Cycling is an effective exercise for burning fat. We all know that it does burn your belly fat and tone muscles. But does cycling burn fat on thighs?
Well, the truth is that cycling does burn your thigh fat. But to achieve great results, you need consistency and commitment in your cycling regime. You must tame your diet and embrace other exercises alongside cycling for better results.
Some exercises you need to engage in include bodyweight squats, climbing stairs, resistance training, exercising inner thighs, engaging in HIIT, and doing more cross-training.
Though most people with genetics predisposing to fat on some parts may find it hard to reduce thigh fat, it’s achievable. But more will be required, especially if your focus is on a specific body part, for example, the thighs.
This guide will look at how cycling will help you shed the fat around your inner thigh and the nutrition to embrace to get slimmer thighs.
Let’s jump in!
Does Cycling Burn Fat On Thighs?
Before we can look at the cycling habit you need to attain to lose thigh fat, let’s first look at what nutritional habits go hand in hand with cycling to get slimmer thighs. They include:
- Drinking a lot of water
- Eating plenty of proteins and fiber
- Reducing your salt intake
- Reducing carbs intake
- Taking enough rest
Let us discuss these habits in detail to understand their importance in burning fat on the thighs.
Drinking A Lot of Water
We all know that water is essential for the body’s functioning. Also, we know that it helps to keep us hydrated. The doctors advise taking at least 8 – 10 glasses of water daily.
Most people don’t know that drinking plenty of water is also a way to lose body fat. The biology behind it is that when you take in more water, you feel full, limiting you to eating more food.
Wondering how? Well, more water intake leads to lipolysis, a process by which the body burns excess fats to produce energy. Also, since cells draw in water, they expand in volume, leading to fat metabolism.
So watch out on your water intake to get rid of the excess fats, including your thigh fat.
Eat Plenty of Proteins and Fiber.
While people talk of a lean body, one thing that comes to mind is staying away from food. However, that’s not true. It’s staying from the wrong foods and starting your journey to eating the right food.
But what do we mean by the right food? We are talking about taking lean proteins and fiber. While proteins and fiber seem like weight-adding foods, they are suitable for building and enhancing leg and thigh muscles.
Some of the proteins you should start eating include chicken, turkey, salmon, and eggs. Also, you should befriend vegetables and fruits. It’s time to say goodbye to the smoothies we all like, my friend!
Intake of proteins and fiber enhances weight loss as the macronutrients in these foods ensure you stay full and have few calories. In turn, there will be no storage of excessive fat, which in this case, is what you want.
Reduce Your Salt Intake.
We all love tasty foods. One thing that makes food delicious is salt. Table salt comprises two elements, namely sodium, and chloride.
Too much salt intake is associated with diseases like blood pressure and hypertension. While that’s true, most people don’t know that sodium intake may also be associated with weight gain. How about you?
Too many salts lead to excessive body water restoration, which causes bloating, leads to fat storage, and, in some cases, may even cause obesity.
Remember, our goal is to shed some fat on the thighs. So you should keep off foods with lots of salt, like soups, hams, cheese, pizza, and our favorite stock and broth. While at it, remember to keep off restaurant food.
Reduce On Carbs Intake.
Carbs, a short form of carbohydrates, are essential for our daily lives. However, overeating carbs is unsafe when your goal is to lose fat. Also, cutting completely on carbs intake is unwise.
It’s advisable to take 75 to 100 grams of carbohydrates daily, depending on your activity level, height, and weight, so your carbohydrate intake may vary.
I recommend you talk with your doctor to know how much carbs to take. But the rule of thumb says you should burn more carbs than you eat. It’s that simple!
Take Enough Rest.
Even though we aim to lose weight, it doesn’t mean we must cycle all through. Well, taking enough rest helps you to minimize stress.
This is because when stressed, the body produces cortisol hormone, which encourages the body to store fat. Again, when one is stressed, chances of overeating are also observed.
Enough rest will help you escape stressful situations that might make you neglect your body. It will also motivate you for your next cycling session.
You will surely burn fat on your thighs through the above nutritional habits, and the effect will also be evident in the whole body and not only the thighs.
Exercises That Will Help You Burn Fat On Thighs
Remember, we said that a tamed diet goes hand in hand with different exercises. As we have looked at the diet procedure to follow, lets now turn to other activities to do for well-toned thighs:
· Adopt Indoor Cycling
We all like to cycle. It’s even more true that it’s fun cycling outdoors. But since we aim to work out the thighs, you can still switch to doing more indoor cycles.
Indoor cycling uses your thighs to work out and is suitable for losing weight, toning your legs, and also for your good heart health.
A 2010 study by the National Library of Medicine showed a decrease in fat mass and weight in women who lived sedentary lifestyles and were overweight in 24 sessions of consistent indoor cycling. So, it’s time to try indoor cycling, my buddy!
· Perform Bodyweight Squats
Being 300 lbs. or so is devastating. What’s even more down heartening is rubbing your thighs when walking. But hold on! Bodyweight squats help you shed the unnecessary fats on your thighs.
It is recorded that doing at least 25 bodyweight squats each session twice a day can work effectively for your thighs. Since you are putting more pressure on your thighs, it’s an excellent way to strengthen your leg muscles and also helps to tone your thighs.
The best part is that you can do bodyweight squats anywhere and anytime you want. For example, when watching your favorite TV episode, you can squat instead of sitting.
Again, after climbing the stairs in your house, instead of leaning on the wall to take a break and breathe, why don’t you squat?
Or what if you cycle for a long time and want to rest even on the road? Why don’t you squat instead? That’s a win right there!
· Climbing Stairs
Did you know that climbing stairs bring your leg muscles to fire up? Well, this brings leg and thigh muscles toning, and it’s an excellent way to lose excessive thigh fat.
Climbing stairs up and down will help burn fat and tone the calves, butt, and thighs. Compared to jogging, climbing stairs enables you to burn more calories and is a good workout for your weight loss journey.
· Engage in Resistance Training
Doubtless, engaging in muscle-strengthening exercises at least twice a week can help you shed fats while strengthening the thighs.
This is achievable by exercising your muscles through resistance forms like bands, weights, lunges, outer and inner thigh lifts, and wall sits to help work your body weight against gravity.
Since this exercise helps mainly in burning body fat, it also boosts your metabolism, which is a good thing.
· Exercise Your Inner Thigh
Excessive thigh fats find a place to stay on your inner thigh. So it would be best if you had to do exercises targeting your inner thighs.
On exercising your inner thigh, the platypus walk should be your top-notch routine. It involves walking forward and backward as you make deep sumo squats, side lunges, curtsy lunges, skater, side lying, and adduction. All these exercises aim at your inner thigh, and you will get the slimmer thighs you deserve.
· Engage in HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
Though HIIT leans more toward a cardio workout, it does not mean you can’t lose excessive fats doing HIIT exercises. HIIT workouts can help burn fat in your thighs and all over your body.
HIIT means that you need to cycle very fast for a given time, like 20 minutes, and then cycle slowly for 10 minutes.
Putting your body and thigh muscles, in this case, brings them to more work, which tones them.
So, instead of riding your bike at a good pace, you can hit a given speed over a short period and then cycle slowly.
One study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all adults have 150 minutes of aerobic activity (moderately) or at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week.
I advise combining vigorous and moderate aerobic activities for a good body workout.
· Cross Training
After doing all the above, it’s still advocated that you hit the gym or do other training after riding your buddy.
You can combine two or more workouts, for example, lifting weights and cycling. This will help you burn fat faster than focusing on one exercise.
People Also Ask
1. How Can I Reduce Thigh Fat?
You can reduce thigh fat by cycling. Since every bike stroke uses your leg power, it will help you lose thigh fat. But since you can’t stay outside cycling long, you can embrace other exercises for speedier weight loss.
Some exercises you can do in the comfort of your home include frog bridges, leg hugs, squat jumps, standing fire hydrant, side lying, and leg lifts.
2. How Long Should I Bike to Shed Thigh Fat?
Although cycling helps to lose fat all over your body, cycling five days per week for 30 to 60 minutes can help you lose fat gradually.
To ensure you lose thigh fat, you should also do HIIT and cross-train alongside other exercises.
3. Does Cycling Increase Thigh Fat?
The short answer is No! Cycling involves your thighs, thus enabling you to shed the excessive fats on your thighs, making them leaner, and toning your legs for a good physique.
4. What Food Causes Thigh Fat?
This involves food with high-calorie levels. Thus, it’s advisable to reduce the intake of such foods. Note, however, that it’s advisable to reduce, not to stop altogether, but you still need to burn more than you consume.
Some of the food to say goodbye to include: processed meat, desserts, candies, fatty meat, and sugary drinks.
In conclusion, does cycling burn fat on thighs?
Cycling can help you burn fat, especially in the inner thighs. But it works with good nutrition alongside other exercises. Take note of losing thigh fat steadily and slowly.
A CDC study says you should lose one or two pounds weekly. This is good for your general body and will help you keep the weight off.
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