way to burn 1300 calories a day and even if you do that you will stay at exactly the same weight if you still eat the same amount (on average).
Also cycling, as pointed out by Scrutinize, is one of the hardest things to do to lose weight unless you are doing many miles.
For instance a Triathlon is worked out so all 3 disciplines put in the same amount of work so 2.5 mile swim, 26.2 mile run and 120 mile cycling (or thereabouts) which means you have to do roughly 5x the distance on a bike you would do running.
Just getting on a bike and riding will get you fit but not necessarily make you lose weight, I'm still a fat ******* and so are a lot of fit cyclists & runners I know.
Running also, I did the majority of my marathons/half marathons 3 stone overweight which means I was still putting more calories in than taking out.
Also the type of exercise you do, to lose weight you really need to do aerobic exercise which means for me I have to walk briskly but if I run I end up in my anaerobic zone and build more muscle which is heavier.
It's not easy.

No doubt somebody will come along and pick holes in all the above but I've had this stuff told me over the years and experienced it.

 

[Scrutinize]

Nope your bang on mate which is why p90x / beach body routines are so effective + not weather dependent unlike cycling.

Cycling to lose weight is a real chore and you can achieve much more in a shorter general training session.

Cycling for leisure esp Mountain Biking is however one of the most fun all rounder easily accessible sports you can readily do though. Going for a quick blast on local trails is pure win.

 

[FrenchTart]

Diet is arguably more important than exercise with regards to weight loss but I would never try to dissuade someone from trying something that they think they may enjoy. The OP doesn't need to earn back all their exercise calories from cycling and if it turns out they enjoy it they may suddenly find that they can easily burn 1000+ per day from it - I went from completely sedentary to exactly that, though obviously it's not an overnight change.

 

[mattyfez]

I think it's a bit of both, I was in a sedentary job and didn't exercise for about a decade, just make small changes to diet and exercise.. I still woof down the odd tube of pringles followed by a pack of jaffa cakes.. But I eat less processed foods and I bike about 50 to a hundred miles a month.

I've dropped a waist size in a year and I feel a lot better.