5 Tips for Maintaining Fitness with Indoor Cycling

Indoor cycling is a great form of low-impact exercise and one that is growing in popularity. Thanks to plenty of indoor cycling classes and affordable equipment for the home, people are discovering that riding a stationary bike is both fun and physically rewarding.

If you are looking to maintain fitness, indoor cycling is certainly a good option. Cycling gets the heart pumping, keeps the muscles in the lower body moving, and improves cardiovascular function. Below are five tips for maintaining fitness with indoor cycling, compliments of the Mcycle studio in Salt Lake City.

1. Manage Your Exercise Time

There is a persistent myth that suggests the amount of time you exercise is equally beneficial no matter how you use that. In other words, people believe that three hours of solid exercise in one session is just as beneficial as three one-hour sessions. It’s not.

Let’s say you only have three hours per week to devote to exercise. Do not use them all on Saturday morning. Why? Because you reach a point of diminishing returns when you exercise for that long. You are far better off exercising in 30-minute sessions, six days per week. Or try 60 minutes of exercise three days per week.

2. Don’t Continually Push

Indoor cycling to maintain fitness is a far cry from becoming a competitive cyclist. You are not trying to win the Tour de France here. As such, there is no need to continually push yourself to ride longer and faster. Cyclists who push themselves week after week find that they can never stop. That’s not healthy. Rather than continually pushing yourself, find a level of exercise that keeps your heart rate elevated and your legs moving without leaving you sore after every session.

3. Take Some off Days

Your body needs time to recover after every exercise session. The longer and harder you exercise the more recovery time is needed. As such, a general rule of thumb is to take some off days. You might want to exercise six days a week and take one day off. Or perhaps you want two days off. If so, space them out so they are in the middle of your routine week. Just make sure you take some time off so that your body can do what it needs to do.

4. Take Some Classes

Indoor cycling classes taught by professionals represent a good way to challenge yourself. At Mcycle, they combine cycling with appropriate music and upper body exercises to give students a more complete workout. Classes can motivate and hold you accountable. They also provide an opportunity to meet new people who can also motivate you to keep going.

5. Establish a Home Routine

If you do decide to sign up for classes, it is a good idea to establish a home routine as well. Why? Because you are probably not going to take classes six days per week. You will only take two or three. Those classes will provide some of the structure you need. However, you will need some structure at home to make sure you get on the bike on those days when you don’t have class.

A good way to accomplish this is to schedule your home workouts at the same time you would otherwise be taking a class. That way you are devoting a single block of time in your schedule for exercise.

Indoor cycling is a wonderful exercise for maintaining fitness. If you are new to cycling, start slow and work your way up. There is no need for you to conquer advanced rides in your first week.