For what seems like the beginning of time, exercise bikes have been a go to way for individuals to lose weight and maintain their fitness at home and rightfully so – exercise bikes are one of the most popular forms of at home cardio. Investing in an at-home fitness bike is a great decision to make to enhance your overall health and well-being, but it’s also important to recognize and put into action the proper ways to use one so you get the most out of your investment and use your bike to reach your full potential. Check out our tips below to see how to use an exercise bike the right way.
Familiarizing Yourself with the Equipment
Once you have purchased your bike, you’ve already accomplished the first step of committing yourself to change your health for the better. Following this, a good idea is to familiarize yourself with the bike itself for smooth usage.
- Locate and adjust the seat height to your liking to ensure an optimum comfort,
- Identify the foot straps and test out securing your feet in them
- Familiarize yourself with the bike digital display
Make a Schedule
To ensure that you actually use your bike in
stead of letting it collect dust in a corner after just a few weeks, hold yourself accountable with a reasonable exercise schedule. The great thing about at home exercise bikes is that you don’t have to go out of your way to drive to the gym – your workout is waiting for you right at home so it leaves you with less room for excuses. If you are just starting out with indoor biking, commit yourself to doing either 30 minutes three times a week, or 15 minutes every day with a 1 – day rest day.
If you are already fit and want to maintain your health, you could try doing 30 minutes a day, which is the smallest fraction out of your 24 hour day in the name of health.
Pick a Prime Location
Next you should pick a location to place your exercise bike, which you can always change later especially if it is quality and lightweight like our Merax Folding Magnetic Exercise Bike. If you are just starting out with indoor exercise bikes, a great place to start would be in front of your television – watch your favorite shows and complete your regular dose of cardio all at the same time! Pick an area that will motivate you so you stick to your predetermined schedule; for some it may be in front of the television, for others it may be in the bedroom as a reminder to exercise when you wake up as a way to start your day, or to get your workout in before you go to bed.
Working Out
We found a great exercise bike fat-burning workout plan that uses intervals – this means that you pedal at different resistance levels for varying amounts of time to help you get your heart pumping and the most out of your workout:
Warm-Up. Spend 5 minutes pedaling at a medium resistance
- Spend 20 seconds pedaling at a high resistance
- Spend 10 seconds pedaling at zero resistance
- Spend 1 minutes pedaling at an low-medium resistance
- Repeat the three bullet points 4 times
Cool-Down. Spend 5 minutes pedaling at a medium resistance
Feel free to adjust these guidelines to your own personal fitness level and continue to adjust and challenge yourself as you progress!
Don’t have a bike and ready for the challenge? See our Meritline exercise bikes here:
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