If you watch cycling competitions, you will know that being lighter helps you climb hills. And as cycling season approaches once again, you may be wondering how to lose a few pounds so that your own cycling, especially hill-climbing, is easier.

While it would be nice to think that riding alone will make you lighter, this is not the case. Exercise for weight loss is not a direct cause and effect relationship. Of course, when you started riding your bike, you might have lost a few pounds easily, but it’s quite possible you eventually gained them all back. It’s a sad fact that training regularly will make you a fitter cyclist, but it will not necessarily lead to fat loss.

Sounds unfair, doesn’t it? After all, exercise leads to increased muscle mass, improved fat burning capabilities and increased energy – why wouldn’t that also lead to fat loss? It will to a certain extent, but to maintain weight loss you will need to decrease your caloric intake.

Think about it – as you get fitter and lighter you need also need fewer calories to maintain your weight. And as you ride more and become more fit, your body becomes more efficient and burns fewer calories than when you started riding. Therefore you lose less weight as you get fit.

Here are some of the factors to consider when losing weight while training for a cycling event.

Some of the benefits from exercise

• More muscle mass means you burn more calories all the time
• Improved aerobic fitness equals more efficient and faster access to calories stored as fat
• Exercise initially increases appetite, but regular exercise is an appetite suppressant
• Time spent exercising is time burning calories and not eating

Some of the challenges with exercise and weight loss:

• You may feel like you need to eat more
• Individual exercise sessions do not burn a lot of calories. The effect of exercising is cumulative (just like the effects of overeating)
• If you are overtraining, or training hard for a specific event, fatigue may cause overeating
• You cannot exercise enough to make up for overeating
• As you get fitter you get more efficient, meaning you burn less calories per exercise session
• As you lose weight you need to consume fewer calories

5 Tips for successful weight loss while training

• Exercise 5 days per week, 30-60 minutes a day, with 2 days of strength training and 3 days of aerobic exercise
• Use your two days of strength training to build muscles which burns more calories all day long
• Consistently get three days of aerobic exercise between 70-80% Target Heart Rate (or 7 or 8 / 10 on a scale of perceived exertion)
• Watch your portion sizes, eat a little less at every meal, measure portions if necessary
• Don’t drink your calories – they do not make you feel full and usually drinks (even if they are good for you) are high calorie
• Be consistent, if you don’t see weight loss immediately don’t be discouraged, it takes a little time – if you are gaining weight you need to cut back on calories. It is the only way to get the results you want.

Now is the perfect time to lose those extra pounds that you may have gained over the holidays. Once your cycling season gets started it is harder to lose the extra pounds and do all your training rides. Starting your weight loss before cycling season is a great way to get a head start on your best season and enjoy the results when you get on your bike.