Exercise bikes can be a reliable source of cardio exercises that allow users to perform high and low-impact workouts. Riding an exercise bike can also effectively burn calories and strengthen the muscles, lungs, and heart as well.
Any exercise bike user can get all the benefits, but the user needs to ensure proper usability before that. Proper usability is associated with many aspects, including the accurate time duration. Wondering what will be the accurate exercise bike riding time duration?
Riding an exercise bike for 30 to 50 minutes three to five days a week can be ideal for getting the desired results. Users can increase and decrease the time range based on their fitness level or needs. Learn more about how long you should ride an exercise bike based on your fitness level throughout this article.
Reasons Why Exercise Bikes Are Good Among Other Exercise Tools
An exercise bike is an indoor exerciseequipment that allows indoor cycling with plenty of workout options. There are many exercise bikes, including upright, recumbent, stationary bikes, etc. All types of exercise bikes are safe and convenient that allow doing cross-training and cardio workouts.
Riding an exercise bike can be handy to build strength in your lower body and upper body. Here users can perform both low and high-impact workouts so that any individual can ride an exercise bike based on their fitness level. An exercise bike is also a great choice to eliminate many types of injuries, especially spinal injuries.
An exercise bike is an excellent exercise tool for lumbar spinal patients. It will let the patient perform both high and low-intensity workouts to recover from spinal issues like spinal stenosis. In short, Exercise Bike For Spinal Stenosis could be a good option if you have lower back pain issues.
How Long Should I Use an Exercise Bike For?
It’s quite complicated to answer exactly how long you should use an exercise bike. That’s why we have classified the users in three different levels; here they are:
- For Beginner
- For Intermediate
- For Pro Level
We are going to briefly explain these three different rider classes below. Have a look-
For Beginner:
If you are just starting exercising, then cardio and aerobic workouts would be a great way to start. In that case, an exercise bike will let beginners perform workouts without causing any injuries. For beginners, 25 to 35 minutes of workout programs will be the perfect workout plan. Here is the simple workout plan for beginners:
- Start with a low-intensity workout and continue it for 5 to 10 minutes.
- After that for the next 20 minutes, follow below workout plans:
- Medium intensity for 5 minutes.
- High-intensity level for 1-2 minutes.
- Again medium intensity level for 5 minutes.
- High intensity level for 1-2 minutes.
- medium intensity for 5 minutes.
- After both high and medium workouts, finish the workout with 5 minutes of low-intensity workouts.
For Intermediate Level:
If you’re an intermediate-level exercise bike rider, then you’ve to follow a different workout plan. 40-55 minutes of workout will be good enough for an intermediate-level exercise bike rider. Here is the plan an intermediate level rider should follow-
- Start with low intensity and ride the bike for 5-10 minutes.
- After that, follow the following plan to lose weight-
- Ride in a medium intensity riding for 3-5 minutes.
- Then high intensity riding for 1-3 minutes.
- Again medium intensity riding for 3-5 minutes and follow the same cycle for the next 20 to 30 minutes.
- Once you’ve done medium and medium-intensity riding, then end the session with 5-10 minutes of low-intensity workout.
For Pro Level:
A pro-level exercise bike rider can ride an exercise bike by following the same plan as an intermediate-level rider. However, they can perform interval training workouts for boosting riders’ stamina and strength. Interval workouts significantly help to increase aerobic capacity as well. When it’s about interval training, 20 minutes of workout will be enough, and here’s the plan you need to follow-
- As usual, start riding the bike with low intensity and the time duration shouldn’t be more than 10 minutes.
- After that follow the following intensity plan:
- Practice high intensity for 2 minutes and then low intensity for 2 minutes. And follow the intensity cycle for 3 times.
- Once you’re done, now perform cool down riding at low intervals and workout for a minute.
Related: Heavy Duty Exercise Bike Reviews
Benefit of Using the Exercise Bike Properly
Not just exercise bikes, ensuring proper usability of any exercise equipment will help to get the desired output. Learn about what benefits you’ll get by using the exercise bike properly through the below section:
Boosts Cardio Fitness
Riding an exercise bike is a form of cardio workout which will strengthen your muscles, heart, and lungs. The bike will also help to improve memory and brain functioning, blood circulation, immune system, and many more.
Aid to Weight Loss
If you have a goal of reducing body weight, riding an exercise bike can be the best solution for you. It will let you burn calories repeatedly and help create a caloric deficit that will help you lose weight.
Burns Body Fat
Riding an exercise bike can help to burn significant amounts of calories and reduce body fat. Any average-weight person can bun up to 260 calories by riding an exercise bike for 30-minutes.
Provides Both High and Low-Impact Workout
Exercise bikes can be used as a versatile bike that allows the user to do both high and low-impact types of exercise. So people of all ages can use the bike to workout based on their fitness level.
Strengthens Lower Body Muscles
Riding an exercise bike can help to strengthen your lower body, including quadriceps, calf, and hamstrings. The exercise bike can be effective in improving muscles in the back, core, and glutes.
Safety Precautions to Maintain While Using an Exercise Bike
No matter you’re a beginner or pro exercise bike riding, maintaining safety precautions is always essential. Maintaining proper safety tips can help to trim all types of risk of injuries. Here are some core safety tips that you can follow:
- Before you start pedaling the exercise bike, make sure you adjust the seat height, handlebars, and pedals correctly.
- Adjust the pedal straps, and don’t just pedal with your toes. Also, try to wear comfortable shoes while riding the exercise bike.
- Ensure proper posture position while riding the exercise bike. The wrong posture position can lead to injury and also muscle fatigue.
- Don’t go for a high-intensity workout immediately after you start riding the exercise bike. Increase the workout intensity gradually.
- Take a break from workouts, and taking breaks helps to heal the injuries and pains. It also helps to reduce the chances of any kind of injury.
Final Thought
Although exercise provides many health benefits, improper usability can lead to many impacts and create many health issues. Therefore, it’s always essential to consider the workout plans based on users’ health conditions and fitness levels. Otherwise, the wrong exercise routine or time will bring several health conditions instead of bringing benefits.
Since we’ve included brief information about maintaining exercise time while using an exercise bike, you can follow it. You can also get all the benefits mentioned above by following the proper riding routine based on your fitness level.