Indoor Cycling: Heart Rate Zones And Performance Challenges

4 December 2020

Alyssa Murray

With winter approaching and gyms in many communities still closed, indoor cycling is a great way to burn off calories and challenge yourself.

Here are some ways to get the most out of your time indoor cycling.

Create a Plan

Indoor cycling ranks among the most sustainable and accessible forms of aerobic exercise. However, if you just hop on your indoor cycling saddle and pedal away without a plan, you're unlikely to maximize all your hard work.

Create a Plan

Winter fitness coaches specialize in designing indoor winter training plans for clients. If you're new to indoor cycling, simply chatting with a winter fitness coach or subscribing to an online bike training service for a few months can drastically improve your learning curve. When creating an indoor cycling plan, it's important to consider your goals, your daily schedule, and your current fitness level. For instance, if your primary goal for starting an indoor cycling routine is to lose weight, you'll need to consider what it will take to lose a single pound. Having a professional help you approach your goals with more confidence and support.

Get into the Zones

There are many ways to measure both the intensity and duration of an indoor cycling workout. Whatever metrics you decide to use when you're assessing your indoor cycling, workouts should involve ranges and zones that you can shoot for every time you get on your bike.

Heart Rate

Your heart rate (HR) is among the most reliable ways to measure aerobic exertion.  One of the easiest ways to add variety and challenges to your indoor cycling sessions is to aim for HR zones. Maintaining your HR within these zones can help you burn more calories and also accomplish different physiological goals. For instance, if you want to burn fat, you'll want to maintain an HR around 70 % of your max. For a 20-year-old man, this would be around 130-140. If, however, you wanted to develop speed and fast-twitch muscle fibers, you'll want to build in short bursts of around 95 % of your maximum HR into your indoor cycling plan.

Create Challenges

The best indoor winter training physically, mentally, and emotionally engaging. With modern advancements in indoor cycling technology, you can now connect with others to challenge yourself in new ways.

Leader Boards

Some of the best online bike training platforms allow their clients to upload their workout data to create competitive challenges with riders from around the world.    

To learn more, reach out to a company like Plan 7 Coaching.

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