How to Lose Weight on a Stationary Bike?

Are you aiming to lose weight on your exercise bike? Burn these damn calories? Get rid off these unwanted kilos and fat? We will reveal you EVERYTHING! And more: How many calories should you burn to lose 1kg of fat? Which training is more efficient to lose weight? Why is it important to burn fat but also refine legs, thighs and buttocks and strengthen your muscles?

1) How many calories should you burn to lose 1kg of fat?

​1 gram of fat is equivalent to 9 kilocalories so you need to burn 9 000 kilocalories to lose 1kg of fat. Our body however burns calories for digestion, about 2 000 kcal for 1kg of fat. You thus need to burn 7 000 kilocalories to lose 1kg of fat.

The good and the bad news! We humans are very good fat store keepers but also very poor fat sellers! For some of you, this will sound like two bad news… Our body does get rid off fat only if it is forced to do it. The good news is that it happens! Especially when you are exercising and doing sport.

2) How many calories do you burn by working out on a stationary bike?

In order to lose 1kg, you need to exercise three times a week for 1h on your stationary bike, that is approximately 13 hours of exercise per month (620 x 13 = 8 060 kcal). 30 minutes of stationary bike 3 times a week will enable you to lose 0,5 kg per month. Here is the next question: Isn’t it more efficient to do an interval training (HIIT) than a cardio workout to lose weight?

Cardio vs Interval Training: Which is the most efficient workout to lose weight?

This question has been debated among researchers and many studies have been carried out about that! The interval training is for sure more intense but also shorter than a cardio workout. During a cardio workout (in the aerobic zone in which your heart rate reaches 70 to 80 % of your maximum heart rate), your body uses fat reserves to produce energy while it first draws on sugar reserves during a high intensity interval training (see How to exercise on a stationary bike?).

However, our body continues to burn calories and fat several hours after exercise.This is known as the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) ¹ or the afterburn effect. This scientific study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences suggested a relationship between the exercise intensity and the duration of the EPOC.

Researchers from the Florida State University showed that the people who had done an interval training were burning 10 % more calories over the 24 hours after exercise than those who had done a cardio workout, the calories burnt during exercise had been the same for the two groups of people.

Another study published in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise ² showed that people who cycled for 45 minutes at a vigorous pace burned 190 kilocalories after the exercise in the following 14 hours, which represent 37% of the calories burned during exercise.

Recent studies tend to show that a combination of cardio workout and HIIT would be more efficient and have greater benefit than each individual training separately! Practicing both types of training, cardio and interval training, would be the best solution to lose weight.

3) The fat / muscle ratio: more important than calories!

Starting from 25 years, we lose muscles and if we don’t do anything to compensate, our muscles will melt and our fat increase over the years. It is therefore extremely important to exercise and do sport regularly. The stationary bike is a very good way to exercise and it also strengthens your thighs, legs and buttocks. But that’s not all!

When you are not doing sport (and that’s a real good news!), your body still burns calories at rest, all the more since your muscle mass is important! 1kg of muscle burns 12 kcal per day at rest, while 1kg of fat only burns 4 kcal per day. Muscles burn 3 times more calories at rest than fat.

It is therefore important to have sufficient muscle to naturally burn ingested calories. Working out on an exercise bike will help you to increase your muscle mass and burn calories at rest as well! Having a regular physical activity results in a virtuous circle: less fat, more muscles, more calories burnt, etc.

How can you calculate your muscle and body fat mass?

You need a smart scale or a body fat scale (like this one or that one from the brand Nokia). The body fat scale will tell you exactly what percentage of muscle and fat your body is composed of.

Once you know how many kilograms of muscle you have, you can multiply that number by 12 in order to know how many calories your muscles burn at rest each day. You will easily see that the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn at rest and the easier it is to maintain your weight. The body fat scale will help you to follow your body fat and muscle.

The Body Fat Percentage (BFP)

To lose fat and not muscles, that’s key! That’s why sport is essential in a diet. The exercise on a stationary bike is a very good way to reduce body fat and strengthen your muscles. Strengthen your muscles is important as it gives you a good silhouette. But regular exercise is not enough to lose weight, you should also find a balance between calorie consumption and calorie intake.

4) Which balance between calorie intake and exercise?

Daily Calorie Needs

The daily calorie needs represented above are those of people having a light physical activity during the day (30 minutes a day). These values may vary according to the physical acitvity (time and frequency): about +10 % for 1 hour of daily physical activity and -10 % for no physical activity at all.

A 40-year-old woman taking 2 200 kilocalories per day will be well balanced. However, if she has a regular physical activity (on average 2-3 times a week during 1 hour), then she will strengthen her muscles and lose weight in ideal conditions.

You’ll find below other practical tips and advice to help you lose weight on your exercise bike. If you follow these advice, no doubt you’ll get rid off these unwanted kilos!

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