Best Exercise Bike Workouts

by JLL Fitness · Published August 9, 2017 · Updated August 9, 2017

When it comes to using an exercise bike the majority of people only use them to either warm up before performing their desired workout, or to sit on them and cycle whilst staring at the TV for 60 minutes. But exercise bikes are so versatile that you can use multiple workout methods keep things fresh and to keep your body guessing. Here are the best exercise bike workouts to stave of saddle boredom

HIIT

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has to be the biggest fitness trend in the world right now. It’s benefits of being able to burn high amounts of fat in a short period of time means it’s everyone’s go to exercise. You can perform HIIT exercises with almost any piece of fitness equipment and the exercise bike is no different.

This type of exercise on an indoor cycling bike is great because it’s constantly changing so you don’t get bored. The monotonous task of pedalling for a prolonged period of time is good for nothing except sapping energy and motivation. Try this HIIT exercise bike routine to torch some serious calories even after you’ve finished! For a 20 minute exercise, you’ve no excuse to skip out on this one.

exercise bike

EMOM

Every Minute On the Minute (EMOM) is a great way to push you to your limits no matter what workout you do. The idea is that you perform a set amount of reps in 1 minute. If you finish your reps within a minute then you get to rest for the remainder of that minute. For example: If you aim for 10 push-ups in 1 minute and finish them in 20 seconds, then you get to rest for 40 seconds before attempting another 10.

You can easily replicate this on an exercise bike. All you have to do figure out how far you can pedal when you sprint for 20/30 seconds. When you’ve got this reading, try to replicate it every minute, on the minute. Again, this fights off boredom and with added resistance is great for muscle building and toning the legs, glutes, back and core.

exercise bike

Tabata

For a Tabata style workout then you’ll have to figure out your Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). RPE is how you perceive the intensity of the exercise to be on a scale of 1-10. For example 10 is the highest scale, so at level 10 you should be working as hard as physically possible and pushing yourself to your limits. Alternatively, 1 is the lowest end of the scale so minimal effort is required. With this in mind, level 5 is 50%. These efforts can determined by either changing speed or resistance.

This style of training is similar to HIIT but with shorter rest times so your heart rate will be much higher. The body’s need for oxygen will accelerate fat burning, plus the frequent high intensity pedalling will build power in the legs.

exercise bike

Target Heart Rate

Another way to keep boredom at bay when using an exercise bike is to train to a target heart rate. For this you need to figure out your maximum heart rate (MHR). By rule of thumb, most people figure this out using this calculation:

220 – age

For example a 30 year old’s MHR will be 220 – 30 = 190 beats per minute. The optimum range for fat burning is 60%-70% of your MHR. Try and stay in this zone for a 30-45 minute cycling session for a great workout that focuses on losing weight. If you drop below your target heart rate then pedal faster. Alternatively, if you’re over it then slow down!

exercise bike

Endurance

This endurance workout is designed to keep you pedalling for a long period of time without stopping. We’re going to use a low target heart rate so you’re not cycling too intensively to make sure that you’re cycling for longer.

Although this is probably the most boring of workouts, it’s great for improving your cardiovascular conditioning. There’s no way around training your body to cycle for a long time without cycling for a long time unfortunately, so you may want to pop the headphones on and blast Eye Of The Tiger a few times to get you through it.

exercise bike