Unlike traditional upright exercise bikes, recumbent bikes offer back support during your workout, making the workout more comfortable and less stressful on your lower back. You will lose the option of standing on the pedals during your workout because the handlebars of a recumbent bike are situated beneath your hips, but you will still be able to get an effective cardio workout, burn calories and work on lower body muscular strength and endurance.
Step 1
Pedal at a moderate intensity as you raise your heart rate, increase your blood circulation and lengthen and contract your muscles. Your warmup should last about three to five minutes, depending on your physical condition.
Step 2
Pedal at an intensity level that gets your heart rate to 50 to 65 percent of your maximum heat rate. MHR is most easily calculated by subtracting your age from 220. Multiply this number by .5 and .65 and keep your heart beats per minute in this range as you exercise.
While you won't burn as many calories at this pace as you will during more intense workouts, you will burn calories and build your fitness up to a point where you can being more intense workouts. The American Heart Association recommends exercising five times per week for 30 minutes at this intensity to improve and maintain heart health.
Step 3
Experiment with the resistance settings and seat position on your bike to vary your workout. More resistance adds more muscle effort, while less resistance raises your heart rate by letting you pedal faster. Add dumbbells to your workout to add upper body exercises, since a recumbent bike offers more stability.
Step 4
Pedal at an intensity level that raises your heart rate to 70 to 80 percent of your MHR to create an aerobic workout. Once you have the stamina to exercise at a vigorously intense level for 15 minutes or longer, you will be able to create aerobic workouts. You will burn more calories at this level and improve cardiovascular fitness at a higher level.
Step 5
Create peaks and valleys in your intensity as you continue to build cardiovascular stamina. Don't take breaks by stopping, but raise and lower the intensity of your pedaling at a rate that lets you continue to work longer. If you can't talk during your workout, you have gone too far and are no longer in the aerobic exercise zone. The American Heart Association recommends exercising three times per week for 20 minutes at the aerobic fitness level to improve and maintain heart health.
Step 6
Add anaerobic exercise to your plan if you participate in sports like tennis, basketball, football, racquetball, soccer or volleyball. This means a higher level of intensity for shorter durations, which is often referred to as interval or spring training.
Pedal at an intensity level that raises your heart rate to 80 to 90 percent of your MHR to create an anaerobic workout. Start with a 30-second sprint, followed by a 90-second coast and recovery period. As you get in better condition, you can sprint for up to two minutes, taking a two- or three-minute break. Less resistance is more realistic for sport training, since you will be using your high-twitch (fast) muscle fibers, rather than your low-twitch fibers. Sprint training with less resistance mirrors your body's match or game movements.
Step 7
Finish your workout by slowing down and lowering your heart rate, rather than stopping cold. Stretch all of your leg muscles after your cooldown to decrease muscular stiffness and soreness later.
References
- Free Weight Loss Exercise Programs: Exercise Bike Workouts
- Weight Loss Exercise Programs: Interval Exercise Bike Workouts
- YouTube: How to Use an Exercise Bike: The Recumbent Exercise Bike
- The Walking Site: Your Target Heart Rate
- American College of Sports Medicine: Basic Recommendations From ACSM and American Heart Association
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