What burns belly fat better, exercise bikes or resistance training?
Most of us assume that since riding exercise bikes burns calories, we should also burn belly fat. While aerobic exercise reduces belly fat for some people, there are factors to consider on who benefits the most.
The Fitness Superstore offers the largest inventory of stationary exercise bikes in Albuquerque. We’ll give you facts surrounding exercise bikes and burning belly fat.
Factors Involved in Burning Belly Fat
Aerobic cardio exercises such as bike riding have proven to be effective at burning calories. Coupled with a well-maintained diet, aerobic exercise can help you lose weight.
What’s important to know is that not everyone will see the same results from aerobic exercise. Factors such as our genetic makeup and hormones make it harder for some to burn belly fat.
To better understand what constitutes belly fat, we need to discuss the different kinds of body fat.
Visceral Fat
Visceral fat usually can’t be seen and surrounds your organs. Having too much visceral fat can be dangerous.
Visceral fat has been linked to higher rates of certain diseases:
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Dementia
- Certain cancers
- Inflammation
Since visceral fat can’t be seen, it’s possible for someone to appear thin but still carry high amounts of visceral fat. The best way to determine the amount of visceral fat your body has involves medical imaging.
Subcutaneous Fat
Subcutaneous fat is the fat that can be seen and touched on the outside of your stomach. Some refer to it as the “jiggly” fat. Subcutaneous fat is usually harmless, but it’s essential to keep this fat within a healthy range.
It’s vital to remember that having a certain percentage of body fat is healthy and necessary to keep your body functioning. Having 20% to 30% body fat is a healthy range for women. For men, it’s 15% to 25% body fat.
How Stationary Exercise Bikes Burn Fat
Studies have shown that aerobic exercise burns belly fat better than resistance training. In fact, aerobic exercise is better at specifically burning visceral fat. This is great news, considering how high amounts of this fat negatively impact your health.
Though aerobic exercise burns more fat, researchers have also found that coupling aerobic exercise with strength training produces the best results.
The only downside is that we don’t get to choose which areas of fat get burned first during aerobic exercise. Our genetics determines this, but any exercise leading to fat burning improves our health.
Best Ways to Use Stationary Exercise Bikes
Experts recommend trying to burn 300 to 600 calories during a 45-minute workout.
To maximize your efforts, try incorporating high-intensity interval training during your rides. One method includes Tabata. This requires you to set the bike on the highest intensity, peddling quickly for 20 seconds and then peddling slowly for 10 seconds.
Alternating these speeds using a high resistance helps your burn calories faster and more efficiently.
Other Lifestyle Changes to Help You Lose Belly Fat
Aerobic exercise alone will not help you proficiently lose belly fat. It’s necessary to incorporate lifelong lifestyle changes to help you burn and keep the belly fat off.
Diet
In general, to lose weight, you need to be burning more calories than you’re consuming.
Focus on eating a balanced, healthy diet consisting of whole foods. Try limiting or eliminating processed foods. Have a general idea of the calories you’re consuming.
Sleep
Getting enough sleep is essential to losing and maintaining a healthy weight. Lack of sleep can cause you to gain weight in various ways:
- Increased hunger
- Increased sugar cravings
- Increased calorie consumption
Lack of sleep also affects your ability to make mindful decisions. Not getting enough sleep can hijack your weight loss efforts.
Stress
Exercise helps you lower your stress levels, but managing your overall stress throughout the day is essential. Stress and emotional upheavals can lead to comfort and overeating.
Smoking
Smoking is not just bad for your lungs and cardiovascular system; studies have shown that smoking leads to belly fat. Quit smoking!
Strength Training
As was mentioned before, adding strength training to your exercise bike routine can help you burn fat quicker and more efficiently. It will also help you tone your abs as you lose weight in this area.
Where to Buy Stationary Exercise Bikes in Albuquerque
The Fitness Superstore offers the largest selection of stationary exercise bikes in Albuquerque. Our experts will help you find the perfect stationary bike for your home gym. We also offer the best low-price guarantee in the industry.
Check out our stores or shop online today to find your next stationary exercise bike.