The Required Exercise Bike Time

Using an exercise bike for cardio workouts provides an effective way to engage in aerobic exercise no matter what the weather. Most models calculate distance and calorie burn, with other features such as heart rate. The time you should spend on your exercise bike depends upon your fitness level and exercise goals. Using your heart rate as an indicator, you can lose weight and improve your cardiovascular health.

Target Heart Zone

To determine your exercise time, you will first need to calculate your target heart zone. Heart rate measures your exercise intensity. Using this information, you can adjust your exercise bike workouts to match your fitness goals. The American Heart Association recommends that you exercise within 50 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate or 220 minus your age. For a 35-year-old woman, her target heart zone is 92 to 157 beats per minute. The association also suggests refraining from the most vigorous exercise until after you have been exercising regularly at least for six months.

Fitness Goals

Your time on the exercise bike will pay off when it comes to meeting your exercise goals. For general health maintenance, you should plan on spending at least 150 minutes per week on your exercise bike as per recommendations by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. You can adjust your schedule to get more out of your workouts. For weight loss or to improve your cardiovascular fitness, you can increase your time or intensity.

Weight Loss

In order to lose weight, you should aim for exercising within 50 to 70 percent of your target heart zone. At this intensity, exercise will be easy to moderate. The American Council for Exercise recommends exercising for five to six days a week, beginning with 30-minute sessions. You will eventually work up to 60-minute sessions. A 2010 study by the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that women were most successful at preventing weight gain if they engaged in 60-minute workouts most days of the week.

Aerobic Endurance

To improve your aerobic endurance, you will need to increase your exercise intensity on your exercise bike. You can do this by increasing your speed or resistance. Your goal will be exercising at least 80 percent of your target heart zone. You have an advantage using an exercise bike because you are engaging larger muscle groups. The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion recommends exercising at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly. Because of the intensity, you should span your workouts throughout the week, doing light to moderate exercise on the days in between.