You’re tired of being overweight, it doesn’t look good, it doesn’t feel good and it definitely isn’t good for your health. You’ve decided to fight back against obesity, which is great, but you need to know what the best piece of equipment is to lose weight, this Peloton Bike: Full Length Review & Hidden Usability Advantages blog post can help with that.
During the CoVid pandemic, my wife and I fell in love with the Peloton Bike, not only because we think it’s a great exercise bike to help with weight loss, but we love it due to it’s diversity of fitness courses that are available to help strengthen the body as a whole.
The diversity of fitness classes available on Peloton is great, because while you may want to zone in on your belly fat and cut that down immediately, there really is no way to simply focus on the abdominal muscles and get that six pack that you had back in high school. In order to cut belly fat, you are going to have to focus on cardio for sure, resistance training, and functional core exercises, all of which are available in the Peloton App. Believe it or not, you’re going to have to focus on getting better sleep as well and Peloton even has meditation classes to help you fall asleep more quickly.
WHAT ARE THE 4 MAIN TYPES OF PELOTON RIDES?
The bike rides in the Peloton App span a few different areas:
- Functional Threshold Power
- Climb Rides
- High Interval Intensity Training
- Recovery Rides
FTP RIDES
When you hop on the Peloton to start your weight loss Journey, you are going to want to sustain a reasonable level of output for the longest amount of time possible. You can test what level of output that you can maintain on the bike by taking a Functional Threshold Power Test. This test will give you the average level of output that you sustained during the course of the test in Watts and you can take that figure to calculate your Power To Weight Ratio, which is an important metric to measure every time you hop on your stationary bike to try and lose weight.
there are four different bike ride options available to peloton users
CLIMB RIDES
Building endurance with Functional Threshold Power Tests is great, you also want to build cycling specific strength with Climb Rides as well. The little red knob below the saddle on the body of the Peloton bike can be used to increase the level of resistance that can be felt on each Peloton pedal stroke. During the climb rides, the instructors ensure to focus on a high level of resistance for a good portion of the class in order to build the strength needed to succeed in High Interval Intensity Training(HIIT).
HIGH INTERVAL INTENSITY TRAINING
Most people consider HIIT training to be the best Peloton Workout to Lose Weight, because during HIIT training you are going to spend 65% to 75% of your training time in the fat burning zone and the remainder of the time spiking your heart rate by increasing your level of output on the bike. Working the majority of the ride in the fat burning zone and increasing your output in certain sections of the course is a great way to increase the amount of calories that you burn during your workout, which is ultimately what you want to do to lose fat on your Peloton.
RECOVERY RIDES
FTP rides, climb rides and HIIT training are all really intense and you don’t want to burn out by simply focusing on overexerting yourself every single time that you step on the bike to train. Sometimes the best way to keep your Peloton streak going on days that you don’t feel like training is to simply hop on the bike and do a recovery ride. Plus, the reality is, your body really needs the down time to heal from the extensive training of the other courses.
WHAT DOES BRUCE LEE HAVE TO DO WITH PELOTON?
A great philosopher once said, knowing is not enough, we must apply, being willing is not enough we must do. Having an understanding of the different bike training courses available on the Peloton App and how you can combine them to meet your overall fitness goals is great, now all you have to do is actually take the courses. Competing priorities throughout the day make it hard to find 15 or 20 minutes to start or continue your Peloton weight loss journey. Additionally, finding the right time to work out that is going to maximize the effort you put in on the bike to help you reach your weight loss goals is a challenge as well. These two facts bring us to an interesting challenge, you have to find a time in the day to work out that doesn’t impose on any other priorities that you have to complete through out the day and do it at a time that enhances your ability to see the results that you want.
WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO EXERCISE TO LOSE BELLY FAT?
Personally, I like to work out in the morning. The rule of thumb that is best to follow when it relates to tasks that are not directly related to your responsibilities as a husband, wife or parent is to get it out the way before the house wakes up. As the day goes on, it becomes entirely too easy to make excuses as to why you are not able to work out, let’s go through the list.
- I have to cook dinner
- I have to help the kids with their homework
- I forgot it’s actually date night
- I have to run to the store to pick up a gift for a birthday party this weekend
The list can get pretty long and that’s why waking up early to get your work out in, is best. Yes, all those priorities still exist, but you really can’t do any of that stuff at 4am in the morning, which is the time that I got up to write this article and get my ride in for the day, trust me, it works. At the same time, be prepared for the fact that it is going to totally suck, getting up at that ridiculous hour of the morning. The pros of working out first thing in the morning for 15 to 20 minutes definitely outweigh the cons, because it is going to help you to pull on your fat burning stores more quickly. Think about it, your body is essentially fasting while you are sleeping, utilizing everything in your body to engage in the processes necessary to prepare for the next day and the first thing you do is hop on the bike for 15 to 20 minutes. You will definitely tap into your fat reserves more quickly, just make sure to eat a balanced breakfast afterwards to provide your body with the nutrients it needs. This little pro tip is not about starvation, it’s about giving your fat burning metabolism a nice little kick start.
DOES CYCLING REDUCE LOVE HANDLES?
You’ve determined how often to ride your Peloton, you know how often your favorite Peloton live classes take place, you’ve even found the right mix of FTP rides, climb rides and HIIT training rides to take and you’ve even hopped in the saddle and rode your Peloton for 7 days straight. Could you lose some of the love handles around your midsection doing this, absolutely. Your love handles are what’s considered surface level fat and is more easily accessible to the body to burn as fuel when you engage in exercise or other activities that require a higher level of energy. In order to see the type of weight loss your looking for from riding your Peloton, you’re going to have to commit to this for more that seven days. Ideally, you’re coming in this with the mindset that you’re going to make a lifestyle change and incorporate this as a part of your day to day routine, it can become a good addiction that sticks with you for the rest of your life. If you are not one of the few who gets runners/cycling high, I know I do, then at least commit to a Peloton Bike Challenge of at least 100 days. Considering one pound of body fat is estimated to be around 3500 unused calories, over the course of 100 days, you should be able to consistently create a daily caloric deficit that leads to you whittling away those unwanted love handles. Now that you’re improving your body composition and you’re losing surface level fat at a reasonable pace, it’s time to start focusing on getting rid of that stubborn visceral fat.
DOES RIDING THE PELOTON GIVE YOU ABS?
Riding your bike for 15 – 20 minutes first thing in the morning when you wake up is a great way to shed surface level fat and get rid of the love handles. Visceral fat on the other hand, covers organs such as the liver, intestines and pancreas and is a little bit more stubborn in nature and harder to eliminate. Consequently, your bike riding is going to have to be a part of an overall bigger plan to target the more rigid Visceral fat and eventually get the six pack abs you’re looking for.
3 DAILY HABITS TO HELP YOU ON YOUR WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY
In addition to riding your Peloton, you can implement these 3 daily habits to get rid of that unwanted visceral fat and build the chiseled abs you want.
STEP 1 – COUNTY YOUR CALORIES
The first thing that you want to do is check and recheck your caloric intake versus how many calories that you’re burning a day. The harsh reality of the situation is that we usually underestimate how many calories that we are taking in and overestimate the amount of calories that we are burning. Make sure you are actually creating a caloric deficit and not creating a sneaky caloric surplus.
STEP2 – EAT HEALTHY SNACKS THROUGHOUT THE DAY TO FIGHT HUNGER
The second step that you want to take is to consistently eat healthy snacks throughout the day. I know this sounds counterintuitive to a goal of losing weight, but eating healthy snacks that are not calorie dense and stave off hunger is a great way to keep your caloric deficit at a level where you don’t trigger your body’s starvation self defense mechanism where it actually fights against weight loss.
STEP 3 – ENGAGE IN PROPER NUTRIENT TIMING
Lastly, you want to focus on nutrient timing, more specifically you want to provide your body with energy close to the time it’s actually going to use it. We get most of our energy from carbs, so you should be eating carbs around your work out time to replenish all of the fuel you are going to burn during your workout. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you don’t want to provide your body with a whole bunch of energy when it’s not going to use it. Moral of the story is this, you should limit your carbohydrate intake before bed. Remember, 3500 unused calories makes up one pound of fat. If you’re not calculating your caloric deficit correctly and your eating carbohydrates right before bed when your body might not use all of the energy you’re putting in, that could create a situation where you are either maintaining your current weight, which isn’t the goal or worse, you could actually put on weight.
WHAT EXERCISE MACHINE IS BEST FOR LOSING BELLY FAT?
The bottom line is, the Peloton Bike is a holistic weight loss tool that can assist you over the course of your weight loss journey. Can Peloton help you lose your love handles, sure! Can riding the Peloton help you to get abs, definitely. There are a variety of different exercises in the Peloton App that can help you lose the weight that you are looking for. With all that being said, the Peloton Bike is in no way shape or form a genie and can’t do magic. If you buy a Peloton bike and use it as an expensive clothes rack instead of an actual piece of fitness equipment, you will never see the results you want. If, on the other hand, you try Peloton for 30 days and take your workouts and every supplemental factor to your overall health seriously, you will definitely get to the target weight that you are trying to achieve.
