Indoor Cycling Drills Using RPMs

Hills, flat roads, sprints, jumps and hovers are a few of the drills you can perform during an indoor cycling workout. The time spent in these drills and the speed at which you perform them can be based on how you feel and your level of fitness. Another way to measure the speed of these drills is with revolutions per minute, or RPMs.

  1. It's a Revolution

    • The flywheel on an indoor cycling bike spins quickly and smoothly. You cannot coast downhill on an indoor bike; the wheel keeps spinning, so your feet keep moving. The number of times the flywheel spins in one minute is known as RPM. According to spinning.com, the creators of the original spinning bikes, your RPMs should range between 60 and 110, depending on the drill you perform. You should never spin faster than 110 RPMs during a sprint. At speeds faster than 110 RPMs the flywheel spins due to momentum and the exercise is less effective.

    Fancy Flat

    • Sprints are performed on flat roads for drills that use RPMs. Select a resistance level at which you can cycle at a steady, comfortable pace of 80 RPMs. Pedal on the flat road for one minute, then increase your pace to 110 RPMs for a 30-second sprint. Slow your pedal and return to 80, or keep it elevated slightly at 90 RPMs for one minute before you sprint again. The sprint intervals improve your endurance without the added resistance of a hill.

    Classy Climb

    • RPMs are also a helpful tool when performing hill climbs. Your resistance is set at a challenging level, but allows you to keep a cadence range between 60 and 80 RPMs. If your RPMs are slowing, decrease the amount of flywheel tension. Your hill RPM drill varies the resistance as if you are cycling on rolling hills. Select a heavy resistance and cycle for five minutes at 60 RPMs. Then decrease the resistance slightly and cycle for two minutes at 80. Increase the resistance again and pedal for four minutes at 60, then decrease to pedal for two minutes at 80. Continue the pattern as you decrease the hill climbs by one minute each until you reach zero.

    A Little Jumpy

    • Jumps are an indoor cycling drill in which you lift your butt off the saddle. Your hands remain on the handlebars for balance, but your legs do the work as you jump. The jump can be used with RPM as a speed drill when climbing a hill. For example, begin a seated climb at 60 RPM. Imagine your road takes a turn before you head uphill again. As you pedal around the turn, stand up and increase your RPM to 80 to really push up that hill. Remain there for 15 to 30 seconds. Return to your saddle and increase the resistance slightly as you maintain 60 RPM. Continue the jumping intervals two or three times.