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Exercise bike tension?

ajc1309
ajc1309 Posts: 255 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I was just wondering how much this matters? At the moment I'm doing 15 mins on tension 4 and then the rest on 3 and am burning 250-300 cals (according to the bike) in 35-45 mins.

How much does the tension effect what you burn? I can go for 30 mins on tension 3 and burn 200 but if I'm on 4 then I only burn about 190 in 30 mins because I find it harder. Does it really matter as long as you're burning calories?

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    A heart rate monitor would reveal all, or measure your pulse with a stopwatch at the end of say 10 minutes at a given tension level. Higher pulse / heart rate = more oxygen = more calories expended.
  • canary_girl
    canary_girl Posts: 366 Member
    For me, tension plus speed = increased heart rate = more calories expended. Be sure that you have some tension so that the flywheel isn't doing all the work. I can burn 10 to 15 calories a minute (according to Polar HRM) on a good fast climb.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I've tested it, I was burning 10% more calories or something with a tension of 2 as opposed to 1, but I was tired much faster too, so in my case I'm not sure it's worth it...
  • LinzRoberts2015
    LinzRoberts2015 Posts: 2 Member
    I've been doing the bike daily I have it on tension 5 then lower it to 4 then up it again I do it every 15 minutes my heart rate is normally about 120 to 130 after a hour of cycling this morning I managed to burned 764 but also I do push up and the handle bars so I'm getting the upper body working as well ... Tbh I've been struggling with my weight and I've upped my game this week fingers crossed my new way will work out for me ... Also if ur losing weight I wouldn't worry to much .... As it obviously working for u but like myself I've had to up it . Good luck tho
  • G8rRay
    G8rRay Posts: 89 Member
    edited July 2015
    Assuming that you are maintaining the same cycling speed (pedal rotations per minute), more tension requires more work from you; more work means more Calories (kcal) burned per minute. So then, the key is to maintain the same speed, while progressively (weekly) increasing the tension. [Note: Your increasing the tension does not have to be for the entire training session; it can be only for a part of it. Example: Maintaining constant cycling speed throughout the training session, (1) start at your lower tension and cycle for 10 minutes (to warm up); (2) increase the tension for 2-15 minutes (if using less than the full 15 minutes, do intervals: 2 minutes higher tension, 1 minute lower tension, repeat); and, finally, (3) reduce the tension to your starting tension for 5 minutes (to cool down); total: 30 minutes. To keep your training session to 30 minutes, you have many other variations during those middle 15 minutes, like: progressively increase tension each minute for 7 minutes, cycle 2 minutes at the maximum, then progressively reduce tension each minute for 7 minutes; etc.]

    And, as you get more fit, you can, each week: (1) increase your speed for each training session, (2) increase your starting tension for each training session, or (3) increase the duration of each training session.

    Good luck in your fitness journey!
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