Riding an exercise bike is a convenient and effective workout that will tone your legs, improve your fitness and, if you are watching what you eat, help you control your weight. There are a variety of exercises you can perform as part of your indoor bike workouts, which will add to the effectiveness of your training and also your enjoyment.
Pedaling Squares
This exercise will improve your pedaling technique and can be performed at any point during your workout, but is especially useful as part of your warm up. Instead of a circle, imagine your feet are moving around in a square as you pedal. Break the square into four sides and imagine that you can only push downward—focus on stomping straight down on the pedals. Next, focus on pulling your feet back along the bottom of the square and imagine sliding your feet along the floor while keeping your feet flat, just like you are trying to scrape mud off of the sole of your shoe. For the third part of this exercise, focus on pulling the pedals straight up and using your hip flexors as much as possible. Finally, imagine you are sliding your foot along the top of the square by pushing forward with your toes and keeping your feet flat. Perform each phase for 15 to 30 seconds and then try to combine the four phases into a smooth pedaling action.
One Legged Pedaling
To ensure that you are using both feet equally when riding your indoor bike, perform one-legged pedaling. Try to relax one leg completely so that it only moves because it is being driven around by your working leg. Focus on using good pedaling technique by pushing down, pulling back, pulling up and then pushing forward with your working leg. Pedal for 60 seconds using one leg and then shift your emphasis to the other leg and repeat. If your bike has a place where you can safely put your non-working leg, you can perform this exercise by taking your non-working foot off of the pedal completely so you can really focus on one leg at a time.
Hill climbing
Performed seated or standing, hill climbs will increase the intensity of your workout and result in greater fitness and calorie burning benefits. Imagine a hill and picture yourself riding up this hill. Adjust the resistance on your bike to simulate the climb. Remain seated for as long as you can and only stand up during the steepest parts of the hill. Once you have reached the top, reduce the resistance on your bike and picture yourself riding back down to the bottom of the hill. Repeat the climb as many times as you like.
Sprints
Like hill climbs, sprints will raise the intensity of your workout and increase the benefits you gain from indoor cycling. To sprint, increase the speed at which you are pedaling to 100 rpm or more. Imagine you are riding as part of a group of cyclists, all of whom are jockeying for position. Periodically, make a break for the lead by injecting a sprint into your workout. Vary the length of your sprints to simulate making long breakaways or merely trying to jump ahead of your opponents. After each sprint, ease back into your regular pace to recover, and then repeat. Sprints can be performed seated or standing.
References
- "The Cyclist's Training Bible; Joe Friel; 2009
- "Fitness Cycling"; Dede Demet Barry, Michael Barry, and Shannon Sovndal; 2006
- "Cycling Anatomy"; Shannon Sovndal; 2009
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