Put Your Pedal To The Metal
by: Candice Copeland Brooks and Douglas Brooks, MS, Exercise Physiologist

If you feel like you're spinning your wheels during aerobic workouts, it's time to add some energy, excitement and effectiveness to your fitness program by "putting your pedal to the metal."

The simple pleasure of riding a bicycle makes exercise biking one of the most popular types of home workouts. Cycling is a terrific way to condition your heart and lungs, tone your legs, hips and buttocks, and give your knees a break from impact activities such as running. The key to getting results on an exercise bike is to create variety in your workout and cycle with proper form and technique. It's okay to climb on your exercise bike and pedal at an easy level while reading, watching television or making phone calls, but you'll probably find that your results will plateau and boredom will set in.

Here are a few ways that you can add a little power to your pedaling:

Start with good posture. Whether you're sitting upright, leaning forward slightly or in a recumbent position, you should maintain good spinal and neck posture. Common posture mistakes while cycling include hunching over or rounding the back, lifting the shoulders, and pushing the chin forward and up. To avoid back and neck fatigue or discomfort, try to maintain the natural curves of your neck and back. This means leaning forward or back from the hips rather than the waist, and keeping the shoulders pulled down away from the ears.

Learn how to "spin." Spinning simply means to rotate your pedals in a complete circle at an even rhythm. A common mistake, especially when adding tension or resistance is to alternately pump the pedals down, rather than spinning them in circles. If you have to rock side to side or jam the pedals down, you have the tension set at a level that is too high. Riding with super heavy tension can cause knee pain or be a contributing factor to other injuries. Keep the tension at a level where you can maintain a smooth, even pedal stroke. It's okay to ride at a high intensity, as long as you can still spin.

Vary your intensity. Riding at the same intensity, workout after workout, will soon cause your body to adapt to the workload. Even slight changes in intensity will help "trick" your body and you'll continue to see results and improve your fitness level. Always start out at an easy level until your body is warm, then increase and decrease tension for short periods of time. When you're first starting, increase the tension for only a minute or two, and then gradually build to longer periods of time.

Vary your cadence or speed. Your riding rhythm is another way to vary the intensity and to challenge your muscles in different ways. At any given tension or resistance level, try increasing the speed at which you're pedaling to about ten percent faster. Experiment with slower cadences and higher resistance levels, alternated with faster cadences and lower resistance levels.

Visualize outdoor terrain that motivates you to ride with excitement. Indoor cycling classes are popular at clubs worldwide. Some of the reasons may be the continuous coaching, music and visualization, which transports you to some imaginary terrain such as a mountain or the wilderness. You can create this same type of mind/body focus for your home cycling workouts by creating your own journey and adjusting your tension and speed to accommodate the hills, valley and flats that you imagine. There are also many videos available that will guide you through a workout with music and beautiful scenery. Put your pedal to the metal with focus and you'll soon spin yourself to a stronger, healthier body.

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