Shop Prescription Glasses for Biking

In addition to being a fun activity that allows you to get outdoors and enjoy some fresh air, biking also burns calories and builds muscle. With obesity and diabetes continuing to rise, it’s important that we all take our health and exercise seriously. Here we’ll take a look at just how many calories the averaging biking trip burns from an individual.

It's Cardio

Biking is considered a moderately-intense cardiovascular workout which helps burns calories and fat, while improving muscle tone, heart health, stamina and endurance. In fact, according to the British Medical Association, biking just 20 miles per week can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by as much as 50%. If that doesn’t get you outside riding your bike, then I don’t know what will!

Studies have also shown that biking regularly improves the mental and emotional state of a rider. Getting outside riding on a warm sunny day releases the “happy” chemicals in your body known as endorphins. When these are released, you’ll naturally become happier and more content.

How Many Calories Does Biking Burn?

The amount of calories you’ll burn from biking depends on a number of different factors, such as your weight, speed at which you’re biking, and whether you’re going uphill, downhill or over a flat terrain.

While there are many different factors which determine how many calories you’ll burn from biking, I’ll try to give you a approximation: a full grown adult weighing 150 pounds and biking very lightly would burn around 400 calories in one hour if they continued at a light pace. Someone weighing the same amount but biking more rigorously would burn nearly 700 calories in only one hour. As you can see, the amount of calories you burn are greatly affected by how hard you bike.

How To Burn The Most Calories From Biking

If you want to burn the most calories as possible from your biking trip, you should try to cycle at the fastest reasonable speed possible. Don’t strain yourself to the point where you’re going to fall over and pass out, but instead find the maximum speed at which you can remain consistent throughout your trip. In addition, you should also look for routes which take you uphill rather than downhill.

When you start biking for the purpose of losing calories, you’ll likely find that your body becomes dehydrated more quickly. Instead of just carrying water with you, I recommend taking a bottle of electrolyte-filled sports drink with you.