Recumbent Bike for Weight Loss: Why You're Not Dropping Pounds

Hi, you have been ride recumbent bike for some days. Have you ever wondered why some people eat more than you and exercise less than you, but they are still slimmer than you?

Why you can’t loose any body weight no matter however controlling your diet and exercising?

Is a recumbent bike good for weight loss? 

Well, today let's explore the secrets to shedding pounds and learn how to design a personalized weight-loss low-impact recumbent bike workout plan for yourself.

Set Clear Weigh Loss Goals

Losing Weight Quickly Isn't Always Better

Focus on losing 1-2 pounds per week -- sustainable weight loss

According a reseach from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), losing 1–2 pounds per week is a safe and effective weight loss rate.

1-2 pounds per week is a healthy but sustainable range. At this rate, you don’t need to worry about rebound in weight gain. You just need to make a balanced diet and a middle level exercise.

Many people are seeking speedy weight loss methods and try all kinds of popular methods such as crash diets, cleanse diets, or mono diets. However, these often lead to:

• Muscle loss
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Weakened immunity

In extreme cases, they can lead to hair falling out, skin looking dull, or even in some cases, your body getting nervous and going into "energy-saving mode,” where your metabolism slows down.

So your weight bounces back fast when you go back to normal eating routine. You don’t want that. You need to control your weight loss speed and maintain it for 6-12 month. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Calorie Deficit: The Key to Weight Loss Success

What you need is creating a caloric deficit—burning more calories than you eat each day. You can create it in two ways

Diet: Reduce junk food (usually high in calories) and high-fat and protein foods.

Aerobic Exercise: Ride for enough time on your recumbent stationary bike.

As a rough estimate by biologist, 3,500 calories equals 1 pound of fat lost.

If you create a 500–1,000 calorie deficit every day, you will lose 1-2 pounds every week and achieve your goal 

So how do you create a 500–1,000 calorie deficit?

BMR and TDEE

Before we go into a deep study about how we can lose fat healthily, we must understand two concepts: BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).

Unknowing both concepts is the most common reason that you feel exhausted during weight loss and then quit.

BMR is the least number of calories your body requires to perform basic life-sustaining functions, such as heartbeat, respiration, and temperature regulation when you are at complete rest with no physical activity. I mean, you lie on your bed and watch YouTube all day.

BMR is the most basic energy needs of the body. Eating fewer calories than your BMR can cause "starvation mode," in which your metabolism slows. Once your body adjusts to this starvation-mode state,  your weight will regain very fast when your return to a regular diet.

Besides that, regularly eating below your BMR can lead to:

• Metabolic imbalances
• Muscle loss
• Reduced immunity
• Hormonal imbalances (notably irregular menstrual periods in women)

Based a BMR and calorie deficit research, it's essential to keep your daily caloric intake above your BMR to lower these risks. That mean you need to eat “enough” food and create a caloric deficit of 500–1,000 calories by riding stationary recumbent bike.

But how much “enough” is enough?

Calculate Your BMR by Mifflin-St Jeor Equation

In the 1990s, the nutritionists Mark D. Mifflin and Mary L. St Jeor created the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation by using larger sample sizes and more modern experimental data.

The following equation provides a more precise way to calculate your BMR in present-day society:

Mifflin-St Jeor Equation

For Men:

BMR=66+(6.23×weight in pounds)+(12.7×height in inches)−(6.8×age in years)

For Women:

BMR = 655 + (4.35 × weight in pounds) + (4.7 × height in inches) − (4.7 × age in years) 

Calculate TDEE by Activity Factor

Once you have your BMR, you need to multiply it by an activity factor to find out your TDEE:

TDEE = BMR × Activity Factor

Your "activity factor” is  based on how much exercise you do regularly.

You need to evaluate your average activity level based on below info, and then multiply your BMR by that number.

1.200 = sedentary (you do very little or no exercise. You sit in front of computer all day)

1.375 = light activity (light exercise 1-3 days/week. You try to do some stationary bike workouts every other day, but sometimes you just really don’t want to get up from sofa).

1.550 = moderate activity (moderate exercise or team sports 3-5 days/week. You lift weights a few times a week and probably hit the treadmill on non-lifting days)

1.725 =very active (Fitness enthusiasts. You almost go to gym every day)

1.900 = extra active (you are a professional athlete or you work in a concrete factory.)

Calculate Your BMR and TDEE

So, let's grab a calculator calculate your BMR and TDEE with me.

Using myself as an example:

I am 39, weigh 165 lbs, and am 6 feet 1 inch (73 inches) tall. I lead a sedentary lifestyle, largely because I sit in front of my computer all day.

So my BMR is:

66+(6.23× 165 pounds)+(12.7×73 inches)−(6.8×39 in years) = 1755 kcal

Then, I multiply my BMR by my activity level factor -- 1.2 for sedentary. This gives me my TDEE:

1755×1.2=2106 kcal

Calculate Your Calorie Deficit

So if I want to loss weight. I need to eat less, but at least 1755 kcal food per day.

Let’s assume I only eat 1755 kcal food. And my body burn 2106 kcal per day (TDEE)

So my Calorie Deficit is 351 kcal (2106−1755=351 kcal).

But my goal is to lose 1 pound per week, which requires a daily calorie deficit up to 500 kcal. So I still need to create an additional calorie deficit:

500 − 351 = 149 kcal per day * 7 days = 1,043 kcal per week

So, to lose one pound of fat, I need to burn an extra 1,043 kcal a week by riding on my bike RB405 which I think it's the best recumbent bike I ever had.

Now it's your turn! How much of a calorie deficit do you need each day to achieve your goal? Follow the same steps to calculate your daily calorie intake and weekly recumbent bike exercise requirements, please.

So, to sum up, we already have our daily calorie intake and weekly calorie expenditure. How many food should we eat and how many hours should we spend on cycling? Let's dive into that next!

Diet Control

Dietary control is a multifaceted problem deserving several articles.  However, in this article, I only want to emphasize two simple rules.

Track Everything You Eat

The first step is to buy a kitchen scale and weigh everything you eat. And I mean everything—a spoonful of sugar, a packet of sauce, maybe some little snacks.

You might be surprised by how many calories you consume daily without noticing it.

You MUST enter all food data into a calories burned tracking app, like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer.

Maintain this habit for at least six months until you can roughly approximate how many calories are in everything you eat.

Choose the Right Foods

If you have been logging your daily calorie intake for a few days, you may find yourself hungry all the time and it's impossible to meet your daily calorie intake goal. Because you are eating the wrong foods.

To explain this, I researched USDA FoodData Central and compared a few common foods based on their calories. It's shock to see how much they differ in one glance - Two chicken breasts contain roughly the same calories as one palm-sized piece of chocolate.

Food	Chocolate	Boiled Broccoli	Chicken Breast	White Rice
Weight	3.5 oz	52.9 oz	11.8 oz	14.9 oz
Volume	a few pieces	1 pot	2 plates	1 bowl
Calories	~550 kcal	~550 kcal	~550 kcal	~550 kcal

 

Obviously, the satiety is also vastly different.

Food	Satiety	Duration	Reason
Chocolate	Weak	30 min to 1 hour	High in sugar and fat, spikes blood sugar much faster but lower in fiber, therefore digests quickly.
Chicken Breast	Strong	3 to 5 hours	High in protein, digests slowly,  keeps you feeling full longer, and helps control your hunger..
White Rice	Moderate	1.5 to 2 hours	Carbs digest quite fast, yielding stable energy, but they are low on fiber.
Boiled Broccoli	Strong	3 to 4 hours	Bulk, high fiber and water content, digests slowly, fills the stomach.

I mean, don't get me wrong—you could definitely eat a dozen chocolates without a problem, but eating two full plates of chicken breast in one sitting would be quite something.

Chocolate has several times the calories of chicken breast, it still makes you feel hungry much much sooner.

If you never feel satisfied after eating or you're constantly snacking even if you're eating a decent amount, it's time to change your diet plan. Here's an healthy meal plan sample. Also, you can get all kinds of healthy meal plan from you new calorie-counting app.

Sample Healthy Meal Plan

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs (Protein)

Whole-grain toast (Carbs, Fiber)

Fresh fruit (e.g., apple) (Vitamins, Fiber)

Lunch:

Grilled chicken breast (Protein)

Brown rice (Carbs, Fiber)

Steamed broccoli (Vitamins, Fiber)

Dinner:

Baked salmon (Protein, Healthy fats, Omega-3s)

Roasted sweet potatoes (Carbs, Fiber, Vitamins)

Side salad (Cucumbers, bell peppers) (Vitamins, Fiber)

Snacks:

Fresh fruit (e.g., orange) (Vitamins, Fiber)

A health meal like above will help you feel fuller for a longer time while providing less calories, so that you can keep your ideal calorie deficit for fitness goals.

Or, you can build your own meal plan based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) release these guidelines and update them every five years.

People say "Eat less, move more." Now that we already know how to eat less without feeling hungry, it’s time to move the "move more" part.

So, how many calories do you burn on a recumbent bike? Let's break it down.

Recumbent Bike Workout Plan

For a more scientifically-guided workout, I highly recommend bring the Heart Rate Zones concept into your fat-burning workouts because everybody's fitness levels differ, and we all have different body types.

Heart rate zone is one of the most popular concepts in modern cycling training. It is also excellent for workouts on a recumbent bike.

Heart Rate Zone 1 (50-60% MaxHR):

This is the lowest-effort zone. Usually for warm-ups and recovery.

Maximum Heart Rate = 220 - Your Age

Heart Rate Zone 2 (60-70% MaxHR) :

This is the "comfortable cycling zone“. You’ll begin to notice your breathing increase and speaking gets just a bit more difficult.

Heart Rate Zone 3 (70-80% MaxHR):

This is what we refer to as "Base Pace” and active recovery between intervals. That is a hard but achievable pace.

Heart Rate Zone 4 (80-90% MaxHR):

This is the zone where you start to feel uncomfortable, reached during push pace and all outs. You’re not going to get locked up in here.”

Heart Rate Zone 5 (90-100% MaxHR）: You can find yourself in the red zone during an All Out effort. When you do come here you shouldn’t stay any longer than necessary and go back to Zone 3 or Zone 4 ASAP.

Data Table for recumbent exercise bike calories burned

Weight	Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5
LBS	Recovery	Endurance	Tempo	Threshold	VO2 Max
110	125	250	400	500	625
130	150	300	480	600	750
150	175	350	560	700	875
170	200	400	640	800	1000
190	225	450	720	900	1125
210	250	500	800	1000	1250
230	275	550	880	1100	1375
250	300	600	960	1200	1500
270	325	650	1040	1300	1625
290	350	700	1120	1400	1750
310	375	750	1200	1500	1875

For example, to burn 1,043 kcal, I'd need to ride 2 hours in Zone 3 or 3 hours in Zone 2 per week .

I prefer longer durations and lower-intensity rides in Zone 2. At this level I can watch TV and have casual conversations with my family.

And my recumbent bike RB405 is designed for long-duration cycling. By the way, one recumbent bike benefits is long-duration bike workouts with back support. So I do enjoy the one-hour cycle exercise and my record is 3 hours non-stop cycling and watch two moives in a row.

So here's my simple, personalized cycling plan:

Daily calorie intake: At least 1,772 kcal per day.

Exercise: 3 x 1HR of low-intensity biking per week

Now, how about you? How often and how long should you to cycle per week?

You may need more time to cycle than I do. This highlights one of the significant drawbacks of aerobic exercise: Time commitment. Most aerobics need a lot of time.

It take me 3 hours a week to losing 1 pound. If you aim to lose 2 pounds a week, you need even more time — which is a challenge to juggle in this busy day and age — work, housework, and raising kids.

So, is there a more efficient way to burn fat?

The answer is yes! HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is what you are looking for.

According to a research "Impact of High-Intensity Interval Training on Cardio-Metabolic Health Outcomes and Mitochondrial Function in Older Adults" published on the NIH website, the fat-burning effectiveness of HIIT is driven by two mechanisms: Increased Calorie Intake and Afterburn Effect.

Increased Calorie Intake:

The body will burn out more energy through the intense periods.

Afterburn Effect :

HIIT can raise post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC, or Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption). The body, therefore, spends extra energy to restore balance, and the process will burn fat constantly for 6–24 hours after exercise.

HIIT Workout on Recumbent Bike in 20 Minutes

Calories burned while exercising: ~240–400 kcal

Afterburn calories: An additional 50–150 kcal for the next 6–24 hours

Likewise, low-to-moderate intensity cycling for 45 minutes burns approximately 300–400 kcal but it burn less exercise calorie after exercise.

HIIT exercise requires you to have some basic fitness and the ability to handle tough workouts. Beginners should start with low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise and older adults should avoid HIIT

IMPORTANT: HIIT is not suitable for older adults.The cardio workouts for seniors is low-to-moderate intensity low-impact cardio.

So if I choose to do HIIT, I only need one 20-minute HIIT recumbent bike session on Tuesday and Thursday and one 30-minute low-intensity cycling on the weekend, and boom, 1000 kcal calories burned.

But is fat loss so simple? -- Well, no matter how I want to say yes, the answer is no. Simply "eat less and move more” isn't enough to guarantee success. You also have to develop better exercise habits.

Building Positive Exercise Habits

Stay Hydration during workouts

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) states that even a 2% reduction in body weight from dehydration will decrease 10–20% in athletic performance.

Our body sweats at a rate between 0.5 and 1.5 L/h in moderate-intensity cycling, and 2–3 L/h in high-intensity workouts (or cycle under high temperature).

So to restore the lost fluids, ACSM advises to drink 150–250 ml of water every 15–20 minutes during exercise. 

Before I get on the bike, I usually make a 700 ml sports drink or electrolyte beverage and sip it every 10 minutes. After workouts I make a high-protein shake or, occasionally, supplements.

Staying fully hydrated helps you perform to the best of your ability and is crucial to a much more pleasant workout — so you can ride for a longer time.

Wear Heart Rate Monitoring Devices

Middle-aged and older adults have weaker hearts and blood vessels, and they are more likely to have heart problems that don’t show symptoms compared to younger people.

For instance, over-exercising or exercising too aggressively can lead to an excessively high heart beat rate, which can cause arrhythmia or angina.

Beside that measuring your heart rate can help your archive your workout goals. It can help you burn fat more effectively with 60%–70% of max heart beat rate or improve endurance and cardio with 70%–80% of max heart rate.

Keeping exercise in the target heart beat rate range maximizes its efficiency. You need to put your hands on heart rate sensors all the time, or you can choose a heart rate band. Your adult recumbent bike will receive the data and show it on the LCD panel display.

Using Data to Monitor Your Fitness Journey

Often, we overestimate our efforts in fitness. When we can't achieve our goals, we starts wonder "Can you lose weight on a recumbent bike?"

I always encourage users to pair their cycling workouts with virtual cycling apps. These apps will record your heart rate, speed, distance, power output, and calories burned.

Those data will tell you how long have you ride and how many calories have you burn. You will find you just didn't do it enough.

And another bonus, you’ll stay more interested in cycling for a longer time if you actively participate in the app's online cycling games. Your interest helps you achieve your weight loss goals easily.

Listen to the Right Music or Watch Your Favorite Shows

Indoor cycling can feel a bit boring when compared to outdoor rides. But a good music list or your favorite shows will help a lot.

I like to listen to music when I cycle. Here is some tips I want to share with you.

Choose music based on your cadence

Medium-speed / low-intensity cycling has a normal cadence of 60-90 RPM. You need to choose music with a tempo of 90-110 BPM so that each pedal stroke coincides with the beat of your music.

Here is some songs I like:

Pop Music:

"Shape of You” — Ed Sheeran (96 BPM)

"Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars (115 BPM)

Classic Retro:

"Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson (117 BPM)

"Stayin' Alive” — Bee Gees (103 BPM)

You can search each song with a specific BPM, but you can easily find cycling playlists on apps like Spotify, which group songs by BPM.

OK. That's all I want to share with you. I hope you will love and enjoy the recumbent bike as much as I do.

Live long and prosper.