2/18/2021 0 Comments Cycling To Lose WeightCycling is one of the ideal activities to help losing weight. But what is the science behind this and how to maximize the benefits it could bring? This article will simplify everything you should know about this topic! No, cycling is not just for fun!In 2013, researchers have studied a weight loss camp for adolescents and their behavioral patterns. One of the conclusions drawn from that was “[…] participants become more sedentary as they de-select activities like bike riding” with reasonings that they are not as effective as going to the gym (or formalized activity). This belief is not true at all! In an article called Walking and Cycling for Healthy Cities, researchers have point out the correlation between countries with high rate of active transport and obesity, saying that countries with more people cycling and walking daily have lower risk of obesity. It has been shown that just by commuting on bike, chances are you can lose your mass weight just as good as working out in fitness centres. Intensive cycling with methods like HIIT or SIT even shows clearer results as they are designed to achieve great body compositions in a short amount of time. Cyling also helps boosting the metabolic, meaning even after finishing your route, your body will still burn fat. Optimizing cycling for weight lossNow that we have gotten the most common excuse out of the way, here are some aspects you should focus on in order to have an idea about what you want to do next. Aspect 1: MotivationThis is a very interesting point made in the podcast Ask a Cycling Coach. According to Chad Timmerman, Head Coach & Co-Founder at TrainerRoad, it is required for everyone to ask themselves the question “Why?” before getting into training. Are you doing this because you really need to lose some pounds or because everybody does it? Is this a performance thing or there’s something about body image that you are concerned about? Having a clear, positive and realistic mindset will make your goal less of a “work” and more of a challenge. This should be about you, not anyone else. Aspect 2: HIITIn the aforementioned paragraph, we have explained briefly about the possible effects that intensive training can have on your weight. Choosing high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the preferable ways, which consisted of bursts of intensive exercises in between low-intensive ones. Comparing to moderate exercise, HIIT can reduce an amount of 25.8% more in fat loss. However, as they can be quite damaging, especially to muscle fibres, a suggested routine by Adam Carey, CEO of corperformance.co.uk, is to only apply this twice a week on an empty stomach, along with long rides. Aspect 3: DurationAnother helpful suggestion would be to build your endurance by increasing the time and length of the route. Say, you start riding for 15 minutes per day around your block, after two days you can slowly increase to 30 minutes around two blocks and so on. Set yourself some goals or destinations to reach – it would make the trip more exciting. This deals more with mentality – some days it will be hard to keep pushing yourself further, but the result will be very satisfying. Aspect 4: Healthy diet and eating habitsCycling alone will not be enough – you also have to maintain a good diet along the way. It is best for you to consult your nutritionist for a good plan that’s suitable for your own body. If you want to lessen your intake, you can drink water before every meal – this helps filling your stomach and decrease your appetize. You should be aware of the amount of snacks you eat after cycling – binging after a tiring route is not the most ideal thing to do. You can also control calories by tracking on applications and break big meals into smaller ones. Aspect 5: Cross-trainingIs cycling alone too boring? Try cross-training! This can help you develop at more than one area, which is more beneficial for your body. You can either do two or more activities in one session or do them seperately on different days. A normally seen combo would be endurance and heavy resistant training, like cycling and running. You can begin by cycling for half an hour, then run for 20 minutes. A note on body imageAccording to a research published on Health Sociology Review, people with obesity are on a spectrum from being hopeful that they can achieve a “normal” size to striving for a change in public’s mental image about weight. That means, they are very self-concious and are all struggling to fit in while coping with the self-realization progress and constant fatphobia. The society, erspecially media, has played a very important part in depicting our illusion upon body image, especially the plus-size community. If you are also sharing the same difficulty, please be reminded that there is more to cycling than just improving your looks and fitting into social stereotypes. It can contribute a lot to your overall condition, thus should be labelled as an activity to keep you healthy and happy. ConclusionCycling is a very time-efficient and accessible physical activity, especially for those of us with busy schedule or are not very keen of going to to fitness facilities. By putting your effort into training and being mindful about a healthier lifestyle, lower the number on your scale will not seem like such an impossible task anymore.
Source: Cycling To Lose Weight via Active Pedal https://ift.tt/3jZtFrK
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2/17/2021 0 Comments Bike Maintenance 101Is your bike having a minor problem? We know that even a flat tire can trouble first-time bike owners, yet there are so many sources with too much information for beginners to decipher. That is why we are here to help. This is a simplified guideline to introduce you to the basics and provide you with some tips on how to do the bike maintenance easier. Break down your bicycleYou need names to call the parts in order to understand the issue and detect problems with your bike. Here are all the vocabularies on a picture: Where to learn bike maintainace?Of course, friends and community are the first options! They are always around and can even guide you through the first few tune-up sessions. It is also more convenient to contact them for emergencies, like when your bike broke down in the middle of a route for example. Books about bike repairing can be found in stores or online (e-books). Some very useful ones include Park Tools’ Big Blue Book and Dennis Bailey’s Bike Repair and Maintenance for Dummies. The instructions provided are short and clear, suitable for people who are new to this, along with referencing pictures for better imagination. Websites are more time-efficient and accessible, although it is sometimes dubious whether the information are correct or not. Of all the trustful sources, a to-go would be Sheldon Brown’s website, where the author gives you in-depth information upon each possible technical mishaps you may meet. Another hub would be r/bikewrench on the QnA-forum Reddit, where in about two minutes you will get an answer from fellow cyclists. A tip would be to send in a detailed question – that way people would be more interested in providing solutions for you. If you only need a general answer, search for keywords in the Subreddit instead. Youtube is another open source for people who learns faster by watching other people do it. There are thousands of videos with reliable content, both by professionals and amateurs, that you can have a look. Some “big” channels we would like to name are GCN, Berm Peak and GMBN Tech. PreparationYou cannot just clean or fix anything with your bare hands! Here is a very stripped down version of a toolbox for bike maintenance, which (1) does not cost a lot of money and (2) is not complicated to use. Cleaning solution: You can either buy degreasers in stores or make your own by mixing dish soap with water on a 2:1 ratio (two pumps per bucket). When cleaning you can use either a spray bottle and rags or a bucket and a sponge. Chain lubes: Avoid using WD-40 – this is not a good liquid for lubrication. You can always go for dry lube or ceramic lube depending on your budget and biking condition, but the extra cost on ceramic type is always worth it. Wrench (metric) hex keys: A very important tool for cyclists would be a travelling wrench set for various uses. You should pick out sets with materials like steel for a long duration. Wire rope cutters: They are small and strong enough to cut through anything, particularly brake and shifter cables. Chain tools and links: The name is pretty self-explanatory. Check what kind of chain your bike has beforehand in order to avoid ordering the wrong size/type. Tire inflator: A manual hand-held inflator should be fine, but if you are too lazy you can come to bike repair shops and ask them to do it for you. How to tune-up your bikeWe are listing off problems based on the structure of a normal “tune-up” checklist, thus we will not be able to cover everything. If you are in need of advice on a particular case, do check out the list of research sources we have mentioned above. Clean your bike: This is a given. Cleaning creates a sense of preparation and can also provide you with a first full look at the bike. Take your time to wipe down to the smallest details. Take care of the chain: Use a chain-checker to see if yours are worn out or not. If the chains are just dry, you can insert drops of chain lubes. If it is already stretched, replace it immediately. You wouldn’t want a squeaky chain that can potentially damage your chainrings and cassette. Inspect your brakes: Have a look at your brake pad and check for any signs of tear or wear. If the metal is poking out from the pad, get yourself a new pad. After that, adjust the pad so that they are hitting properly on the rim and make sure that they are not too loose or tight against the braking surface. Scan through the brake cable as well. Finally, give the wheel a spin for a last checking. True your wheels: First, squeeze the adjacent spokes to check its ability to resist. If there are loose spokes, use your spoke wrench or take your bike to the repair shop. Inflate your tires if they are flat and learn how to patch them if there are cuts. Tighten necessary parts: Headsets, seats, pedals, bottom brackets – check out all of them and see if they are in their right positions or not. If they are not, use the right wrench to tighten them. For the last two parts, remember to rotate to see if they are working smoothly or not. Inspect the bike: See if there are any dents or cracks at the joints. If there is, make an appointment with the local repair shop to check. Tips on how to keep your bike on good conditionChoose a bike you can afford: This may sound like an empty point but having a bike that is too fancy can turn out to be a bad investment, especially if the replacing parts for it are too rare in your neighbourhood. It is always wise to buy your bike at the same place that can give you a warranty and always has replacement stocks available. Have a tune-up schedule: Brake pads, chains and tires should be checked weekly. Bike frames can be washed per month or two, along with rims and braking surface. Other things can be done seasonally. Wipe down your bike after every trip: It is a good idea to do a clean through once you have arrived home, especially after a rainy day. This can help you at reducing the amount of dirt on working parts and detecting problems early. Keep your bike indoors: If you have enough space, keep it inside. The weather can easily wear the parts down and leave it in decay mode. Also, if you really treasure your bike, you would not want it to be stolen away by naughty kids. Be a familiar at your local repair shop: Check-up packages are usually overlooked but they are truly useful if you’re an avid cyclist with long trips. You should do it once every few months. If there’s a problem you cannot fix, bring it to them as soon as possible as small issues can always turn out to be big without proper help. If you have any questions about biking, this is also a perfect opportunity to ask professionals – they will be more than willing to share. Change worn out parts before it breaks down completely: TMI: It is even more expensive to replace a whole set of chainrings after your completely out of use chain has destroyed them. Start getting yourself used to this motto and replace parts that are easier to buy when they start showing signs of being worn down. These are some of the aspects that you should be aware of before deciding to fix or tune your own bike. Depending on the type of bike you are owning and the route, there will be other advice you should take. We hope that you can always keep your bike in its best condition and enjoy your trips to the max!
Source: Bike Maintenance 101 via Active Pedal https://ift.tt/3disfHy 2/17/2021 0 Comments How To Cycle With Your KidsWhen my 6-year-old niece told me about how she had wanted to try cycling, I was equally excited and worried. Doing outdoor activities with a kid is an uncharted territory for me, and there were a lot of things to unpack before actually having a tiny cycle buddy. After a while, though, I have certainly earned more experiences, enough to introduce to you how to cycle with kids, from A to Z. Why should you cycle with your kids?Like any other activities which requires moving, being on a bike is extra beneficial in terms of health, efficiency and relationships. By cycling, you can avoid having heart attacks, strengthens your bones and decreases the possibility of having obesity and diabetes. It also helps to build a stronger immune system and improve mental health. Using a bicycle to travel also contributes to reducing carbon footprint and, overall, is a really enjoyable, time-saving way to bond with children. How to make it more convincing for them?The easiest way would be to set goals. Example: For every five rides, you can reward your kids with something they enjoy like cookies or cash. If your family already has a point system, you can integrate things easily. For competitive ones, make it your own Olympics. Race through routes and let your kid beat you sometimes for entertainment. Ask your bike group or neighbours to team up as well – This might even become a relatively good thing to do within the community. There are also cycling competitions hosted every year, ask your kid if they are comfortable enough to sign up for one of those, too. It is relatively nicer to naturally convince them to follow you, though. What I do with my niece is to cycle to places that we need to go or enjoy being at in our free time. Twice a week, we would go to the market to get groceries, Tuesdays afternoons are reserved for our café hunt around the town, etc. Teaching her how to multitask brings me great joy and I sometimes get dragged into her secret schemes too, which is a sweet bonus. PreparationsOf course, your kid has to know how to ride a bike before we get into the fun. I did not have to teach mine (Thank God!) so I cannot give a helpful tip, but a very common way I see would be to give them a tricycle first. Supposing that you have already passed that step, a good bike and good gears come next. Are you planning to do this as a fun past-time or are you training for sports? Based on the intention, you can choose to rent or buy a road, hybrid or mountain bike. Gears like helmets, water bottles or knee pads are also really important and can be found in almost any sports shop. Bring a first-aid kit with you as well – you never know what’s gonna happen on the way. Lastly, mental preparation. It is cool if your kids are an active little one but if they are not, do not try to coerce them. Instead, explain to your kids that being healthy and fit can bring a lot of long-term benefits for them and it would be a fun parent-kid time. LocationFor the first few times, plan the route beforehand. It doesn’t matter if it’s out of the town or just lazy strolls in the neighbourhood – bear in mind to choose safe ones, avoid off-limits or rocky places and steer away from construction sites. Use this occasion to introduce your kids to traffic rules and how to deal with crazy drivers as well. When the kiddo is ready for more challenging routes, keep doing all of the aforementioned tips! Set up a GPS device for easy tracking and have designated stops on the way. Inform at least two people if you are planning to camp out or going to explore wild places. Safety precautionsThings are going to be slow for the first few rides. It’s totally fine. At the end of the day, this is not a competition. Allow children, as well as yourself, to make a stop or go home if you are not feeling well. Don’t ever let your child finish their ride if they show any signs of fatigue. Don’t ever let them go anywhere without you, or if you do, not without their phone next to them. Kids are insane. They are fierce, honest, naughty, borderline energetic. Cycling is a great way to tame them down without tying them to a certain thing and it can also do them really good in the long run. As I am finishing this article, my little niece is starting to plan a daily five-kilometre cycling routine for us and being the children’s person I am, I will dutifully indulge in this ambition of hers.
Source: How To Cycle With Your Kids via Active Pedal https://ift.tt/3u6voA7 |
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