Hello,
Recently I got sucked into riding indoor bike. I have quite cheap smart trainer that connects to Zwift/MyWhoosh , has power meter and cadence meter and I have HR strap separately.
I started riding 2 months ago but I did it blindly and kind of damaged myself according to some charts.
My current weight is 126.2kg with height of 181cm which suggest quite big BMI…
I want to lose some weight using bike. I cannot sit for long at the moment because my bottom is exploding at around 25-30 minutes mark but I’m trying to switch my poses and can last up to hour.
I was browsing internet for some info and someone told me about riduck website that counts my metabolic chart based on my workouts and tells me with what Power I burn most fat but I’m not really convinced by it especially that xert website shows something completely different 
Can someone tell me , is it true that riding power Zone2 helps burn most fat? Should I also pay attention to my HR? I could set up my own Zwift training with 45mins of Zone2 for example? Or should I try do different trainings not looking for fat burn?
I’m also counting my calories so nutrition wise I should be ok on some calories shortage.
Do you know how you lose weight? You lose weight by exhaling carbon atoms, which combine with the oxygen you inhale to form carbon dioxide. Whether these carbon atoms were previously bound to fat or sugar is irrelevant for weight loss. Your training only helps you burn more calories. With normal training volumes, weight loss is achieved through diet.
The real reason for training in Zone 2 is that you don’t tire as quickly and can therefore do it every day. If you do a high-intensity workout and burn 100 kcal more, but are then so exhausted that you can’t do your next workout until three days later instead of the next day, then training in Zone 2 is the better choice.
Just ride how you feel and how you like to, sleep well, eat enough protein, fuel your rides with CHO, patiently wait. Trust the process.
don’t worry about any of the power zones or calories from fat or carbs or any of that. just get as much exercise as you can. If I can give you one thing that isn’t about your question, it is this. Focus on protein. 2.2g per kg, 1g per lb, of your ideal body weight. If you start there, you’re framing your intake in a way that doesn’t allow for nonsense foods. I don’t know you, but this approach is in my opinion the best way. Start with a large protein intake, the rest falls into line.
Thanks 
Have been on this road you are on. Just walk around pretending that you are at your ideal weight. Act as if you are the person in your goal mind state. Then wait for reality to catch up. It works and is not that complex
For beginning endurance athletes it works great to stay in a relatively low to moderate intensity for a really long time, basically until you feel the need to race against others or yourself. You don’t need measurements for that. A great tool is the speech test. If you are able to have a pleasant conversation while riding, you’re good.
Nothing speaks against riding more intense once in a while. But as you maybe found out, those sweaty, hard rides take something out of you, more than that are worth regarding weight loss. Try to keep at least 80% of your riding in the speech zone. For the rest you can do whatever you want (100% easy is fine too).
I am not a doctor, but at your BMI I would stay away from max efforts. Sweating is cool, but damaging your heart is not. Check a cardio specialist before you do all out max effort sessions.
I find it nice to invest all my effort into being able to do my sports as many times as possible per week. This means more shorter sessions instead of fewer longer ones. You do not need to do that if you can’t find the time, but I find it logistically easier.
true but you have to train at that intensity to teach your body utilize fats more effectively or in other words the more you ride at that intensity the more fat you burn.
not fully true, ofc zone 2 is nice and much less tiresome but most importantly by riding at zone 2 intensity you teach your body to use fat effectively and use fat instead of carbs, the more fat effective you use the higher intensity you can get at when incorporating carbs, long term you just get much much stronger.
on losing weight
-try not to push too hard and remember that you lose weight outside of cycling and all your workouts shoud be fueled
-be patient and look at the scale only from a weekly/monthly distance (you can track daily weight but please don’t stress about it too much and only look at monthly trend) at first you will lose fat but gain muscle which are much heavier so it is possible you will even gain some weight.
-it is nice to track changes of your body in the mirror, there is not that uch difference on a scale between 20 and 100 but it is a huge difference for the looks of the body
-biggest weight loss you can get is by changing quality of the foods you eat, like no processed foods etc.
-you can track calories for some time just to get the basic knowledge and see that a pizza is 1kc and if you would like to make a healthy meal with same 1kc it will be 3 plates at least.
-fasting helps some people losing weight but again fasting is not eating one meal less but eating all meals (all the calories) but in a much condensed timeframe.
on training:
-go easy but longer
-have fun
-look at your fatigue, daily fatigue is easy to spot but it is hard to spot a chronic fatigue like after 5 months of constant high intensity training. if you see basic symptoms of fatigue like lack of sleep, irritation etc. rest for a full week (you will not lose fitness during that time, actually you will get faster due to being properly recovered)
-implement recovery weeks, you do half of the things you did last week and do such a recovery week every 3rd/4th week obligatory (likehalf the duration o halt of the load/intensity)
those charts can be tricky when you are just starting bc they are looking at your avg load from past 53 days or so, and for you most of those days are counted as zero. But overall classic rule is not to rise your weekly load by more than 5%.
it can be height of your saddle being too high
safe bet is to do max two harder workouts during a week and all other days can be z2 or recovery
Important note: training is putting stress on your body (it is just damaging it and pushing to rebuild stronger) losing weight is putting stress on your body too (your body wants food to rebuild stronger for example and overall our bodies does not like to starve bc they are afraid of dying) so you should never push too hard on both of those stressors at the same time, be patient and go easy or you risk getting tired, losing motivation, quickly regaining weight and being stressed by being unsuccessful.
good luck!
Hi Dominik,
Congrats on deciding to get in better shape it is a tough but great thing to do.
My advice for you right now would be not to worry so much about the effectiveness of HR or power zones or any of this technical training stuff too much. Instead, maybe think about what would be the most fun way to enjoy exercise. One thing I like about zwift is looking at all the different routes and deciding which one to ride next. Aiming to finish different routes is a satisfying thing to do that makes me want to keep going. Try to learn how long and at what intensity you can ride so that you aren’t too tired to go again the next day - and try to learn how to do this by how you feel rather than zones or intervals.icu charts. If it is too painful sitting in the saddle for long periods and if you have time then you could consider doing shorter sessions but twice per day.
More generally- it is very good to mix up your exercising if you can - so walking or walk and run and swimming if you like. Weight lifting is also very effective since building muscle increases your resting energy expenditure. It isn’t worth worrying too much about weight when you are building muscle (which will happen with all exercise not just weights) so if you really want to track progress then measuring percent bodyfat is a little better but I agree with another person’s reply that using the mirror to judge is probably better. Maybe take a photo of yourself each month.
A few people have mentioned diet and of course it is very important but you are much more likely to succeed with your aims if you keep the exercise up as well. In fact, people who do manage to lose weight but without exercising don’t always look that good and tend to regain weight. For the calorie counting there is one tip I have (that I used when I lost weight) if you aren’t already - get a small digital kitchen scales and weigh your portions and learn how many calories are in different foods.
I would avoid drinking energy drinks or taking gels but do consider zero calorie electrolyte drinks. Otherwise it is the obvious stuff: eat and drink healthy food, take a vitamin and mineral tablet every day, no fizzy sugar drinks. Black coffee is my go to! Try not to rush the weight loss and don’t overdo calorie restriction or you’ll be too tired to work out.
Finally, it is good to share what you are trying to do with people around you, tell them your progress, they will encourage you.
Good luck on your journey!
Lots of good advice above but this guest on the TR podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=563mWgqvMZc really knows what he’s talking about.
Hi Dominic, where are you writing from? I would like to help you.
Hey, thanks for interest I’m from Poland. I got so many replies here with valuable informations that I think I’ll be able to figure things out, especially because I have experience in calorie counting etc. Maybe this time will be the “charm” and I’ll finally succeed
Great! Check the course loosing weight with Spinning® and SPINPower®! Those are absolutely great and they work! Using the PowerMeter you’ll be able to track and measure every single metric ghat you need to adjust to reach your goal! If you need anymore assistance, I’ll be more than happy to help you! Best of 
luck to you!
Welcome to the forum and great work getting started. Regarding the saddle, many indoor bikes come with pretty bad saddles. As an example, my wife purchased a somewhat expensive spin bike (Keiser M3i), but the saddle it came with is basically garbage and I swapped it for a better one almost right away. Also, your weight means that you’ll have more pressure on the saddle than lighter people.
My advice is to try to find a saddle that you’re comfortable on so that discomfort doesn’t end up stopping you from riding more. Some local bike shops may have a saddle-exchange policy (so if you try it and it doesn’t work for you, bring it back and try a different one); it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Chiming in here: one thing you can do (and that has worked well for me) is to teach your body to rely more on fat during exercise than carbs for example by having a protein based breakfast (max 15g of carbs) and do a long easy ride on the trainer, and only after that eat some carbs.
Just three points I’ll mention as a fellow bigger rider:
- Invest in some good quality bib shorts. My best are Le Col. Get the best quality you can find in your budget, and prioritise the padding in the chamois.
- It’s definitely going to hurt a lot at the beginning. If you get chafing, get a cream for nappy rash and use it. Get chamois cream for before rides. Don’t be ashamed to use them, they will help.
- My experience is that it takes a long time for it not to hurt sitting on a saddle, but over time it will hurt less. And then, as you go longer, it will hurt more towards the end but keep reminding yourself how far you’ve come.
This is why I like using intervals, Strava etc. I can look back and see where I was 12/24 months ago and remind myself that 2 years ago I could only ride a kilometre before my body was screaming.
Hey,
- That was the first thing i was looking for but unfortunately the shops I’m looking at doesn’t have the size for me when I compare my size to the size description of any pants
Thanks for the tips
This is a complex problem and I’m not a nutritionist but I’ll try to add some additional thinking and resources.
The short answer is “Yes”. Lower intensity exercise keeps your body in the metabolic zone that relies on fat as s primary fuel source. Once you cross over into aerobic levels, your body gets the energy from other internal sources. Note that these 2 systems are not mutually exclusive; you are continually using both in different combinations, depending on the intensity of your workout.
You asked about HR Monitor and I would say you absolutely need one. Structured workouts rely on power data to set your targets, and your cadence is what drives your heart rate from resting to exploding. Training with power is (generally) considered a better way to improve riding strength, but training with heart rate (or both) is essential to keeping yourself in the “fat burning” zone.
Heart Rate increases when you are pedalling faster or pushing really hard (or both!). In order to control your HR, you can change into easier gears and reduce cadence and still be on Power in your intervals. the HR monitor tells you where you hear rate is at.
I have a little whiteboard on the wall that lists my wattage range for each power zone, and my HR range for the same zones. So I can glance at the wall and see that for Z2 Endurance, my power target is 93 - 126w, and my HR is 110 - 121bpm. You can change gears and adjust cadence to control your heart rate. (Set your FTP, and your max HR and then you can pull your numbers out of Intervals on [settings] page.)
As you get more trained, it becomes harder to loose weight because your body is more efficient, AND you need to fuel your body for hard workouts! That’s where the SUFFERFEST guide below comes in. It describes calories and nutrition over weekly periods of eating and workouts and how to take a longer view on weight reduction. (the text was matched to their workouts from the past, so it’s a bit odd to read, but the appendix has great meal planning and protein and carb charts for different foods. Skim first, come back to it later when you need to figure out what foods to eat to to get 200g of protein in a day…)
WRT to riding, you can do shorter rides at the high end of Z2 or low end of Z3 if you are still building up your on-bike stamina. Make sure you stand up and pedal for 10 seconds every 5 minutes to let the blood flow in your body. You need to fit your shoes and bike as you start to do longer rides. Consider an online bike fit to check your riding position (Disclosure: I work for www.myvelofit.com) You can do a FREE MyVeloFit check by uploading a video and we will give you “OK/Needs Adjustment” feedback in your Starter trial account. (If you need adjustment, you can decide to upgrade for $35 - $75).
Hope this helps. Good hunting.
Mike @ RideOttawa
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Testing for max HR:
EFR ~ Coaching Factsheets -
Want to burn more fat?:
EFR ~ Coaching Factsheets -
You can learn more about sports nutrition here:
EFR ~ Sports Nutrition -
Sufferfest Guide to Eating:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0901/4514/files/Eating_to_Suffer-v2.pdf?6861433835702251476 -
Online Bike Fit
https://www.myvelofit.com
This old horse needs to be put to pasture
All though there’s some very good advice in the answers above I want to give my 2 cents on the matter.
My thinking is that first of all, you need to change habits and make those changes stick. Those changes must be both on nutrition and active movement habits. Paying attention on what you eat and how much you move, has been a success for decades when it comes to loosing and controlling weight.
During the initial phase, you should take time to analyse your actual lifestyle and make slight changes that are sustainable, both from a practical and a mental point of view. Introducing drastic changes that vanish within a couple of days or weeks will not help!
So, in stead of braking your head over what the best exercise or the best nutrition method is, look for fast and easy wins, that don’t bother you much and can quickly become a new, healthy habit.
Any form of movement at any intensity that makes you happy is good at this stage. Make sure to adapt it to what you feel afterwards. If you feel relaxed and cheerful, great! If you feel exhausted and down, make changes. Similar with nutrition. You do know, for a great part, what is healthy/unhealthy. Switch diet slowly to the good side, starting with what feels easy. The goal here is to gradually evolve to a healthy lifestyle and change habits. Everything that becomes a habit, will get done without much thinking. And then those changes will not cost you much effort or willpower. Acting like this, will make sure things stick, even if you go through a more difficult period in life.
Once you become a regular ‘mover’, you can dive into more of the science background and start looking how you can further improve. For now, keep things as simple and non-intrusive as possible. Consistency is key, and habits are a very good friend to consistency.
If you like scientific background on all of this, great. Keep reading and feed your intrest. If you hate that kind of stuff, handle by intuition, but be critical. As said above, take a bit of time daily to analyse your day, and take note of quick wins that you discover and can easily be avoided by changing habits.
When it comes to changing habits, ‘Atomic habits’ by James Clear is an excellent book.