A good exercise workout.
The exercise bike is an old faithful in the exercise
equipment field. Weird exercise machines have come
and gone out of fashion 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 you
need to 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.
Rather than just pedaling away at an even pace for a half
hour, try interval training by mixing up the pace of your
exercise bike workout to make it more challenging and
interesting. Try this 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. There is a wealth of information on the Internet
to help you design a simple set of exercises to tone and build
muscle.
The exercise bike provide a great load bearing exercise for
you lower body. 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.
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