Cycling is an excellent form of aerobic exercise. It places a substantial demand on your heart and lungs. It can burn up to 900 calories per hour while helping to condition your legs and cardiovascular system. All factors considered, it is a very safe form of exercise since it imposes far less stress on the joints of your body than many of the other means of exercising aerobically. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is a very convenient form of exercise that almost everyone is familiar with. It would not be an over exaggeration to conclude that almost everyone can ride a bicycle.
In order to get the most from your cycling efforts for aerobic fitness, you must first decide if you want to exercise outdoors or indoors. Both forms of exercise, while somewhat similar in nature, offer distinct advantages and disadvantages. Exercising outdoors has two major attractive features: variety and fresh air. The fact that you can vary your routine and the intensity of your routine (e.g., include hills) is very appealing to many people. Most individuals also like the idea of exercising in a fresh air atmosphere. On the other hand, exercising outdoors, depending on where you live, may involve dealing with traffic, polluted air, and inclement weather.
Exercising indoors is also very popular for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that you don’t have to interrupt your training program just because the weather turns bad or respond to the actions of individuals driving a vehicle considerably heavier (and potentially more dangerous) than your bike. Cycling indoors involves working out on an exercise bike. All well-equipped health and fitness clubs have exercise bicycles. Many individuals also have them at home. In fact, statistics show that the stationary exercise bicycle is the single most popular piece of home exercise equipment in the United States.
When you work out on an exercise bicycle, a few guidelines should be followed to make your efforts as enjoyable and effective as possible. The seat of the bicycle should be adjusted to a height where when you are sitting on it, your leg should be slightly bent with your foot on the pedal. If you can lock your leg (knees), the seat is too high. While exercising, you should adopt a body position that is comfortable for you. There are almost as many different suggestions on how to position yourself as there are people willing to offer a suggestion on what to do. Regardless of what anyone claims, if it is not comfortable, it is highly unlikely that you will either enjoy it or will stick with it. In addition, you should exercise at a level of intensity that enables you to reach (but not exceed) your target heart rate. If you work out too hard, you will not be able to sustain your training for the required minimum period of at least twenty minutes. Finally, as a general rule, you should wear lightweight, absorbent clothing when you exercise. While heavy clothes or airtight rubber suits may make you sweat more while exercising, any water weight loss is both temporary and illusionary. More importantly, the wearing of such clothes may subject you to the undesirable risks of thermal stress (overheating internally).Ultimately, the decision of what method you should use to exercise aerobically is a personal one. The decision should generally be based on how well the exercise form works for you, how safe it is, and how likely you are to stick with it. Provided you like cycling, without question it would be in your best interests to pump pedals, as well as iron.