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Why does this single out the bicycle? Bicycles are very
efficient machines and when properly fit to you, are
comfortable and easy to operate. With this combination of
features, the bicycle is an enjoyable way to exercise at an
easy to moderate effort level continuously for long periods
of time. It has been shown that vigorous exercise over
short periods of time tends to burn sugars and carbohydrates
and leads to immediate feelings of hunger which leads us to
eat ravenously. The idea that we have just had a good
exercise justifies our “pigging out” to satisfy our hunger.
However, riding a bicycle at an easy to
moderate pace for an hour or more will burn mostly fat
energy and not cause extreme hunger pangs. While it is
difficult to continue most other types of exercise for and
hour or more, on a bicycle it is quite easy. On a bicycle,
in an hour, traveling at an easy pace, you will travel 8 to
12 miles seeing a lot of scenery and at this rate your
breathing will not be labored and you should be able to
carry on normal conversations with your riding companions.
Good exercise, good conversation, fresh air and a feeling of
freedom all while burning off fat and improving your
circulation.
Whats not to like? Once you
have done this for a while, you will find that an hour
bicycle ride at a moderate pace will not tire you and you
can finish with out being ravenously hungry. While
replacing fat with muscle doesn’t produce the dramatic
weight losses when you climb on the scale, the most
noticeable effect I find is in the mirror; those rolls of
fat just slowly melt away.
*Holloszy and Coyle (1984) “Adaptations
of skeletal muscle to endurance exercise and their metabolic
consequences. Journal of Applied Physiology 56
Please click here for additional information
or if you would like to contact the
author of this article, Earl Lang, owner of the Acme
Bicycle Shop in Punta Gorda. Thank you!
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today?
Research* has shown that fat is only burned
aerobically and by moderate intensity exercise over
a long term. It has been observed that low-power
(exercise) carbohydrate oxidation facilitates fat
oxidation, but that high-power carbohydrate
oxidation actually inhibits fat use. 
