Home workouts, indoor cycling and healthy living - FIV

There’s more to a healthy fitness routine than just discipline and stubbornly sticking to it: To stay on the ball in the long term, it is equally important to listen to your body and understand what it needs at any given time. Sometimes this means skipping training and getting moving in other ways, such as a simple walk. Did you know that just 10,000 steps a day burns around 400 calories? If you enjoy a walk more in company, then simply grab your best friend and walk together. Sophie is also up for a long walk, she tells us in the interview

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Weight loss & healthy eating with Cycling Sophie

No motivation? No reason for compulsion

Well-being is more important than weight!

Weight loss & healthy eating with Cycling Sophie

Cycling Sophie is, as the name suggests, an expert when it comes to indoor cycling, and she inspires her viewers with new workouts every week on her YouTube channel. In an interview, the fitness guru gave us an insight into her fitness journey – among other things, she tells us about her weight loss of over 30 kg and tells us what she likes to snack on before a workout. Sophie knows that sport alone doesn’t help you achieve your dream weight, but that there’s more to it than that.

No motivation? No reason for compulsion

FIV: Hi Sophie, you regularly provide us with great workouts on your channel, how do you actually do it on days when you don’t feel like it?

Sophie: If I really don’t feel like exercising at all, I first ask myself whether it’s my head or whether there’s a physical reason. If it’s my head, then I remember the feeling after training, in the shower, and that feeling pushes me for the first 10 minutes and then my endorphins take over and off I go.

However, if there is a physical reason (too little or poor sleep, digestive problems or my period), then I have learned to listen to my body. Instead of forcing myself to do something during training, I take my headphones and go for a long walk, whatever the weather. My health has become extremely important to me. Especially because of my road accident at the beginning of 2018.

Pamela Reif’s snacks: the perfect pre-workout bar

FIV: Do you treat yourself to a small snack before training, if so, what do you eat?

Sophie: Actually the Chunky White Chocolate Oatbar from Pamela and if it’s a short work-out then it’s either a handful of blueberries with almonds or the Crunchy Protein Bar from Pamela.

Exercise alone does not lead to weight loss

FIV: Is there a fitness myth that you would like to debunk?

Sophie: Oh yes, definitely. And that is that sport per se leads to weight loss. I speak from my own experience, having lost almost 30 kilos in my youth. The most important thing that athletes with a specific goal need to consider is that only an adapted diet (and yes, I know this is a huge area and super individual) leads to a loss of fat mass, for example. Muscle mass can also only be built up with an adapted diet. In any case, I recommend professional support if you find it too much for yourself and can no longer see the wood for the trees.

Well-being is more important than weight!

FIV: Fitness 101-Could you summarize 3 valuable tips for our readers to help them reach their goals?

Sophie: The journey is the reward.

Banish your scales. Weight is not as important as your body image and that is not reflected in any number.

Do not expect results overnight.

FIV: After so much experience, you must already have some impressive results. What has been your biggest fitness success so far?

My fitness and my performance have nothing to do with my appearance

Sophie: My first thought was immediately my weight loss in my youth or my cycling races as a member of the German national youth team. But when I think about it again, it’s probably more of an emotional ‘fitness success’. And it’s this: I’ve learned and accepted that my fitness and performance have nothing to do with my appearance. I am super capable and fit, EVEN if my skin isn’t the tightest due to weight loss. It’s been a long road, but self-acceptance is the most emotionally valuable thing I’ve achieved in the last few years.

FIV: You’ve made an essential statement! One last question: What is your favorite exercise in the gym?

Sophie: That’s easy – the leg press – without it I probably wouldn’t be able to master my hills and sprints on the bike as well.

FIV: Thank you Sophie for your insight. We don’t want to keep you any longer and wish you continued success!

Click here for Sophie’s work-outs: