How to Get the Best Out of Your Indoor Cycling Exercises Without a Heart Rate Monitor

I used my heart rate monitor to help get the most out of my workouts, as well as to train with. My dog decided that the tart smell of "salt" was a good reason to destroy my monitor and strap. Being a poor college student, sometimes dropping $30.00 to $50.00 is hard to do. So, I came up with an effective way to ensure that I was working out just as hard. Not only is money an issue when using monitors, being a new member at the local gym can be a concern too. Some are not as willing to say that they do not know what they are doing, and eventually let fear overcome their workouts. So, listen up, with this sample workout, you can get in shape and be proud of your results.

First of all, let me define a few terms and conditions we will use with this workout. The way you will determine how hard you are working, is by your breathing. When one is tested for their Maximum Heart Rate: Your maximum heart rate (Max HR) is a specific number, the maximum number of contractions per minute that your heart can make. Sally Edwards, please read the following to understand more about MHR:http://www.howtobefit.com/determine-maximum-heart-rate.htm, they will determine how they "feel" by estimating their breathing from 1-10. 1 being still asleep in bed where 10 meaning that you are being chased by a car and you're running for your life and feel like your heart will explode. These are the standards that we are going to use when following the excercise. If you are interested in seeing what your maximum heart rate is, go to http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/maxhr.htm and you can determine a rate to follow, but be advised, it more than likely won't be your real MHR.

Next, we will have to prepare for the indoor cycling session. This can be at home on your trainer, or in the gym. First of all, the proper attire. As long as you have comfortable gym clothes and athletic tennis shoes you will be fine. To make your riding experience more pleasant, you might want to invest in a pair of riding shorts. These shorts have chamois padding that makes for a smooth ride. Besides comfortable clothing, don't forget to bring your i-pod with motivating music and lots of water.

Now let's make sure your bike is the right setup for your body:
Stand by the seat and make sure that the saddle is at your hip, then get on bike and start pedaling- if there is a 10 degree angle in the back of your knee, you are doing it right. At times this could make a beginner feel as if they are stretching their legs too far. If so, feel free to lower your seat just a little but be aware that if your seat is too low, your knees will kill you later.
Your arms should not be stretched out too much, but you should not feel as if you are bunched up. Let your natural posture and feel determine the way you set up your saddle and handle bars. The most important is the height of your seat tube.

Let's start our 1 hour session: Remember 1 is you're still in bed and 10 is your heart is about to explode.

First 5 minutes: Use a number of these stretches to ensure your body is ready to go:http://www.womensheartfoundation.org/content/Exercise/stretching_exercise.asp

Let's get on the bike:
For 5 minutes just pedal the bike, get use to the fit, make adjustment if needed. Get your blood flowing and your mind in the mood to burn some calories. Your breathing should stay between 1 and 3. During the warm up, play around with determining your revolutions per minute. The best way to determine this is to hold out a hand over one of your knees and let it hit it for 6 seconds ( I know it's hard to count seconds and revolutions, but try your best or if you're with a friend take turns timing) then X that number by 10. That will give you your estimated RPM. If you want to decrease your RPM either turn the knob to set the resistance or make the level you are working on harder.

Now let's begin:

For 2 minutes you are working on getting your breathing level up to 5(mid level) I want you to stand out of your saddle, with your butt directly over the seat and set the resistance to where your RPM's are around 50. This will be hard on your legs, so if you need to, after 1 minute, go ahead and get back in the saddle, but DO not let your breathing decrease.

2 minutes recovery- allow yourself to go back to a normal RPM and let your breathing go back down to a 2 or 3...don't forget to take a drink of water.

3 minutes: Goal: Breathing between 5-7
Your 1st minute I want you to hold a high RPM at around 85-90 RPMs, 2nd minute turn the resistance up where you are now pedaling around 65 RPM's and the last minute I want you to either stand, use resistance or high RPMs(cadence) to make up the ground and get to at least a 5 in breathing.

2 minutes recovery- allow yourself to go back to a normal RPM and let your breathing go back down to a 2 or 3...don't forget to take a drink of water.

Now we are going to take 5 minutes and do Ups and Downs- I want you to get your breathing up to at least a 6 as fast as you can and then let it go back down to normal as fast as you can. During these 5 minutes keep track at how many times you complete one UP and DOWN. The more you complete the better shape you are, trust me it seems like it's a lot harder to get your breathing (Heart Rate) down than up. During these 5 minutes do a mixture of seated sprints, hill climbs(resistance) standing and so on. Remember, this is a good way to see improvement in your workouts, so if you only get up and down 2 times at first, that is just fine!
Take that much deserved 2 minute recovery: during this time rest your legs, also check out your body position, if you feel cramped drop those shoulders, suck your belly button in to your spine and breath. Don't forget the water!

Now let's do some sprints:
10 second as fast as you can (100-120) RPMs- imagine your being chased by a bear
50 second easy pedal 65 RPMs (back down to 3 breathing)
15 second all out race, high RPMs
45 second recovery
20 second sprint (don't give up, you're jean size will go down)
40 second recovery -take a drink of water
30 second sprint (win that race)
30 second easy
45 second hard core (don't give in- you're almost there)
15 second recovery
1 minute sprint (80-100 RPMs) Great Job!
2 minute recovery- Pat yourself on the back- take a drink of water!

Now let's do a hill climb... I want you to imagine that you are riding on a beautiful road and you see a hill coming up.
1 minute you want your breathing to go to about a 4, RPMs around 80, so you are pedaling pretty fast.
Minute 2- it's still easy but you can tell the grade is going up, RPM around 75 and breathing a 4 1/2
3rd Minute, it starts to get harder, RPMs around 60 and your breathing is still about a 4 1/2. Take a drink of water
Minute 4- you're making your way up the mountain, the RPMs(use resistance brake) is around 55 and you are breathing much more harder...at least a 6.
At this time if you feel you need to take a rest, go ahead and rest back down to normal breathing, but if you don't feel the need to rest take it up for 1 minute to a breathing rate of at least an 8, low RPMs, so hard you might have to get out of your saddle to make it....(feel good about yourself, you're almost there)

Relax, take a 3 minute recovery- relax your legs, breath and check your body position.

Let's repeat:
3 minutes: Goal: Breathing between 5-7
Your 1st minute I want you to hold a high RPM at around 85-90 RPMs, 2nd minute turn the resistance up where you are now pedaling around 65 RPM's and the last minute I want you to either stand, use resistance or high RPMs(cadence) to make up the ground and get to at least a 5 in breathing.

Rest for 1 minute

Now, for 1 minute I want you to imagine you are running a race and it's the last stretch...I'm on your toes, don't let me win!
breathing should be around 7 or more and RPMs should be 100 or more.

Recover back down to normal breathing, take 2.

Now let's use some resistance and do some spinning:
15 second RPMs around 50 (if it's too hard to pedal, back off a little on the resistance)
45 second recover- let your legs relax
30 second hill climb, keep those RPMs low breathing should be around a 4 at least.
30 second recover- don't forget the water
45 second hill climb, breathing around a 5, you feel the sweat for sure!
15 second recover, get ready for the 1 minute climb
1 minute hill climb, hard to pedal and hard to breath at least a 6 1/2

Now let's recover for 1 minute....we're almost to the end, just one more sprint.
1 minute all out sprint, as fast as you can and as hard, get your breathing to at least a 71/2, push yourself, you can do it!!

Now start the cool down, slowly let your heart rate and breathing drop. Take these next 5 minutes to relax, breath and let it sink in how amazing your workout was.
Last 5 minutes, stretch it out, like before the ride.

Please remember to consult a doctor before any activity that will affect your heart rate. You can use this sample exercise to make your workout work for you. Trust me, after a month on the bike, you will see results. A normal workout will usually burn 400-650 calories (based off of a 150 lb woman), also there's no impact on the knees like running.
Good luck and happy spinning.