How long does it take to ride a bicycle for aerobic exercise?

If you want to achieve regular aerobic exercise effects by cycling, you must ride for at least 20 minutes each time. For most ordinary fitness people, controlling the duration to 30 to 60 minutes is the most cost-effective option.

When I first started cycling, I always felt that riding for 15 minutes on the way home from work was enough to practice. After two weeks of casual riding, my weight and body fat had not changed at all. Later, I chatted with the owner of a bicycle shop I frequented and found out that the human body mainly relies on glycogen for energy in the early stages of exercise. Generally, it takes 20 minutes of continuous exercise before the proportion of fat energy supply gradually climbs to the dominant position. If you want to rely on aerobic fat loss and improve your heart and lungs, the first ten minutes are basically a "warm-up preparation." Later, I deliberately took a longer route and kept riding for about 40 minutes every day. My heart rate was controlled at 60% to 70% of my maximum heart rate. Even though I was a little out of breath while riding, I could still chat normally with my fellow cyclists. After only three weeks of riding, my body fat rate dropped by 1.2 percentage points. I didn’t even breathe when I climbed the fifth floor of the company.

Some friends may also be wondering, I was sweating all over after riding for 15 minutes last time, why is it ineffective? In fact, there is no absolute standard answer to this in the cycling circle. It depends on your purpose of exercise. If you are a novice who has not exercised for a long time, or you are doing rehabilitation training after knee surgery, your doctor will ask you to ride a spinning bike with low resistance for 15 minutes every day. This low-intensity continuous activity can actually activate muscles and maintain basal metabolism. There is no need to stick to the 20-minute threshold, but it is easy to get injured due to too much intensity. If you are an enthusiast who is preparing to participate in amateur cycling competitions, it is normal to ride for two or three hours each time. As long as there is no discomfort in your knees and muscles, there is no need for ordinary bodybuilders to follow the trend. Riding for too long will wear out the knee joints, and it is easy to overeat due to excessive consumption.

If you usually use cycling as a way of commuting, it doesn’t matter if you can’t spare a large chunk of time to squeeze in 30 minutes. Several of my colleagues ride 20 minutes to the office in the morning and another 20 minutes home after get off work in the evening. The accumulated time separately counts, so you don’t have to force yourself to ride enough at once. They didn’t take time to go to the gym, and their waistlines have shrunk in half a year.

By the way, don’t just focus on the duration. If you ride slowly and watch short videos while riding, then even if you ride for 2 hours, your heart rate will not rise and you will not be able to achieve the aerobic effect. It is better to ride seriously for 25 minutes.