ThrottleX Blog

Thursday, March 19, 2015

How Much Weight Can You Lose Riding a Motorcycle?

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If you’re a married man who rides a motorcycle, you’ve almost certainly had to face the challenge of trying to convince your wife that riding is a good idea. Sure, there are plenty of great women riders out there –– more and more each day –– but for many of us, being “allowed” to ride started with our coming up with a list of reasons why riding is a great idea.

It gets me out of the house, honey. Think of the money I’ll save on gas. It helps me feel free. It’s a great way to lose weight…

That last one sounds dubious, doesn’t it? I mean, if you visit Sturgis or Daytona during their bike weeks the only six packs you’ll see will be of the hops and barley variety. But it turns out it’s true! For sport riding especially, but even basic street riding burns more calories than driving a car.

As I say, the benefits of sport riding are obvious. Take a look at top stunt riders like Robbie Madison or Moto GP stars like Marc Marquez and you won’t see a whole lot of fat. These guys need to be in peak physical condition to push their machines to the limit. So, if you’re really looking to shed pounds you may want to take up dirt riding or schedule in a few sessions at the race track.

But for the rest of us there is benefit, too. It turns out that a 150-pound man will burn roughly 180 calories an hour riding a motorcycle. That’s almost 40 calories more than he’d burn driving a car or pickup. Maybe it’s just my friends, but I don’t know a lot of guys who weigh only 150 lbs., so it’s likely that riding a bike will result in you burning even more.

Admittedly, 180 calories isn’t a whole lot. You’ll burn roughly double that by playing golf (assuming you don’t use a cart). But, hey, think of what a workout it would be to ride your motorcycle to go play golf!

And if you want to capitalize on the health benefits of riding it’s good to start thinking that way. The more you ride, the better off you’ll be. It’s estimated that a 230-pound man (that sounds a little more like some of my buddies) can drop half a pound a week just by riding his motorcycle for an hour a day.

But it’s not just weight. Motorcycling can help you maintain and improve balance, muscle response and concentration. At the very least, it helps improve your mental state, which is the most important aspect of successful weight loss.

Unfortunately, it seems to be the truth for myself and many other riders I know that being out on a bike often serves to increase appetite. Perhaps this is the side-effect of our improved mental state: we are more eager to enjoy the good things of life. But if you’re hoping to use motorcycling as a means of shedding pounds you should be aware of this fact. Watch your diet and possibly combine your motorcycle workout routine with more traditional physical exercise like walking or cycling.

Personally, I’ve never expected riding to make me slim and trim. But I’m happy to use any excuse to get on two wheels.

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