Can riding on the street help you lose weight? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Can riding on the street help you lose weight?

Spyug

Spyug

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Now I know you can get a workout riding off road and on the track but I wonder if the same holds true for street riding.

The reason I bring it up is I jumped on the scales this morning and am down about 3.5 pounds after a weekend of cramming down turkey with all the trimmings and a several pieces of pumpkin and apple pies with whipped cream. The only exercise I got was walking the dog for about 20 minutes each day and a 4 hour ride on the GS yesterday.

As I hadn't been on any rides longer than an hour this year and as I found the ride to Niagara Falls and back to be stressful with all the sightseeing traffic out on a beautiful fall day, I think there might be something to it. I was very tense with some muscle cramping when I got back. My shoulder and arm muscles were in knots. On the upside, my BP which has been a lot higher than normal for the last 3 weeks (29 year old son moved back in for the 2nd time after a year away) was down to a perfect 110/70
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I guess if I was tense I was giving the muscles a workout whether I noticed it or not and that must have burned up the calories.

What do you think?

Cheers all,
Spyug
 
That's probably mostly water weight and glycogen. I'm sure riding on the streets burns up more calories than driving a car, though; especially if you're riding a particularly heavy sportbike. I doubt it would cause you to lose a significant amount of weight...unless you were horribly obese to begin with.
 
Only in that the more time you spend riding the less time you can spend eating. It probably uses not many more calories than breathing. Consider this: how much are you out of breath or raising your body temperature when riding a motorcycle?

I know for me riding makes me less fit. The time I spend on my motorcycle is time I don't spend bicycling or walking so I am less fit for the time I ride.

I suppose if the time you spend riding is time you don't spend eating or sleeping or laying on the couch it is slightly better for your fitness.
 
Straight up no, anyone else who argues this fact will get slammed and laughed at.

That's almost as stupid (no offense) as weight lifting to lose weight. You will also NEVER lose 3 pounds over a week unless you are starving the hell out of yourself. Water weight != weight.

The two most basic rules of weight loss:

#1. Use it or lose it; you will lose muscle if you do not use it as muscle takes FAR MORE to maintain than fat.
#2. Fat is used when you have no carbohydrates left <----- This is a basic rule, do not try to run a marathon with no carbs, you will "hit the runner wall" and crash harder than some one high siding into a wall.

Background information: I went from 300 pounds of pure fat to 150 pounds of muscle over the course of 6 years, I also have a degree in health sciences from Western.
 
I gain weight, I eat like crap, drink lots of coffee etc and stay out later...wake up earlier and sleep less
 
I agree with the above except to point out that you'd have more expertise if you stayed at a Best Western rather than go to Western. :)

I'll leave now.

Edit. yes, I know it's supposed to be a Holiday Inn but you get my drift...
 
I'm also going to suggest that it was a loss of water weight. I know that I find myself dehydrating pretty quickly on longer rides. Even though motorcycling requires a certain amount of physical ability and endurance, there's no way that one can (truly) lose that kind of weight over a weekend, regardless of physical activity.
 
No.
Motocross/enduro on the other hand where you can burn over 1000 cal. an hour is great......I lost 20 lbs in 2.5 weeks riding 4 times a week.
 
As stated water weight, especially while in full leathers.

One note, a lot of SS riders eat like crap while on the road. And you get jacked for prices on food as well unless you're at a franchise. I seek out small-town grocery stores and get a sub from the deli and a liter jug of OJ to replace fluids and rehydrate. Costs less than a burger and fries and you never get fat.
 
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Watch out for OJ...fruit juices have quite a few calories. You're better off with plain water plus a little savoury food for electrolytes.
 
If you're riding on the street, then you aren't working hard enough to burn a lot of calories.

If you're working hard enough while riding on the street, to burn a lot of calories, then you'll soon be walking.
 
What if OP has a ridiculously high heart rate any time he jumps on a motorcycle? If, for some freak chance, he can have adrenaline pumping for 4 hours straight (although you might want to get that checked out, if that's the case :p)

油井緋色;1671918 said:
Background information: I went from 300 pounds of pure fat to 150 pounds of muscle over the course of 6 years, I also have a degree in health sciences from Western.
Click to expand...
Anyone else curious to see before/after pics? Do it!
 
A lot of people are on the "avoid sugars" thing. Your body's fuel is glucose. Fructose is the healthiest of sugars as it's made by nature, not in a lab. Also, the citric acid in OJ is a natural fat burner.

jc100 said:
Watch out for OJ...fruit juices have quite a few calories. You're better off with plain water plus a little savoury food for electrolytes.
Click to expand...
 
1 pound of fat is ~3500 calories. To lose 1 pound of fat you need to burn 3500 calories more than you consume. To gain one pound you need to consume 3500 more than you burned. Average male burns and consumes in the low 2000s a day.

No doubt riding will burn more calories than sitting on the couch or even driving a car. Maybe not much more but more. It may also reduce how much you consume (compared to the couch). How much you lose goes back to the 3500 = 1 pound so don't expect to lose a lot of fat just riding alone.

You may drop water weight, which equals about 2.5 lbs/quart (~litre) or 10 lbs per gallon.
 
Not if you ride with Goldie;) lol

In all seriousnes, dirt biking made me sweat like crazy and I was hurting for about a week after I tried it. I would love to do it more often:)
 
BTW, for a less scientific answer. When doing a lot of street riding I do notice my weight slowly decreasing. More likely from the consumption of less calories than the workout.
 
油井緋色;1671918 said:
That's almost as stupid (no offense) as weight lifting to lose weight.
Click to expand...

You forgot to add the disclaimer of "unless it's high intensity curcuit training". You also lose weight when eating carbs, you merely have to be below your caloric maintenance level which is individual to the person. It's an unhealthy falicy to deplete all carbs from your diet.

But I believe your point is that unless mouth control is the core of your weight loss nothing can happen.

VERY nice work losing all that bodyfat. Not many people can do that.
 
Prince said:
A lot of people are on the "avoid sugars" thing. Your body's fuel is glucose. Fructose is the healthiest of sugars as it's made by nature, not in a lab. Also, the citric acid in OJ is a natural fat burner.
Click to expand...

Excess sugar is stored by the body as fat regardless if it comes from a double double or an orange. Less artificial chemicals entering your body the better but the excuse of eating natural sugars is just another excuse to not watch what you eat.
 
I'd imagine that losing weight from street riding is simply because you're slightly more active, and not eating as much (because you're riding).
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