Cardio boredom

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castelamare92
castelamare92 Posts: 5 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I love running and it is a part of my every day routine, but lately my motivation has been lacking and I have wanted to try another form of cardio. I just got a stationary bike for my birthday and was thinking about doing intervals of both a couple days a week. Maybe half and half. Does anyone have experience with stationary bikes? It takes forever to burn calories on that thing.

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  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    I ride stationary bikes on occasion, but I'd rather be on an actual bike.

    When you say it takes forever to burn calories on them... compared to what?
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Outdoor bike. Bike lake. Hiking trail.
  • DawnEmbers
    DawnEmbers Posts: 2,451 Member
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    I don’t do stationary bikes but for treadmill and elliptical I like to use distraction/multitasking to keep going. Usually listen to music or watch tv and for a while I was studying for certification so used cardio time for reading/studying.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I use a stationary bike as cross training for my running
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    castelamare92 wrote: »
    It takes forever to burn calories on that thing.
    castelamare92 wrote: »
    I love running and it is a part of my every day routine, but lately my motivation has been lacking and I have wanted to try another form of cardio. I just got a stationary bike for my birthday and was thinking about doing intervals of both a couple days a week. Maybe half and half. Does anyone have experience with stationary bikes? It takes forever to burn calories on that thing.

    Only if:
    You aren't trying very hard (resistance and/or cadence too low).
    You aren't very fit.

    Alternatively your calorie estimates might not be accurate. How are you estimating calories?

    Here's an interval routine I do sometimes.....
    Two and a half minute intervals of seated moderate effort/standing moderate effort/seated high effort/standing high effort and repeat for an hour.
  • RadishEater
    RadishEater Posts: 470 Member
    edited July 2018
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    Spinning takes patience for some people to build up muscles AND mental endurance.
    If I run for 24 mins and I would need longer on spin bike to burn the same amount or calories, but the Gap is closing!! Getting closer to only 5 mins apart.

    However, when I started spinning that gap would have been way larger. Also outside biking I'm slow as molasses. I just don't have the attention span to keep my pace up.

    I pick something for each song (sprints, a heavy resistance, a hill, sprints on a hill) then do 1-3 songs of work then take a 30s-1 min break and repeat.

    But if you push yourself for those working minutes it is possible to get to calories burned at
    a running pace.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,375 Member
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    I've recently went back to playing racquetball, great cardio
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
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    Like others have said, that you're not seeing a lot of burned calories likely has everything to do with your strength on the bike. You also might be seeing issues based on how you're/your stationary bike is calculating calories.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    dano5200z wrote: »
    Hello nice to meet you ,if your interested in weight loss I know a great method my family and I use just msg me I would be glad to help.

    If it's so great, share with the class.
  • 100_PROOF_
    100_PROOF_ Posts: 1,168 Member
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    dano5200z wrote: »
    Hello nice to meet you ,if your interested in weight loss I know a great method my family and I use just msg me I would be glad to help.

    Why not just type your reply out here so everyone can see???
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Book ‘em, Dano!

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,951 Member
    edited July 2018
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    castelamare92 wrote: »
    I love running and it is a part of my every day routine, but lately my motivation has been lacking and I have wanted to try another form of cardio. I just got a stationary bike for my birthday and was thinking about doing intervals of both a couple days a week. Maybe half and half. Does anyone have experience with stationary bikes? It takes forever to burn calories on that thing.

    1) If you must ride inside for some reason ...

    A ) Go to a spin class

    B ) Put a real bicycle on a trainer and get Zwift ... or do "Commercial Intervals" for a little while, then get Zwift.


    2) Ride a real bicycle outside.

  • noblsheep
    noblsheep Posts: 584 Member
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    Really, riding outside beats the stationary bike by eons.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,982 Member
    edited July 2018
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    I burn 550 cals/day rowing 10k meters/day in 4 intervals of 12.5 mins and 2500 meters each. I watch TV while rowing to alleviate the tedium.

    I have an expensive spin bike on which I can burn the same amount of cals on in the same amount of time but I've never used it since I got my rower.
  • sophia162
    sophia162 Posts: 115 Member
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    How about cardio workout videos on youtube? Search for Fitness Blender's HIIT cardio or Sidney Cummings' workouts. Or Millionaire Hoy's workouts as well.

    They're fun and are a nice change to steady cardio which tends to get boring. You can keep them in the mix for some days of the week :)
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Thinking about getting a hotel on the river, leaving my bike I'm the hotel, driving about 15 miles with inner tubes, floating back down the river to my room, and then riding the bike back to get the car. Cardio awesomeness.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    edited July 2018
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    I don't mind indoor equipment though I miss my trail running days. I prefer rowing but spent lots of time on Stationary bikes, Spinners and now I have an Assault style bike.

    This might help. I liked to play "games" on the Stationary bikes at the gyms and have calorie goals, like 10 calories every minute or holding 20 RPM the entire ride. Agree with others, if you're not burning calories, it's just more an indication of your biking fitness right now.

    For visuals, try something like this on TV when you ride.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yln2zVHEtq8

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