exercise bike ~ advice plz

[shabbie]

ive been given a really nice exercise bike, which has an led screen that shows distance/cals/time taken/and pulse

rather than just peddle away is there a constructive way to get the best out of this machine?

i havent exercised since feb last year to be truthful :o

[xMenace]

When I get back into it, which I've done several times :(, I'll work towards a goal of beating my previous distance.

Start out by peddling for 20 minutes if you can. If you can't, go as long as you can. Use the first 5 for warmup and the last 5 for cooldown. Push yourself enough to become somewhat uncomfortable. Record your distance and time.

Bike three times a week. Each session now try to improve your distance. When you are comfortable at 20 mins, move to 25 or 30 mins.

[notme]

I also have a very nice exercise (recumbant) bike. I like to do a warm up of five minutes, then I program in a twenty minute hill pedal. Make sure you do a couple of minutes of a cool down. I watch stupid tv while I pedal and it takes my mind off exercise.

[Evermont]

...rather than just peddle away is there a constructive way to get the best out of this machine?...

I have a bunch of gear now including one of these. I recommend whatever it takes to keep you on it! For me, I just push buttons until the timer comes up and ignore all the other silliness. I got a great workout this morning - 45 minutes of serious sweat on the recumbent bike and a bunch of other things too. How fast was I going? How many "miles"? How many calories? I have no idea. It doesn't matter at all to me. But it is easy to lose track of time while exercising so I use the timer.

Many people can't workout at home. I got lots of gear free (or very cheap) from people who paid full price and never used the stuff. They say they just can't do it at home. I don't really share that problem so lucky me! I might set up a TV someday but for now, all I need is my MP3 player and all my favorite tunes. I put a lot of time into my music collection so it's easy for me to tweak the load on my player and keep it full of fresh tunes that jack me up. Makes all the difference. I'm starting to see some muscles popping out that I haven't seen in years. Wifey likes 'em too! There's a six pack in there somewhere...

[morrisma]

Maybe get a collection of old movies you like and save them for bike watching only. Start out small and watch 30 minutes at a time and save the rest of the movie for next session - something to look forward to. Eventually you will be able to watch quite a bit at a time and get a good workout to boot!
Not everyone can watch old movies but it works for me!
Mike

[Ronin]

Hi Shabbie!

Congratulations on the acquisition. As with all data providing devices it is daunting to determine what is/isn't important. Since I have the sense you are new to this (and perhaps just starting an exercise regimine) the two keys to effective exercise are heart-rate and duration. Your goal should be to get to 80% of your [theoretical] maximum heart rate (220 - your age) for up to one-hour per day three-to-five days per week (seven days if you can hack it).

Of course, putting in an hour on any kind of indoor machine is difficult without some kind of motivation/distraction. Perhaps this will lead you towards an actual bicycle for nicer weather. I can attest to the fact that cycling outdoors for an hour plus is much easier than an hour indoors (I've got multiple indoor setups and find it hard to swing my leg over the bike for an indoor hour and I LOVE bicycling!)

[LynnRut]

I used to ride an exercise bike but after hurting my back (on a separate activity), I have never been able to go back to it. I am looking for something else myself. I am told by my massage therapist that biking is really hard on backs. I believe recumbant is much better though.