Selene Yeager - Bike Your Butt Off!: A Breakthrough Plan to Lose Weight and Start Cycling

The Active Calorie Diet (with the Editors of Prevention)

Get Fast!

The Prevention Get Thin, Get Young Plan (with Bridget Doherty)

The Mens Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts (with the Editors of Mens Health)

Death Defiers (with the Editors of Mens Health)

Move a Little, Lose a Lot (with James Levine, MD, PhD)

Preventions Complete Book of Alternative Nutrition (with the Editors of Prevention)

Preventions New Foods for Healing (with the Editors of Prevention)

Ride Your Way Lean (with the Editors of Bicycling)

Selene Yeagers Perfectly Fit

The Show It Love Workout (with Kacy Duke)

30 Minutes a Day to a Healthy Heart (with the Editors of Readers Digest)

Whats with My Body? A Girls Book of Answers to Growing Up, Looking Good, and Feeling Great

The Womens Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts (with the Editors of Womens Health)

The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper exercise training. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The editors and publisher advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises in this book, be sure that your equipment is well maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and fitness. The exercise and dietary programs in this book are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your doctor. As with all exercise and dietary programs, you should get your doctors approval before beginning.

Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book, its author, or the publisher.

Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press.

Trade paperback and direct online hardcover editions published simultaneously by Rodale Inc. in March 2014.

2014 by Selene Yeager and Leslie Bonci

Photographs 2014 by Tom MacDonald

Illustrations Alix Nicholaeff

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

Rodale books may be purchased for business or promotional use or for special sales.

Bicycling is a registered trademark of Rodale Inc.

Book design by Kara Plikaitis

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

ISBN 9781609615949 direct online hardcover

ISBN 9781609615925 trade paperback

ISBN 9781609615932 ebook

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To my dad, for teaching me to ride.

ITS A FUNNY THING. Nearly everyone can ride a bike. Nearly everyone has a bike. But relatively few people call themselves cyclists, including many of those who ride regularly for fitness and fun. Worse, far too many people who have bikes dont use them as often as theyd like, despite the fact that cycling burns as many calories as jogging and more than twice as many as walking at even the fastest pace. Plus, cycling is easier on the joints and feels more like play than either jogging or walking.

Heck, theres a saying among medical (especially orthopedic) professionals that even when you cant walk or hobble, you can still ride a bike. You can do it if you have bad knees. You can do it if you have bad hips. You can do it if you cant run more than 5 feet. Nearly anyone of any fitness level can pedal a bike 5 or more miles. Cycling has been found to prevent weight gain (and boost fat loss), fight depression, and help stave off a host of health woes, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Youd think that with all bicycling has to offer, everyone and their Uncle Pete would be out there pedaling their hearts out. Yet, many who would like to and who would ultimately love the sport havent tossed a leg over a bike in ages.

Why? Well, as a case in point Ill tell you about my friend Deb. She came to me a few years ago unhappy with the state of her waistline, which, now that she was well into her forties, was disappearing. Shes never been one to go to the gym or exercise for the sake of exercise, but she does like outdoor activities like hiking. Living deep in the suburban DC sprawl, however, she didnt get to do that much anymore. She knew how much I loved riding and decided to give it a try.

She started making trips to the nearby store on her bike and going for rides on the local pedestrian path. She lost a pound or two, but before long the bike got relegated to a corner in her garage, tires as deflated as her once-pumped-up-motivation. What happened? The same thing that happens to so many would-be cyclists: No one ever told her how to ride. (And I dont mean putting your feet on the pedals and pushing them around.) No one told her how to get the most fun, challenge, pleasure, and fitness out of this remarkable machinethe bicycle.

Instead of flying around like a kid, tackling climbs, and swooping down hills, Deb pedaled hesitantly, sometimes feeling like she was fighting her bike rather than riding it. She pedaled aimlessly instead of purposefully. She got discouraged and lost interest.

It doesnt have to be that way. Ive seen firsthand the transformative power of just a little know-how. Some simple instruction on how to shift, pedal, climb, brake, and corner can be the difference between riding year-round and hanging up your wheels for good. Knowing how to ride to best burn fat and tone muscles can turn even a short ride around town into a quality weight-loss workout. Mastering the art of riding also gives you the confidence to ride with others, which is one of cyclings most profound yet simple pleasures.

Newbies arent the only ones who stand to benefit from some cycling instruction. Ive spoken to and heard from countless riders who already love their bikes but still feel in the dark about the finer points of bike fit, pedaling, pacelining, and basic maintenance. All they need is a little nudge in the right direction to transform them from casual riders into cyclists.

Like Sherrie. When she first signed on to the Bike Your Butt Off! plan, she really liked to ride. But inexperience and nerves were holding her back from fully enjoying the cycling experience. I dont know which levers shift which gears. And, well, this might be too much information, but I had to ice my girl parts after I rode this weekend, so Im not doing something right, she told me upon our first meeting.

Just 4 weeks into the plan1 month of receiving a little how-toand Sherrie was sounding a whole lot like a cyclist: Im riding at least three times a week and learning so much from the drills, lessons, and interval training. I feel the training in places in my body where I dont normally feel it when I do indoor cycling, and I love that. I am getting much more confident on the bike outdoors and many of my fears (i.e., navigating an intersection with traffic lights and traffic, falling over because Im clipped in to my pedals, riding in the rain, etc.) are going away and not holding me back. I talk about this project to everyone because I am so excited to be doing this.