Indoor Cycling is a great sport for anyone who wants to work on their health at home or in the gym. It is a cardio sport that is widely practiced, but people still regularly ask what the best way is. We share with you the most important Indoor Cycling tips, so you know what to pay attention to when you start cycling.
Have you got your experience with Indoor Cycling and are you looking for fantastic workouts instead of technical Indoor Cycling tips? Then start your free trial at CycleMasters here.
Table of contents
Do a good warm-up
A good workout always has a warm-up and cool-down. These two elements are important for your muscles. Without a warm-up and cool-down, you run an increased risk of muscle tears and other injuries. For this reason, all of our classes include a warm-up and cool-down.
A good Indoor Cycling workout regularly alternates between sprints and heavy climbs and varies between seated and standing exercises. So you want your muscles well warmed up before you start the real thing. A warm-up helps with this. You can do this on the bike, cycling your legs loose at a lighter intensity. Choose exercises that don’t demand the utmost of your muscles right away, but where you warm up slowly.
Set up your bike correctly
Posture is everything during a workout. It determines whether you can train effectively and ensures that you do not get injured while exercising. So make sure that you sit on the bike with the right posture and that the bike is properly adjusted. During your workout, keep tension on your abdominal muscles to avoid straining your back too much. Keep your arms on the handlebars, but don’t lean on them excessively. Finally, make sure your elbows don’t hang outward. The video below gives you the best Indoor Cycling tips for setting up the bike properly and getting the right posture, or read more here.
Structured Training
Working out with a set structure will help you stick with it. That’s why it can be good to create a workout schedule. A training schedule will also help you maintain the right intensity and build your fitness.
Not only planning your workouts, but also the build-up is very important. Therefore, it can help to take classes that are written with a specific goal in mind. A good instructor will figure out in advance what his or her class will look like and give the correct Indoor Cycling tips. This way, they make sure you get the most out of your workout.
Choose the right resistance
Adjusting the resistance is no disgrace. Sometimes it seems like the instructor just keeps on turning while you feel like you’re almost at a standstill and can’t go any further. Remember that there are many different bikes. Every bike has a different way of building up resistance, and so a quarter turn up for an instructor may mean only a millimeter of turn up for you.
In addition, remember that some days you have more energy than others. Do you feel that exercising costs you more effort than usual? Or did you feel like you went to far? Then you can always slow down and build up again. This is not a bad thing. In fact, in this case you will probably feel better after your workout than when you finish the class by hanging on.
Always remember: Growth lies outside your comfort zone. So don’t make it too easy on yourself 😉 .
Invest in a good bike
As with any sport, with Indoor Cycling good equipment is very important. The most important material is of course the Indoor Cycling bike. When buying, make sure the bike is stable enough to pedal vigorously. In addition, you can choose a bike that measures your heart rate and the number of revolutions per minute (RPM).
The most expensive bike is not always the best bike for you. Think carefully about how and how often you will use the bike. Don’t normally do anything with data? Then a smart bike is not necessary in your case. Do you exercise more than 3 times a week? Then it makes sense to set aside more budget for a bike than if you want to exercise once or twice a week. For more information on buying an Indoor Cycling bike, read our other blog.
Use the right shoes
It’s good to use SPD shoes if your Indoor Cycling bike supports them. SPD shoes are shoes with a metal bracket on the bottom that you click into the pedals of your bike. With SPD shoes, you not only push the pedals down, but also pull them back up. This way of pedalling is safer for your joints. For this reason, cyclists also use SPD shoes. We are happy to give you more Indoor Cycling tips about this as well.
Enjoy
A fun workout is a successful workout. When you’re having a good time on the Indoor Cycling bike, you’ll find that it’s easy to give it a bit more. But how do you make sure you always get off your bike with a smile? Following an online training with great scenery in the background can help and is actually one of the best Indoor Cycling tips for keeping your motivation.
No resistance
Of course, there are also Indoor Cycling tips that actually say the opposite.
“Turn the resistance off”! When an instructor yells this, take it with a grain of salt. What is meant is that you take the accumulated resistance off your wheel, but you always maintain a base resistance. If you don’t do this, you’ll bump on your saddle and chances are your pedals will spin faster than your legs can keep up. And trust us, that’s not a pleasant feeling. So always make sure you maintain a little bit of resistance on your wheel, so you are always in control of your bike.
Stop pedalling
When you start cycling, you engage the flywheel of your bike. Because most Indoor Cycling bikes use a continuous pedalling system, your pedals then keep spinning even if you don’t put any force on the pedals for a while. So don’t just stop pedalling, if you don’t want to be launched off your bike. Want to stop pedalling? Then push the resistance button to slow down the flywheel and to stand still.
Training too intensely
Training too heavily will detract from your process rather than do you good. If you overwork your body you run an increased risk of injury. You also run the risk of getting sick faster, feeling tired during the day and your condition deteriorates. This, of course, is not the intention! Train at an intensity that suits you and give your body sufficient rest. Setting up a workout schedule can help with this.
The wrong posture
Earlier we wrote a bit about the importance of proper technique. It is good to teach yourself proper posture right away when you start Indoor Cycling. Your handlebars, for example, are mainly there to maintain balance. So don’t lean excessively on your handlebars and don’t hunch your wrists. Are you pregnant or have chronic back pain? Then don’t stick to the prescribed postures. Make it a little easier on your body and put your handlebars a little higher, so you put less strain on your back.
Working out against your will
If you often train against your will, you will find that you train less effectively. Of course, there is nothing wrong with not looking forward to a workout and not feeling like it for a while. As long as you have a good feeling when you get off the bike, it’s okay. It is, however, annoying if you don’t feel good about exercising. If this is the case, it is a good idea to change something about your routine. Take a different kind of class, or ask the CycleMasters community for Indoor Cycling tips.
Are you sticking to the Indoor Cycling tips above? Then you can be sure that you are training effectively. Do you still have questions? Ask them at [email protected]!
Many gyms offer Indoor Cycling classes, but CycleMasters is a great online option. For example, you can take CycleMasters’ online Indoor Cycling classes at home, on your phone, television, or your computer/laptop. Our instructors have years of experience creating great Indoor Cycling workouts and will motivate you to go all the way!
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