Cycling: weight loss and muscle toning

mariaoutlook

I bought an exercise bike and have taken it up as a way to get regular exercise. I cycle 30 minutes (low resistant level) every day. I would like to increase time and resistance level. If anyone has any workouts / suggestions of just how I should go, I'd be very in hearing them.

I'm 1,64 cm tall and weight 89 kilos. I also swim 40 minutes week and walk 2 - 3 times a week. Until few years ago I used to do quite lot of exercise but never cycling.

Thanks in advance for your help.

zoom2

The Sufferfest workout downloads are fun, have great music...and are HARD! But you don't have to push yourself as hard when you first start. And you'll see HUGE results. Most Winters I've casually pedaled indoors for 45-90 minutes a few times/week and simply maintained some basic fitness come Spring. Last Winter I did 1-2 Sufferfest workouts/week and then 1-2 easy ones and I was a beast once the Polar Vortices settled-down and let us have Spring.

cheshirecatastrophe

The Sufferfest videos are great but challenging! To work up to that level from where you are, this is how I would go about it:

Use a timer or timing app set to 2 minute intervals. Try 2 minutes on a higher resistance setting, 2 minutes on your usual. See how far into your 30 minutes you can hold the interval cycle. As the weeks go by and you get stronger, increase the resistance level to keep it interesting!

Each day, add one minute onto your cycling time (or, if you feel up to it, add time in 2 minute interval increments!). The Sufferfest videos are about an hour, so, you could aim to work up to that or however long you have.

mariaoutlook

Thanks Zoom. Never heard about Sufferfest before. Yes, they are too hard for me now but I will take it easy and increase the exercise gradually.

mariaoutlook

Thanks Chesire. That's a good idea. I'm thinking to create an Excel page to record my progress.

I live in rainy Northern Ireland and I can't cycle outdoors right now (too ice, too wet,...), but I'll as soon as the weather gets better. Is there an app you can recommend? Thanks!

SingingSingleTracker

mariaoutlook wrote: »

I bought an exercise bike and have taken it up as a way to get regular exercise. I cycle 30 minutes (low resistant level) every day. I would like to increase time and resistance level. If anyone has any workouts / suggestions of just how I should go, I'd be very in hearing them.

I'm 1,64 cm tall and weight 89 kilos. I also swim 40 minutes week and walk 2 - 3 times a week. Until few years ago I used to do quite lot of exercise but never cycling.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Work to add more time you spend on the bike as well as how fast or hard (resistance level) you go. Perhaps start by adding 10-15% each day. So 30 minutes becomes 33-35 minutes for a week or two. Then it jumps to 36-38 minutes the next week or two. And so on and so forth. 60-90 minutes on the indoor trainer is the end goal I would be aiming for over time. If you get really experienced, 90 - 120+ on the indoor trainer is routine for us higher volume guys looking to burn 1000+ calories per session.

cheshirecatastrophe

mariaoutlook wrote: »

Thanks Chesire. That's a good idea. I'm thinking to create an Excel page to record my progress.

I live in rainy Northern Ireland and I can't cycle outdoors right now (too ice, too wet,...), but I'll as soon as the weather gets better. Is there an app you can recommend? Thanks!

My weather is yucky right now, too.

I use Seconds for iPhone (which is free if you don't mind setting it up fresh each time), but probably any app with circuit training or HIIT options that allows you to set custom interval times would work. I think I searched for "circuit timer" or "circuit training timer" to find it in the app store.

Jaymefirst

This app has free on-demand spin classes to download. The app is free right now in the iTunes store. I like it because you can choose what kind of cycling class you want to do and how long. Plus the music is pretty good.
http://tech.co/peloton-ipad-app-live-streaming-demand-cycling-classes-2014-07

mariaoutlook

Great stuff! Thank you all for your great advice. I'm going to take a look to all the apps recommended and start this afternoon.