First long spin on an exercise bike was weird(?)

[tdiedwards]

Hi everyone,

I'm as new to this forum as I am to cycle training. I'm 31 and have just bought an exercise bike as a broken arm (don't arm wrestle EVER. when 2 unstoppable forces meet, the imovable object, ie. your humerus, breaks!) has stopped me from doing martial arts for the forseeable. Have never used a bike much and can't really cycle in Jakarta because it's a horrible city so an upright exercise bike seemed a good way to start.

Yesterday I decided to set a bench mark by doing 50km on 9/15 traction. I did it in 3 hours 10 mins. I felt like I had pushed myself as hard as my legs could take duing the exercise and afterwards I felt like I weighed 100 tonnes while trying to climb the stairs, so that was all good...

But...my heart rate hardly increased and at no point was I breathing hard. I was expecting a serious cardio workout. When I run on a track my lungs are worked very hard. Could anyone tell me why the bike workout didn't do the same? Is that normal? Did I do something wrong? Or do I have the cardiovascular capacity of a greek hero (doubtful)?

Thanks very much for any comments.
Tim

 

[frenchyge]

If your HR had been high and your breathing heavy (as when running), could you have kept going for 3+ hrs? The duration and intensity are inversely proportional, so a long ride like that will typically be at a somewhat lower intensity. Compared to running, recreational biking tends to be a longer duration, less intense exercise. It's still a good aerobic workout.

If you get bored and want to feel your heart pounding and breathing get ragged once in a while, kick up the traction for a harder, shorter ride or interval workout. The longer rides are still good for you, though, so feel free to mix it up a little.

 

[SolarEnergy]

Hi everyone,

I'm as new to this forum as I am to cycle training. I'm 31 and have just bought an exercise bike as a broken arm (don't arm wrestle EVER. when 2 unstoppable forces meet, the imovable object, ie. your humerus, breaks!) has stopped me from doing martial arts for the forseeable. Have never used a bike much and can't really cycle in Jakarta because it's a horrible city so an upright exercise bike seemed a good way to start.

Yesterday I decided to set a bench mark by doing 50km on 9/15 traction. I did it in 3 hours 10 mins. I felt like I had pushed myself as hard as my legs could take duing the exercise and afterwards I felt like I weighed 100 tonnes while trying to climb the stairs, so that was all good...

But...my heart rate hardly increased and at no point was I breathing hard. I was expecting a serious cardio workout. When I run on a track my lungs are worked very hard. Could anyone tell me why the bike workout didn't do the same? Is that normal? Did I do something wrong? Or do I have the cardiovascular capacity of a greek hero (doubtful)?

Thanks very much for any comments.
Tim

Well I know exactly what you are talking about. Stationnary don't match the real thing as far as heart rate and breathing hard. But for the next winter, I still plan to give it an other try.

My plan, will be to start by a pretty long phase dominated by interval training on the stationnary bike. Tonight, the weather will be pretty bad where I live. So I'll try something like this :
40 times 40 seconds hard, with 20 seconds ez spin (40 mins in total)
It will be preceded by a warmup and followed by a warmdown

The consequence of that interval phase on the stationnary, should be a better leg adaptation. After, as the weeks go, I will lenghten the intervals. It should give me enough puch and thus, I should see my HR increase on stationnary.

Gd luck

 

[tdiedwards]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. Just read my bike's instruction book the other day for the first time and found I'd done 50 miles, not 50 kms ...but that only reinforces what you were saying about long rides.

A friend of mine has suggested including Tabata, which looks the same as your idea- 20 seconds beasting at max resistance, 10 seconds rest, repeated 8 times.

I tried that yesterday and was certainly breathing hard! My heart rate probably rocketed too, but I was too knackered to check it.

I have also heard that the body adapts quite fast to cycle training, so that mixing up your training is important.

One more question though, if I may. I understand that "running" on the pedals like you do on a real bike sometimes taxes the calve (calf?) muscles? I can't "run" on my exercise bike; Even at max, the resistance is too low. Is there another exercise I can do at home or on a track that will help prepare my calves for real cycling?

Thanks loads,
Tim