Exercise Bike Fitness

Exercise bike fitness is a great path to better fitness and health. The exercise bike is an old stand-by exercise tool that has stood the test of time. Fad exercise machines have come and gone but the exercise bike is still a proven machine to build fitness.

For overall fitness you need exercise for heart fitness, muscle building and flexibility. Your exercise bike can be a key part in your overall program. Especially during wet or cold weather the exercise bike is useful every day and at any time.

Heart Conditioning

For the cardio-vascular or heart conditioning part you need something that will elevate your heart rate up to 50 percent of your maximum if you're a beginner or 70 percent if you're more experienced. Then you should maintain that rate at least for 15 minutes and longer is better. Your maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age. For this activity your exercise bike is ideal. You can alter the resistance of your bike to target just the effort level you need. Of course you can walk or ride a regular bike or jog or do any other aerobic exercise too. Mixing up the exercise over time is the key to not getting bored with stale repetitive exercise. Boredom will stop your exercise program so don't let that happen.

Rather than just pedaling away at an even pace for a half hour, try mixing up the pace of your exercise bike workout to make it more challenging and interesting. Try this pedaling tempo variation:

3 minutes easy warm-up pedaling

2 minutes moderate

1 minute fast

2 minutes moderate

1 minute fast

1 minute moderate

30 seconds fast

1 minute moderate

30 seconds fast

2 minutes moderate

1 minute fast

2 minutes moderate

3 minutes slow

Bet that's not boring!

Muscle Building

For muscle building nothing beats weight training. Simple weight lifting routines done just once a week can help you improve. My favorite weight lifting plan is in the book Slow Burn Fitness Revolution. There is a wealth of information on the Internet to help you design a simple set of exercises to tone and build muscle.

Don't think that the exercise bike has no muscle building potential. Your exercise bike is working all the major muscles of your lower body. If you have a dual action machine that works your arms too you're getting at all the major muscles of your body. But you still need a weight lifting routine for an ideal program.

Stretching

A stretching routine rounds out your overall program to improve your overall fitness.

Exercise bike fitness may be just what you need to improve your overall health and physical fitness. It's a convenient at-home activity you can do in any weather and at any time.


By Al Bullington

Check Out the Related Article : Choosing Between an Exercise Bike and a Treadmill