How to Use an Exercise Bike

Using an exercise bike can give you a great low- impact cardiovascular workout. If you run, walk or participate in impact activities, over time you may develop overuse injuries. To help prevent this you can alternate some of your impact days with riding an exercise bike. To get the most benefit from your exercise program, variety or cross training is the key. Each activity you do works your muscles differently. This can help you to keep getting results and add variety to your routine.

Instructions

  1. Use Good Body Mechanics

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      To help prevent injuries you need to make sure you use good form and posture when you ride. The seat height needs to be set correctly so you do not hurt your knee joints. Sit on the bike. Push one pedal to the bottom. At this point there should be a slight bend in your knee. If your knee is too bent, you will put unnecessary stress on the joint.

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      In addition, you do not want the knee to straighten completely, lock or hyperextend as you pedal. This can pull on the ligaments and tendons and create injury.

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      You also want to keep your abdominal muscles slightly contracted and your back straight. Avoid leaning on the handlebars. The handlebars are just there to help keep your balance but you do not want to place any body weight on them. Keep your shoulders down and away from the ears and do not let the upper back round.

    Use Your Bike to Recover from Illness or Injury

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      If you are recovering from a hip or knee injury or surgery, your physical therapist may suggest riding a bike to help your recovery. In some cases, exercise bikes can also be used to manage back pain. In this case you will keep relatively light tension on the bike and pedal at a comfortable speed.

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      The goal is to help the hip or knee joint and the surrounding muscles to loosen up. Your therapist may suggest that you ride your exercise bike two to three times per day to prevent your joints from stiffening up.

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      If you are trying to manage or prevent heart disease, you can use your exercise bike to improve the health of your heart and lungs. In this situation you want to try to ride at a steady pace for 20 to 30 minutes at least five days per week.

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      You should have enough tension on the bike so that you become slightly out of breath and sweat. The goal is to make your heart pump harder and your lungs work harder. Like any muscle in the body, when stressed through exercise, your heart and respiratory muscles will become stronger.

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      Working out at this level can reduce your risk of coronary artery disease, heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes and many other chronic illnesses. Before starting your exercise bike routine, check with your health care provider to find out what a safe heart rate level is for you.

    Ride for Weight Loss

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      If you are healthy and you are looking to ride a bike for weight loss, you should try interval training. While you will burn calories and lose weight by riding at a steady pace as described above, you can get even more benefits doing intervals.

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      Intervals basically means riding at various intensity levels to help change up your workout and keep your body guessing. When you do the same exercise routine all the time, your body will eventually adapt and you will stop getting results. To do interval training on your bike start with a five minute warm-up by pedaling at a moderate speed with light tension.

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      Then pick up the pace. Add a little more tension so you start to feel some resistance. Pedal as quickly as you can. Continue for five minutes.

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      Then turn up the tension as high as you can and slow down your rate of pedaling. This should feel like you are riding up a hill. Continue for two minutes.

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      Then take the tension back down and pick up your speed. Keep alternating back and forth between fast pedaling with lower tension and slower pedaling with heavy tension.

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      If your type of exercise bike allows, you can do some or all of the slower pedaling while standing. Try to ride for at least 30 minutes. Then give yourself a good cool-down by pedaling slowly with no tension for about five minutes.

    Do Your Research

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      Before choosing an exercise bike, take time to look at different styles and features. There are upright bikes where your feet are underneath your hips.

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      If you have back issues or trouble with your balance, a recumbent exercise bike may be a better option. Recumbent bikes allow you to sit closer to the ground and your legs are stretched out in front of you.

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      You can also buy a spinning exercise bicycle. This type of exercise bike is a good choice for the advanced exerciser looking for a heavy workout. Spinning can burn up to 50 calories in a 45-minute session, so they are good for burning calories and building up endurance.