Does An Exercise Bike Tone Your Stomach? (Everything You Need to Know!)

In general, fat in all parts of the human body is useful as it stores energy that used on a day-to-day basis. However, having excess fat can be very dangerous as you are prone to get diseases that are associated with having excess fats. An example is clogged arteries that can lead to more serious complications.

Among all the fitness equipment, a high calorie burner is usually preferred. This is because burning calories ultimately translates to burned fats. An exercise bike is a common favorite for people because it helps you to work your entire body without putting excessive stress on it. For instance, cycling on a standard exercise bike eventually burns calories around 300 to 700 kcal per hour.

The exercise bike also helps one to develop an excellent body position, endurance and power while peddling. Another reason why an exercise bike is common is that it is very user friendly. You can easily have it at home leaving the hustle of going to a gym out. You will also be spared from missing workouts because of bad weather or traffic making you run late.

As already stated, proper workout sessions on an exercise bike will lead to calories burned. The question is then, whether this directly translates to losing fat around the stomach.

Does an exercise bike also tone your stomach muscles as well?

To many people’s relief, belly fat is being the easiest to burn and can be easily dealt with indoor cycling.  Having a stationary bike is useful for a wide range of people as they offer comfort for people with differing fitness levels. As much as it helps to burn fat on the abdominal region, indoor cycling bikes also tone your legs, thighs and buttocks.

Before finding out how to burn belly fat you should be aware that there are two types of belly fat. One type is the subcutaneous fat which is found right under your skin. When you pinch some part of your stomach or your hips, subcutaneous fat is that which you feel between your fingers. Subcutaneous fat is easily burnt through exercise and can leave you with toned abs after consistent training.

The other belly fat type is visceral fat which is much deeper in the stomach area. These are additional fats that have surrounded your abdominal organs. Visceral fat is caused by a diet too rich in fats and sugars a lifestyle that lacks physical activity, stress, consuming alcohol in high quantities, hormones especially fluctuations in hormonal levels, genetics and a bad diet.

As it sounds, visceral fat is also dangerous because it can easily cause deadly diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, depression and high blood pressure. This fat also messes up with hormonal functions like appetite, weight fluctuations and regulation of moods. Fat is not safe as it increases the bad cholesterol in your blood.

If you have a large waistline or a very big belly there is a chance you have this kind of fat stored. You should find a way of efficiently losing it. Options like cycling on a stationary bike are low impact yet guaranteed to burn this fat. You also can avoid this type of unnecessary fat by changing your diet and also increasing your physical activities.

To tone your stomach muscles on an exercise bike there are several steps to follow

First, you can easily get onto a stationary exercising bike and pedal away while comfortably watching a TV show. If you are looking for a more intense workout cycling you can alternate from an aerobic zone which are cardio exercises to anaerobic zone which are the HIIT workouts. By doing this, you will be making your workout the most efficient and a great burner for fat around your stomach at a much faster.

To reach your goals and receive the best results you should add some high intensity intervals in your own workout session. If you want an exercise bike to tone your stomach muscles also, set a high resistance either by programming or tuning the gear. You can create simulations like you are going up a hill to properly engage your core and abs.

If you do not have a recumbent exercise hike you could stand up to even make the pedal strokes harder. This makes your heart rate go higher and higher as you get into the fat burning zone. To know the optimum heart rate you should aim for, there is a bit of math to it that is rather easy. To set your target heart rate, do 220 minus your age and then multiply that by 60 to 80% to keep you in your target.

Steps to follow when toning your stomach muscles

If you are looking to go a little extra to focus on toning your stomach muscles, here are some steps you can follow when doing a workout session. If you follow this to the letter, you have better chances of toning your abs and stomach while on an exercise bike.

The first step is to warm up. Do some simple stretching activities. Flex your entire body to ensure minimum pain after an intense workout. Focus on a warm up session for at least 3 to 5 minutes

Secondly, hit the intervals. Go ahead and pedal for 1 to 2 minutes with higher resistance and also a very intense pedal stroke effort. Try as high as you possibly can. This will make your heart rate go higher. Push on until you feel like you cannot almost breathe. Beyond toning your stomach muscles, this exercise helps in increasing your lung capacity too.

Thirdly, take a few moments to recover. Take it down a bit as you return to an easy effort for 1 to 2 minutes. This slows your heart rate and gives you a moment to catch your breath.

The fourth step is to alternate intensities. You should now take turns in doing step 2 and step 3 to help with burning calories and fat in the abdominal area.

Finally, cool down. After you have reached your target workout, stop and rest. Also, consider getting some well-deserved sleep.

Luckily belly fat is the easiest to burn and finish off

It is unlike subcutaneous fat which is relatively more difficult to get rid of. With the right combination of different workouts that is HIIT and cardio you can lose belly fat in the most efficient way. Working out 3 times a week is very effective as you interchange the different workouts with selected time frames of between 30 to 45 minutes.

As stated earlier, belly fat is also caused by various factors like stress. Having a workout session on a stationary bike is good for your brain as it relieves stress that in turn helps to lose belly fat.

Remember, there are other pointers on how to lose belly fat. Even if you go for intense workouts like the one stated above, there are a few things you should look out for. Failure to concentrate on the fine details can lead to underwhelming results. One thing you should always remember is to sit upright. This is because having a good posture when you are working out helps you to tone the right set of muscles. Slouching will not help or define your stomach thus your workout will not be fruitful. Many experts recommend that you purchase a recumbent stationary bike as it has a backrest whereby you will relax back and use your abdominal muscles to push the pedals that tunes your stomach region.

While you are exercising on the bike also be sure to lift your bottom off of the seat while pedaling and go back to sitting again. Do this exercise in intervals as it really works on your balance and also it forces your core to kick into the set gear. Also, consider doing crunches regularly to work in your abdominal area. It is a nice way to combine a cardio and muscle workout.

Also remember that while cycling on a stationary bike can help in burning fats, you also have to change your diet. A standard exercise guideline for losing fats emphasizes on the workout intensity as well as the food you eat.

Conclusion

The simple answer to if an exercise bike tones your stomach is yes. However, there is a lot more to it. For instance, if you do not properly adjust your diet, your efforts can be in vain. Also, the type of exercise bike you use also matters. Some of the quality options are the indoor cycling bike, upright bike and recumbent bikes. On all these bikes, you can adjust the set up to your own liking. Once done, get into a warm-up for about 5 to 10 minutes. You can then get into a cycling session that is guaranteed to tone your stomach. Remember that your posture and pedaling speed also matters.

Make sure you maintain your own comfortable pace and up it when you can. With proper dieting, hydration and rest, you are bound to start seeing the abs after continuous training sessions.