The Ultimate fat Burning Workouts

Using stationary bikes is great for cardio workouts and losing weight. It gives us the same cardio benefits as jogging outside or using a treadmill.

Furthermore, it is a great place to get started with cardio training in general. But, there is one unavoidable problem we have to face. Riding stationary bikes is way too boring for a lot of us.

However, we can avoid getting bored to death on the road to nowhere and tone our legs or burn tons of calories by mixing things up a bit. We can constantly switch between exercises that challenge both our heart and lungs while keeping us engaged.

In this article, we’re going to share our favorite exercise bike workouts that not only keep us in good shape but also entertain and challenge us.

Setting Up Your Bike Properly

First, we need to set the right resistance on our bike, which is different for everyone. However, it’s essential to make sure that we don’t pedal ourselves off the bike and we’re still able to sprint when necessary.

After that, we have to adjust our machine to suit our height and our unique body posture. Here’s how to do it.

Adjusting the Saddle Height

One of the most important things about riding any bike comfortably and healthily is being able to fully stretch our legs.

So, we’ll have to adjust our saddle height according to our height and leg length. To do that, we have to stand next to our bike and adjust the saddle height to the height of our hip bone.

When that’s done, we have to sit on our bike, place our heels on the pedal and extend one foot to reach the lowest point of our pedal stroke.

When our knee bends along with the heel of the pedal, we can be sure that we’re sitting in the right height.

Exercise Bike Workout

Finding the Right Saddle Position

Exercise bikeThe next adjustment is positioning our saddle backward or forward. This position is determined by our flexibility and riding position, along with your height.

While we’re sitting in our preferred riding position, we want to make sure that our knees come a little over the centers of our feet. But, they shouldn’t extend past the middle of our shoelaces.

This preparation will ensure that we’re not putting any unnecessary strain on our knees and lower back, allowing us to exercise more efficiently.

The Handlebar Position

The position of the handlebar depends solely on our riding style and the pose we find the most comfortable. However, a higher handlebar position is a lot more forgiving than a lower one.

If our position is too low, it will lead to discomfort in our lower back and even put an unnecessary strain on our neck and shoulders. Lower positions are mostly preferred by more aggressive riders. But, we should always aim to ride comfortably without putting unnecessary weight on our handlebar.

 For more help on getting your bike set up correctly or if you are looking for a home exercise bike you should visit Indoor Biker.

PROGRAMS

An Exercise Bike Workout for Beginners

Before we start our exercise, we always have to set the rate of perceived exertion (RPE). RPE is a scale of 1 to 10 that determines how hard a workout feels, based on the resistance we chose. So, if a workout feels too hard, take a bit off from the resistance.

Here’s a beginner workout plan you can follow right now.

Workout1) We set our bike to low resistance and warm up at a leisurely pace.

RPE: 4

Time: 5 minutes

2) We increase the resistance by 1 to 4 levels or just a bit higher than what we’ve been working with during the warm-up phase. It’s important that we feel that we’re working, but only so hard that it still allows us to have a conversation. That should be our baseline pace.

RPE: 5

Time: 3 minutes

3) We slowly build our resistance until we’re working a bit harder than we were at our baseline pace.

RPE: 5 to 6

Time: 2 minutes

4) We start to decrease our resistance as we get back to our baseline pace.

RPE: 5

Time: 3 minutes

5) We will slowly increase our pace again until we’re working a bit harder than at our baseline pace.

RPE: 5 to 6

Time: 2

6) Finally, we slowly decrease the resistance until we’re back at a comfortable pace that allows us to cool down.

RPE: 4

Time: 5 minutes

This workout takes 20 minutes altogether, and it’s great if we are just starting out with our exercise bike. Once we get the hang of this exercise, we can increase its difficulty too.

We can add three more minutes to our baseline pace and two more minutes at harder levels. These additional minutes will make the entire exercise 30 minutes long, which will help us boost our stamina. Furthermore, we can even fit it into a busy day.

Of course, we can kick things up a notch with a more intense 45-minute workout.

 

45-minute Exercise Bike Workout

1) Once again we’ll start the session with low resistance to warm up.

RPE: 4

Time: 5 minute

2) It’s time to stand up from the saddle and cycle at medium speed for 5 minutes.

RPE: 5

Exercise classTime: 5 minutes

3) After switching back to lighter resistance, we keep cycling as fast as we can for 2 minutes. After that, we sit down and continue at the same speed for 3 minutes.

RPE: 5

Time: 5 minutes

4) We repeat step three with increased resistance.

RPE: 6

Time: 5 minutes

5) It’s time to stand up, put our gears into a fast pace and increase the resistance as well.

RPE: 7

Time: 1 minute

6) Decrease the resistance and move back into a seated position.

RPE: 5

Time: 3 minutes

7) Move back into a standing position, switch to high resistance and cycle at a medium pace.

RPE: 7

Time: 5 minutes

8) Continue at a medium pace, sit down and switch to light resistance. We can make this a lot more interesting by grabbing a pair of dumbbells and doing a set of curls. However, we shouldn’t push ourselves too hard if it seems too much at the moment.

RPE: 4

Time: 2 minutes

9) Keep the light resistance and start cycling at a fast pace.

RPE: 4

Time: 5 minutes

10) Maintain a fast pace and slowly increase the resistance. It’s important that we struggle to pedal by the end of this phase.

11) Finally, we slowly remove all resistance and cool down by consistently lowering the resistance after every minute or thirty seconds.

Speed Workout

When we’re looking to become faster on the road, our goal is to increase the speed at which we turn the pedals. This force is known as cadence. Moreover, we have to improve our ability to push harder and for longer. We should be able to recover quickly and then go at it again. Here’s a good workout for doing so:

1) Warm up with a low resistance setting, at low cadence.

RPE: 4

Time: 10 minutes

2) Continue cycling and sprint for 6 seconds after every minute.

RPE: 4 to 6

Time: 10 minutes

3) We should push ourselves hard for 60 seconds, then put in some light effort for 60 minutes.

Time: 11 to 20 minutes

RPE: 9

4) It’s time to cool down slowly but surely and lower the resistance and cadence after the last 5 minutes.

RPE: 9 to 4

Time: 10 minutes

 
 
 
 

Endurance Workout

Our endurance ability comes from our aerobic energy system. So, our goal is to improve that. The most surefire way to do that is to spend time in high heart rate zones (9 RPE or higher). Doing so will drastically improve our endurance.

Furthermore, it will also improve our ability to quickly recover from intense and hard physical activity. You can follow the plan below, but note that you should set the time and difficulty level of each phase according to your endurance level.

1) Again, we first have to warm up at an easy pace.

RPE: 4

Time: 0 to 5 minutes

2) It’s time to work on our endurance. We only have to steadily increase the difficulty with each phase from here on out.

RPE: 6 to 7

Time: 5 to 10 minutes

3) RPE: 7 to 8

Time: 10 to 15 minutes

4) RPE: 8 to 9

Time: 15 to 17 minutes

5) Now it’s time to let our heart rate drop a little and take a breather. After that, we get back at it once again and keep going until it goes up. Once it's up, we have to let it drop again. We can switch between these states every minute or every two minutes.

RPE: 6 to 10

Time: 10 minutes

6) Finally, we can cool off steadily at an easy pace.

RPE: 5

Time: 5 minutes

Fat Loss Workout

We can’t lose fat if we don’t strain ourselves. Cycling leisurely for 45 minutes while we envision a better body for ourselves won’t help.

We have to do a specific type of exercise to burn fat. It’s important that we actually generate the heat that will burn our fat. That is why it’s time to switch into high gear and do a high-intensity workout.

1) We start by warming up with low resistance and low cadence.

RPE: 4

Time: 5 minutes

2) We now have to kick it up a notch and switch to high cadence but keep the resistance low.

RPE: 4

Time: 5 minutes

3) Switch to high resistance and continue with low cadence.

RPE: 6 to 8

Time: 5 to 10 minutes

4) We reach the pinnacle of this workout with Tabata sprints. It’s a technique that involves going all out for 20 seconds and continuing with a 10-second recovery. We change our pace repeatedly during this phase.

RPE: 6 to 10

Time: 10 to 14 minutes

5) It’s time to end the workout with a cool down at low resistance and low cadence.

RPE: 5

Time: 5 minutes

These workouts are by no means easy. They require a lot of physical effort and mental focus, but that’s what makes them more fun.

Each of these workouts will continuously engage us, and all the work we’re putting in will bring us closer to achieving our goals. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to cycle!

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