? about ellipital machine

Don't know what an "elliptical" bike machine is, but if your gym has a regular "spinning" bike, you'd be much better off using one of those, since it will better simulate a real bike, and they will usually have toe clips (or clip-in pedals). Also, keep in mind the speedometer on a gym's stationary bike is meaningless.

And yes, the sets on those electronic bikes always suck.

kennf said:

Don't know what an "elliptical" bike machine is, but if your gym has a regular "spinning" bike, you'd be much better off using one of those, since it will better simulate a real bike, and they will usually have toe clips (or clip-in pedals). Also, keep in mind the speedometer on a gym's stationary bike is meaningless.

And yes, the sets on those electronic bikes always suck.

yeah thats what i meant. i dont know why i called it elliptical. its the regular spinning kind. its supposed to have straps on the pedals but i guess they are lost or something.

i know the speedometer on there is not accurate to riding a road bike on the road, but i was just trying to see how i compare if anyone else rides a stationary bike.

also...

i pedal around 85-92 rpm and my heart rate stays between 175-185 throughout the hour im on it. am i on the right track?

david462 said:

yeah thats what i meant. i dont know why i called it elliptical. its the regular spinning kind. its supposed to have straps on the pedals but i guess they are lost or something.

i know the speedometer on there is not accurate to riding a road bike on the road, but i was just trying to see how i compare if anyone else rides a stationary bike.

You can't compare average speeds from one spin bike to another unless the speedo's are calibrated exactly the same. I've seen the same brand have different MPH readings while both bikes were right next to each other in a gym. Also, average speeds don't mean much for most of us. We don't compare our progress as cyclists by average speed. Don't fall into that trap. It has little value.

Quoted post said:

i pedal around 85-92 rpm and my heart rate stays between 175-185 throughout the hour im on it. am i on the right track?

Cadence sounds good. HR sounds too high. I don't know what your Max is but every workout doesn't need to be a ball breaker. Some can be easy, some can be hard but most need to be moderate. Considering your workouts are still short duration I would say that your HR is running too high.

Doctor Morbius said:

Cadence sounds good. HR sounds too high. I don't know what your Max is but every workout doesn't need to be a ball breaker. Some can be easy, some can be hard but most need to be moderate. Considering your workouts are still short duration I would say that your HR is running too high.

hmm. how would i find my max?

and what would you suggest for my HR if i ride for an hour?

it seems that if i go below 170 i wouldnt be trying that hard. i occasionally lower the resistance to take a 2 minute break and it will get down to ~165 but it doesnt feel like im doing anything that low.

my breathing isnt too heavy while im riding as it would be if i was running (if i could run, i have a messed up calf), the only thing that makes it hard is my legs get tired.

One way to get a rough approximation of max. HR is to subtract your age from 220. But that number can be off by as much as 10 beats depending on individual differences. The only real accurate way to determine it is to basically ride yourself into the ground for 10 minutes (after warming up). That may be hard to do on a machine without clips. I think Stern or Coggan may have posted a testing protocol for this (on these forums).

But it does sound like your avg. HR for the work-out is sky-high, especially if your doing it more than three times a week.

kennf said:

But it does sound like your avg. HR for the work-out is sky-high, especially if your doing it more than three times a week.

ahhh. man. well im 20 years old. im doing it 6-7 days a week. what rate should i try to keep my HR at? and to do this do i just turn down the resistance?

im doing this right now to burn fat and for cardio.

david462 said:

ahhh. man. well im 20 years old. im doing it 6-7 days a week. what rate should i try to keep my HR at? and to do this do i just turn down the resistance?

im doing this right now to burn fat and for cardio.

OK, first off you don't need to do exercise like that THAT frequently. I realize you may be very energetic and you are fortunate to have youth on your side, but you should probably temper some of that enthusiasm and plan for a longer and more realistic exercise program than a crash program.

True fitness cannot be had overnight, just like fat loss. 3 to 5 days a week for beginners should be plenty for now. Adjust your diet by making minor adjustments over time. If you are serious about taking up exercise, then you will want a program that is sustainable over time. 6 & 7 days a week ain't it.

As far as your Max HR, if you're just starting out go ahead and use the formula (220 - AGE) for a while until you have been exercising for a while and are physically and emotionally ready for a max heart rate test. This length of time will depend on the individual but a solid 2 months for somebody who is 20 years old and is otherwise healthy and fit should be enough. For someone older a longer prep time is in order. The MaxHR test is HARD so you have to be up for it. I've only done 2 in the past 3 years and each time I felt like I was going to throw up a lung.

Exercise between 70% to 75% most of the time and occasionally go to 80% and occasionally go to 65%. That's going to seem dead slow but that's OK. Even powerlifters periodize their training and include light days. Periodizing your training works.

Over time as your body adapts to training you can adjust your intensity and time upward. It's best not to do both at the same time though.

Next, read. Go through this forum and start reading old posts. There is some excellent information burried in there. Much of it won't make sense at first but it will come over time. The knowledge will come in handy as you progress with your fitness program and are ready for new challenges.

update:

now im doing this cardio work 3-4 times a week. i alternate how long i do it for each day though. ill do 30 min one day, an hour another day, and an hour and a half another. if i do it a forth time in the week i do an hour again.

i lowered the resistance so im keeping my heart rate right around 160. at the last 10 minutes of each ride i put the resistance all the way up and stand up and go hard for as long as i can (usually 60 seconds), then i bring the resistance back down lower than it was for a cool down. on longer rides ill lower the resistance every now and for a short 5 minute break and also raise it for a harder work period (about 5 minutes). on the rest periods my heart rate goes to about 140 and on the harder periods its at 170-180.

does this sound like a good technique for burning fat/cardio and also to get used to spinning for when i get a road bike?

david462 said:

update:

now im doing this cardio work 3-4 times a week. i alternate how long i do it for each day though. ill do 30 min one day, an hour another day, and an hour and a half another. if i do it a forth time in the week i do an hour again.

i lowered the resistance so im keeping my heart rate right around 160. at the last 10 minutes of each ride i put the resistance all the way up and stand up and go hard for as long as i can (usually 60 seconds), then i bring the resistance back down lower than it was for a cool down. on longer rides ill lower the resistance every now and for a short 5 minute break and also raise it for a harder work period (about 5 minutes). on the rest periods my heart rate goes to about 140 and on the harder periods its at 170-180.

does this sound like a good technique for burning fat/cardio and also to get used to spinning for when i get a road bike?

For fat burning then long durations at moderate effort are appropriate. Higher intensity efforts will burn more calories per minute but you won't be able to keep going as long. For improving your endurance fitness and sustainable power output, more intense efforts are appropriate.

From what you described earlier you were probably on the right track working at 175 - 180 bpm. That would be about 90% of a theoretical max hr for you of 200bpm. My standard endurance training is 2 x 20 min intervals at around 85-90% of my max hr with 10 min warm up, 5 min recovery and 5 min cool down. All up it takes an hour and I do it 2 - 3 times a week. To improve my maximum sustainable power I do 5 min intervals at 90 - 95% of my max hr with 5 min recovery between each repeated for an hour (1 to 2 times a week)

Training at much less than these levels would see my fitness decline.

The seats on the gym bikes are too wide and interfear with the tendons attached to your butt which are working hard when you ride. Try alternating between sitting and standing to relieve the numbness.