How to Burn More Calories Walking or Cycling
It's no secret that cardiovascular exercises such as walking and cycling burn calories, which can help you lose weight or simply maintain your current weight. Of course, not all walking and cycling routines are created equal -- you aren't going to burn the same amount of calories if you work out at different intensity levels or with different regularity. Additionally, your eating and activity behaviors when you're not exercising can affect how effective your exercise ultimately is.
Instructions
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Increase or decease the vigorousness of your walking or cycling gradually when you do so. If you walk one hour per day for several weeks and then drastically reduce your workout time to 30 minutes every other day, your body may be so used to strenuous working out that it stops burning calories when you drop off the intensity. On the other hand, if you know you'll have less time to work out when school starts in a few weeks, you can decrease the time you cycle by a few minutes per day, to let your body gradually become accustomed to a lighter workout load.
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Eat food that is rich in carbohydrates just prior to walking or cycling. Although carbohydrates have gained a bad reputation in the dieting world, they are your body's most immediate and direct source of fuel, and will help you power your way through an exercise routine. Although they collect and, over time, form fat in sedentary, inactive people, you will quickly burn them -- and, subsequently, additional calories -- when you walk or cycle vigorously.
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Don't push yourself too hard. In addition to the fact that working out more vigorously than your body can handle will tire you out -- and potentially prevent you from working out the next day -- you might injure yourself, which would result in long-term inactivity and unburned calories.
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Go uphill whenever possible. Walking or cycling up an incline works your body harder and will burn more calories than a straightaway or a downhill trek. If you have the choice to go uphill or not, choose to do so, keeping in mind not to overwork your body.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit woman cycling, head-on image by kuhar from Fotolia.com
