Biking in Gym

[jllmom]

The last couple of months I've been using the bikes in the gym for my cardio workouts, and well I'm really pleased with the results I'm getting. I love to workout and have done running, kickboxing, weights and so forth. But either I've totally forgotten what my body felt like before my last pregnancy (1 year postpartum) or I'm getting leg definition I've never had, especially in the hamstrings. I love to work hard and get a good sweat going on - but other than that have no clue what I"m doing or what my goals should be ;) That's where I need the help :D

I started out at high resistance going about 60-70 RPM, the fastest I could go at that speed. I would work up quite a burn.

Then I was told to to high RPM and low resisitance since my goal is to slim the legs down. So I've been doing that low RPM and going about 85-95 RPM. Also I feel quite worked out.

My time usually is 45-60 minutes a workout. I probably get in about 3 workouts a week averagely. Sometimes I try to kick it up during the workout and try to get the RPM to be around 100 for like 5 mins or so.

I'm wanting to get into a spinning class this coming up new year to learn some techniques as I have none. But wondered if anyone had some input for me. I really am liking this alot. I like running but for whatever reason my hips have a hard time long distance running. The longest I've ever run was 6.2 miles, and that hurt my joints. That's my problem with running my joints give out before my leg muscles do. I've pushed myself before to run as long as I can, then couldn't sleep on my sides for days because of the pain. Biking seems much more gentle.

So what should I do next, what do I work up to? Do I turn the resistance down more to get a RPM of over 100, do I want to do high resistance once a week? What's next?

My goal: To get some more muscle tone until spring then learn to ride a real bike LOL. I had a really bad wreck at 11 and almost had to get a skin graph on my knee. I've been scared of bikes ever since. But...I'm getting such good results in the gym that I'm gonna take the plunge this spring and learn to do it for real :eek:

Any help would be great, book recs and such too would be a big help!

[SouthernBelle]

Since you are at the gym, it may be problematic to use spinervals since they are video. But there are mp3s available for things like interval training. At the gym I use Cardiocoach. I think there are also tracks available at ITrain, but I have never dl'd from there.

You might also check out podcasts from ITunes as most of these are free. I haven't looked for spinning specific ones, but there are all types of workouts available there.

HTH,

[jllmom]

I don't have an IPOD, so can you use these on an MP3 player? And how effective are they?

[indysteel]

Jllmom, congrats to you for your work at the gym. I would definitely suggest taking some spin classes. Assuming you have good instructors at your gym, they will put your through your paces. Spinning is a very effective and fun cardio workout. If you go regularly, you'll end up doing both speed and resistance work. Go easy with the high resistance stuff though, especially at first. It's really easy to put undo stress on your knees during spinning if you push too big of a gear. I went to a class the other day where the instructor was barely able to turn her pedals over. In my opinion, that's an invitation to injury. Just listen to your body. If it hurts (in a bad way), pull back.

My best advice is to get a heart rate monitor and use it regularly. You didn't necessarily indicate that you're working on cardio fitness, but in my opinion, it's the foundation upon which to build all other fitness, especially in cycling. I'd recommend spending most of your time on the bike for the next couple of months at around 60-75% of your "maximum heartrate" (you may have to do some further research on how best to determine your max HR). Assuming you do this consistently, you will develop a good aerobic base. From there, you can work on increasing the intensity and duration of your indoor cycling and, hopefully, start riding outside as well. It may not be as immediately awarding as a sweatfest, but it will pay off in spades.

Cycling does build leg strength, especially in your quads, but since it's not weight bearing, it's not as effective as, say, running. You will notice changes in your muscle tone and definition as you continue to ride, but if muscle toning is your primary goal, I would also recommend doing some weight/ resistance training for both your upper and lower body. Interestingly, cycling requires core strength but isn't great at building it so cyclists benefit from supplementing their workouts with resistance, balance and flexibility training. In addition to riding outside and spinning, I lift weights and do yoga twice a week and do a ton of squats, lunges and crunches. I'm sure I could even do more than that, but that's all I really have time for on regular basis.

Good luck. Several people on TE that are training gurus, so I'm sure you'll get some good advice here.

Kate

[bike4ever]

jllmom - Where in MO are you?

[Cassandra_Cain]

jllmom - can you be more specific about what you mean in saying 'muscle tone'? It is one of those terms you hear a lot but in of itself, it doesn't mean much.

Cycling will not make your legs stronger unless you have some sort of physical limitation. Studies have shown that people who do not ride at all, are actually stronger on average, in terms of outright leg strength, than elite riders (aka TdF, etc). Forces in the endurance type of cycling the vast majority of people do, are very low - no higher than climbing stairs for instance.

If you want stronger legs in terms of how much you can lift and such, then do weight-training. Cycling can help you lose weight, it is also a phenomenal way to gain cardiovascular fitness, and burn fat, but not for gaining strength.

The one type of cycling that could potentially make your legs a bit stronger would be all-out sprints from a standstill.

So it comes down to something like this.....do you want bigger muscles? Then lift weights. do you want more definition? Then ride you bike, other cardio, and have a sensible diet. do you want to be stronger? Lift weights.

[KSH]

Cycling does build leg strength, especially in your quads, but since it's not weight bearing, it's not as effective as, say, running. You will notice changes in your muscle tone and definition as you continue to ride, but if muscle toning is your primary goal, I would also recommend doing some weight/ resistance training for both your upper and lower body.

Well, you are very right... it's not a weight bearing exercise.

From my own experience though, I use to go to the gym and do squats/lunges/running/etc. etc. (This was before I got into cycling.)

My legs looked good, but they weren't "WOW".

Ever since I started cycling... I always get compliments on my legs when I wear shorts. Now days, my legs are "WOW". So, even though it's not weight bearing, it sure did help me out a lot.

Jill, go to a spin class. Those bikes in the class are 100 times better than a stationary bike. Otherwise, you can follow the instructor on what to do.

For me, though... I never follow the instructor. What they do in a spin class, I would never do on my real bike. For example: They will turn the tension all the way up and mash on the pedals. In a real-life biking scenario, I would downshift and make it easier to pedal. The key in cycling is having high cadence. It's not about muscling through the pedal strokes. So, I basically go in there and spin (literally) for 1 hour.

Good luck, and get a real bike as soon as you feel comfortable with the idea. It's so much fun. My time flies when I'm out on my bike where as the minutes slowly tick by in a spin class.

[NJBikeGal]

Since you are at the gym, it may be problematic to use spinervals since they are video. But there are mp3s available for things like interval training. At the gym I use Cardiocoach. I think there are also tracks available at ITrain, but I have never dl'd from there.

You might also check out podcasts from ITunes as most of these are free. I haven't looked for spinning specific ones, but there are all types of workouts available there.

HTH,

Hi Belle,

Anyway you (or anyone else!!) could post a link to an Mp3 that you have used? Or just an idea of a good one that you know of? I've looked into a few, but don't know much about them and don't want to spend any moolah on one that might be stinky! Thanks!

[GLC1968]

I would like to second CardioCoach for gym workouts. They are EXCELLENT workouts and they can be as tough as you make them. They can be used on any cardio machine (or even outside if you run) but I like them best for the elliptical or the bike. You can get them on CD if you have a Discman, or you can download the MP3's.

http://www.cardiocoach.com/

Spin classes are also a good option if you have good instructors (I've had good and bad and it really can make or break a class).

For someone who asked, I don't have an Ipod, I use a Rio Forge Sport MP3 player. I bought an extra card, and now my player holds 1.25 G of music which is plenty for me. It's also small enough to stay out of the way and it's super sturdy. Love it! In general, there are two basic types of MP3 players...flash players and hard-drive players. A flash player is sturdier (won't skip if dropped) and it has less working parts to damage, but it's limite to the size of the card it uses (either installed, or additional). A hard-drive player will hold a LOT more, but it works kind of like a hard-drive in a computer and can be more easily damaged (though they make them pretty tough these days!). Flash players are generally cheaper, too.

Came back to add this link:
http://www.rioaudio.com/shop/_templates/item_main_Rio.asp?model=265

[aicabsolut]

I've always had strong legs. But because of injuries I've had to give up weight bearing exercises almost entirely. That means I can't lift heavy when I work my legs in the gym for most things. But cycling has improved the muscle tone in my legs and I have not lost any strength (based on how easy it is to lift what I can challenge myself with, other sports I can do, etc.). Some of the smaller muscles in the legs (hip flexors, anterior tibialis, peroneals, for example) are stronger. My hams, calves, and glutes are also stronger because cycling makes me focus on proper technique which uses those muscles versus how quad-dominant my body likes to be in most things. I started noticing these changes when I was only spinning indoors (which I did for quite a while waiting to "heal" and to see if I wanted to ride outdoors at all).

The thing about raw strength of elite cyclists is true..they tend to not have as much fast twich muscle nor do some of them need to produce very high power with their legs. What makes them great is that the power they do produce they can maintain for much longer than the untrained person, which is where those slow twich muscles come into play.

Slow twich muscle is smaller in cross-sectional mass than fast twich muscle, so by training those predominantly by cycling won't bulk you up or increase your strength much.

But if in your training you are not only working on producing and maintaining power but producing MORE power than you currently can, then you'll be working in a way that challenges all of your muscles.

So on a spinner, don't just spin at what's easy for you to do at 90rpms. And don't just struggle to push along at 60rpms. Use your heart rate zones and perceived exertion to train your body in different ways to get fitter.

Example: Start out with a warmup at an easy resistance where 100rpms puts you at maybe 50%. Work up to 55%, not going over 110 or so. Then do a long set where 90-100rpms puts you up at 65% by increasing your resistance. From then on, increase resistance and/or speed for long sets (well over 5 min each) until you're just shy of your anaerobic threshold. Then bring yourself back down to 75% then 70% then 60%, holding each for a while. There, you're building endurance.

For speeding cardiovascular recovery time and working on muscular strength, do shorter intervals where you're really cranking up the speed (you should still feel the resistance and not be bouncing out of control) or cranking up the resistance (not dropping below 60-65, because that's bad for your knees).

There are other theories, and you'll find other fun cardio stuff in spin classes. But this is a place to start. But it'll do you the most good once you learn some about form and technique, and that's where a good spin instructor can help you the most.

It's a lot of fun and a good workout without being so hard on the joints. Have fun with it!

[SouthernBelle]

Sorry I haven't been back to answer your Q, but gald to see it was answered as to CardioCoach.

The podcasts are often downloadable as mp3s, but don't think that could be done from itunes. You could probably google the homesites though. Check out podrunner and fitpod.

[jllmom]

Thanks for all the replies! I live in Clayton, Mo btw :)

My goal for muscle is more definition. When focusing on weightlifting I can go pretty heavy, and could probably go heavier but I never really look that cut. So I've been trying a differant way to work the muscles for the last 4 months or so. I don't need to lose weight, if I could lose a little bit of that last layer of fat and turn it into muscle that would be great, but I've found that unless I can devote everyday without fail to exercising that is probably not going to happen, I am a very busy mom of two. I'm 5'1" and 115, with a medium build. I've never really weighed less than that unless you count my freshman year of highschool ;) What is frustrating is the layer of fat on my legs, that I like all women want to get rid of. Anyway I feel like my leg muscles are really being challenged in a good way with biking, differant than my other experianes in exercising. I really seem to feel it in my butt, quads and hamstrings - that is a good feeling!

I'll have to try the spinning downloads, that sounds like maybe where I should go along with a class.

Btw I'm biking like 13.5 miles in 1 hour at around 90 RPM, is that a beginner amount of miles? What is a long bike ride indoors?

[KSH]

Btw I'm biking like 13.5 miles in 1 hour at around 90 RPM, is that a beginner amount of miles? What is a long bike ride indoors?


That sounds long to me! There is no way I can sit on a stationary bike for more than 5 miles... my feet go numb (odd, I know- but it doesn't happen on my real bike).

As for the spin class bikes... I can do that for 1 hour... but it's torture too. After 15 minutes I start watching the clock.

Finally, I have noticed that I seem to go *slower* indoors than outdoors. The effort also seems greater indoors for some reason.

[Cassandra_Cain]

jllmom - fair enough, if it is muscle definition and getting rid of fat that you are after, then riding your bike is the way to go. Much as most of us would love it to be true, spot reduction is impossible. Fat just comes off the whole body as a whole rather than in specific places I think. So I would concentrate on logging lots of hours on the bike which would help you burn lots of calories and really kick your metabolism into overdrive.

I don't know that riding indoors is harder physically by itself, but it sure is harder mentally. I tend to think the harder something is in your head, the harder it then becomes on your body. I'll do 2 hard workouts a week on the trainer and I always come away more mentally taxed than I would outdoors. Just think about it....no scenery, no wind in your face, no sensation of actually moving....you get the idea.

Unless the bikes you ride indoors (or your trainer), have large flywheels, the pedal action is different than it is on a regular bike outside. It has to do with inertia generally. On your road bike outside, you have much more momentum in keeping the pedals going....indoors, that's not nearly so well conserved.

Good luck :)

[indysteel]

KSH, like you, my legs definitely look better from cycling so I don't disagaree with you. I have to wonder, though, if some of the increased definition is from weight/fat loss rather than muscle growth. Either way, I'll take it. Thanks to cycling, I've lost and kept off about 7 pounds, and my thighs and hips are noticeably thinner. I doubt that they'll ever look really "cut" though; that's just the way I'm built. However, if I just look at people doing sit ups, my abs get toned. There's no accounting for genetics.

One book that I like as an intro to both indoor and outdoor cycling is Bike for Life by Roy M. Wallack and Bill Katovsky. It has a lot of useful information about training for fitness (rather than for competition), suggestions for specific exercises to supplement cycling like resistance training and yoga, nutrition, indoor cycling, cycling skills and the like. It's a good all-around, introductory book.

[jllmom]

Thanks for the book rec! I'll have to check that one out!

[aicabsolut]

Btw I'm biking like 13.5 miles in 1 hour at around 90 RPM, is that a beginner amount of miles? What is a long bike ride indoors?

Is that on a regular stationary bike? (Pretty hard to be as efficient on those as on a spinner).. If so, I'd say that's doing a pretty good job. Not too beginnerish at all. Before I started spinning, I rode one of those after taking a few weeks off (just walking) b/c of an injury. I felt like I was working so hard, but my HR was only in the low 140s if that, and I was at about 11mph. I'd consider myself cardiovascularly pretty fit but not at all in biking shape at that point.

A "long" ride on a spinner depends on what kind of workout you're doing. It seems to take me forever to warmup, so the first 30-45 min is torture. But after that, I can spend 2 hrs easy. Higher intensity intervals tire me out faster than endurance or steady state taining of course. An hour isn't a long time on an indoor bike but it's sufficient for general fitness I think, especially if you warm up faster than me.

[jllmom]

Yeah it's a regular bike. The gym I'm at only has one true spinner available and 3 other types of bikes: Lifecycle, another set up like a Lifecycle and another more like a spinner/true bike w/petal under you not in front.

But you can take a spinning class, and that's my goal this January.

[Veronica]

Cycling will not make your legs stronger unless you have some sort of physical limitation. Studies have shown that people who do not ride at all, are actually stronger on average, in terms of outright leg strength, than elite riders (aka TdF, etc). Forces in the endurance type of cycling the vast majority of people do, are very low - no higher than climbing stairs for instance.



Huh?

http://tandemhearts.com/coppermine/albums/tour-of-ca-2006/stage_one_2.jpg

[Cassandra_Cain]

Huh?



Huh? and a picture? What part of my statement is unclear?

Strength is defined as the ability to apply maximal force. Endurance cyclists are no stronger (not able to apply any higher maximal force), as a group, than your average untrained person. Forces in cycling are low. Where endurance cyclists are markedly superior is in their cardiovascular abilities, lactate threshold, vo2 max, and anaerobic work capacity. It is that, not strength, which gets you to the front of the peloton and up the mountains fast.

[Trek420]

Those your legs, V? Oh, no, that's a Specialized, never mind. :rolleyes: ;) :cool:

The other way we can tell it's not you is....that's not your CA Triple Crown Jersey. :D In other words there are a lot of things that go into a deffinition of strength, it's more than just numbers.

In the gym it's spin class or the eliptical trainer, Precor I think is the brand I like. If spin class is full I head there.

The movement feels fluid and more natural to my gimpy body, more like climbing unseated. I'm a sit and spin kinda gal on climbs or more often get off and walk But I'd like to have the strength to "dance in the pedals" or accelerate.... like if I need to catch up with a car full of young folks who used a megaphone to yell at me while riding my Bradley tank-like commuter like V did one fine day. ;) :D

If both are busy? Rowing machine, or go outside and walk. I don't like stationary bikes at all. they feel rigid and artificial.

I want to get in the habit of the yoga class. I have a Cycleops fluid trainer at home in front of the TV but no yoga instructor, or PTA (ahem).

I like to think of strength as that sorta hard to define new agey whole body thang including all those numbers and things, flexibility and movement, mind body stuff, body awareness but also the hard to define does-not-show-up-on-the-HRM-program ability to "dig deep in your suitcase of courage"

If I don't have that last bit, none of those numbers mean much.

[KnottedYet]

I like to think of strength as that sorta hard to define new agey whole body thang including all those numbers and things, flexibility and movement, mind body stuff, body awareness but also the hard to define does-not-show-up-on-the-HRM-program ability to "dig deep in your suitcase of courage"


Don't forget the ability to fling full-grown adults across a room, Ms. 2nd Degree Black Belt!

(when a 5'1 50 year old chickie is tossing around folks a foot taller than her, I think that counts as strength!)

[Trek420]

nah. You don't have to be strong to do Aikido. It's timing and balance and energy and all that new age'y stuff. :cool:

[aicabsolut]

Huh?

http://tandemhearts.com/coppermine/albums/tour-of-ca-2006/stage_one_2.jpg

I wish **my** legs were that strong and cut. Fantastic shout-out to my bike as well (ok, the fancy S-works version of my bike but still... ain't it pretty?)