Cross Training: exercise bike

I try to maintain two things:

1. RPM of 90+

2. Heart rate 70-80% of max

Whatever resistance to achieve that.

How long do you ride for? Also, how many miles would you say is equivalent to 12 miles biking with those above suggestions you gave?

Michaelchamp2112 wrote:

How long do you ride for? Also, how many miles would you say is equivalent to 12 miles biking with those above suggestions you gave?

There is no such thing as equivalent miles in crosstraining.

I often hear that x minutes of cycling equalsx miles running. That´s pure guessing. Just ride as long time as you run.

I just ride for time -- not to replace running but as an addition.

Today I biked for 1 hour and got 16.2 miles. My RPM average was 99. My heart rate was averaged around 65 percent of my max the whole time. Only in the last 10 minutes, I was around 75-80 percent of my max heart rate. I biked on resistance 5 for the whole time except the last minute, I put it up to 10.

Do you think I had a good workout? Maybe equivalent to a 5 mile run?

Michaelchamp2112 wrote:

Maybe equivalent to a 5 mile run?

First, read the above posts. Second, the only equivalencies you can make are time at a certain heart rate. As an example, running at 65% of max HR will get me like 7:00 pace, roughly. For an hour, that gets me ~8.5 miles. So if I bike for the same amount of time at the same heart rate, I probably burnt about the same amount of calories.

Should I put the resistance up to where my heart rate is around 70 percent the whole ride?

I am guessing that 65 percent of max HR for me is around 8:00 a mile. Maybe a little less, but I am being conservative. I did the bike for an hour. So are you saying that the workout I did today is equivalent to somewhere around 7.5 miles?

Thanks for the response to clear things up!

You should go for a run

I am running the exact same amount that I usually run. I am adding biking in as an extra aerobic boost. I am not replacing running at all.

I wouldn't say you are absolutely wasting your time, but I think you could use that time doing something more beneficial for Xc training. Something as simple push-ups and sit-ups, build up to 3 sets of 50 each 6 days a week. Running should be all you need to increase your aerobic system. Biking,swimming will not get you running fit.

If you can, aquajogging will do more for you than biking. just be sure to keep your HR high enough.

Exercise bike is an effective way to get into physical shape and improve your health. It promotes low impact exercise thus allows you to have a gentle workout without putting too much stress in your spine.

I never found much use out of my spin bike. I have used it during injury periods and pretty much return just as out of shape as I usually do without it. I would go 1 hr to 1:30 hr doing 30 seconds hard/30 seconds easy. No significant changes.

You're probably better off working on leg, glute and hip strengthening/injury prevention exercises in that time space if don't already.

There is no equivalent to running, so stop trying to justify it.

I start the resistance at 9 and gradually get up to 11 for the last 5 minutes, and keep the rpms over 100 for 35-40 minutes. My heart rate starts at around 125 and gets up to 155 by the end. It's good low impact aerobic work in addition to running.

Like the above poster said, the resistance doesn't matter, the rpms and heart rate are important. You should find a good sweet spot with resistance between 6-9 through trial and error.

michaelchamp2112 wrote:

Should I put the resistance up to where my heart rate is around 70 percent the whole ride?

No. And don't do anything stupid like increasing resistance at the end of your ride again. If you are after max aerobic capacity training, Increase cadence to achieve HR zone goals. Learn a little about pedal stroke form and spin as fast as you can with good form.