E-bikes are one of the most effective ways to lose weight, even better than regular bicycles!
- Riding an eBike can make you fit as riding a regular bike
- Benefits of regularly cycling for overweight persons
- Why e-bikes can help you lose more weight than regular bikes, if you are overweight
We were walking on a sidewalk. In front of us, a young man badly overweight slowly advanced, almost dragging his feet. We overtook him. How painful his condition must be, hampering his movements, turning every step into a costly effort, we thought… Suddenly, we perceived an e-bike coming from behind, so we stepped aside to let it through. It was the young man we had just noticed, pedaling with ease. It seemed almost agile, since its own weight effortlessly sunk the pedals down. We realized that e-bikes empower overweight and obese individuals, enabling them to enjoy mobility and much more. That’s why we decided to share with you some considerations about obesity and electric bikes.
Ca Go CS150 e-cargo bike – payload up to 200 kg
Riding an eBike can make you fit as riding a regular bike
A study of the Swiss University of Basel published on June 26, 2018 by Science Daily, concludes that riding an e-bike is by no means less effective than riding a regular bike, and bestows the same health benefits as leisure exercising.
The research was conducted on 30 volunteers, untrained people light or severely overweight, with a body mass index (calculate your BMI here) between 28 and 38, an index above 25 being considered overweight. They rode at least 6 km a day for three days a week. Half of them used regular bikes, the other half electric bikes. Their oxygen intake capacity was used as a criterion to determine whether their cardiovascular health was improved.
The researchers noted that the ones using an eBike would do it more often (for instance commuting to work) and ride at more elevated speed, thus enjoying the same health benefits as the others. After all, electric assistance allows even slim riders to carry heavy groceries. Researchers concluded that those who use e-bikes on a regular basis benefit permanently, not only in terms of their fitness, but also in terms of other factors such as blood pressure, fat metabolism, and overall mental well-being.
KTM Macina Multi Urban provides plenty of space for cargo in daily life.
Benefits of regularly cycling for overweight persons
Having determined that cycling with an eBike benefits your health as much as doing it with a regular bike, let’s take a look at the advantages of both.
According to a study of the Copenhagen University, Department of Health and Medical science, published by Science Daily, cycling to work is as beneficial as exercising five times a week, at moderate to high intensity.
The study involved 130 overweight people with a BMI of 25-35 kg/m2. Participants were divided into four groups of which one had to ride the bike to and from work. Two other groups had to do physical exercise five times a week, one at high intensity, the other at moderate intensity. The last group could make no changes and thus functioned as the control group. After six months all groups, except for the control group, had less fat mass. The fat mass had been reduced by 4.5 kg (compared to the control group) in the group doing high-intensity leisure time exercise, by 2.6 kg in the group doing moderate-intensity leisure time exercise and by 4.2 kg in the group riding the bike to work.
Think about this: for overweight people, any sport requiring walking, such as tennis, soccer, basketball, baseball, golf etc. implies the fatigue of moving heavy legs. On the contrary, these have the advantage of strongly pushing down one pedal, simultaneously lifting up the other. Pedaling is just amazingly easy and harmonious especially for overweight individuals, compared to other sports.
Cube Trike Cargo Hybrid e-cargo bike
Why e-bikes can help you lose more weight than regular bikes, if you are overweight
Needless to say, if you are to ride 9 km on a regular bike, you will lose more weight than if you do it with an electric bike. Nevertheless, the latter helps you get rid of your extra kilograms much more effectively, inasmuch you would be motivated to ride it much more frequently, even daily. Indeed, the fatter you are, the more painful and tiring would be to ride uphill or over distances longer than a couple of kilometers, whereas an eBike feels almost like flying, quickly becoming your daily companion. Should you be severely overweight, we suggest to buy an e-cargo bike, or an e-trike, capable of carrying total weights up to 200 kg, or 380 pounds, thus enabling you to transport kids, grab groceries and carry whatever you need.
The e-bike marketing photo-discrimination of overweight people
Now, in Europe and in the USA, more than 3 people out of 10 are overweight. Yet, 11 out of 10 (lol) marketing photos portray slim riders…
I see these results a little differently, but every day, in my shop. 85% of our business is e-bikes, but being a craft brew tap room, at the intersection of 400 miles of segregated paths, we see a lot of every type rider.
When it is windy or hot, we only see e-bikes. Traditional cyclists also tend not to ride when rain is in the forecast. They stop riding sooner when cold sets in and start riding later, when things begin to thaw. This makes sense. Higher performance tires don’t deal as well with slick conditions or road debris. We can view the busiest of trails from the shop or our patio. You just don’t see traditiinal cyclists much when conditions aren’t ideal. This from a guy who mostly rides traditional bikes and has been a commuter for 30+ years.
Hello Mark,
Thanks for your insights. It’s always interesting hearing such first-hand information from experienced riders.
Cheers, Matthias