Cycling is a great form of cardiovascular exercise. It will get your heart pumping, and therefore improve its efficiency. Also, you can expect to burn a lot of calories. Just how many calories burned biking will be determined by the intensity, size of the rider, and duration. Here are a few biking workouts that will help you burn calories.
Indoor cycling can be a fun and convenient way to exercise in the club or out of your home if you own a stationary bike. What’s great about an indoor cycling workout is that you can control the ride the way you see fit to get fit. You can make it as challenging or leisurely as you choose!
Indoor cycling, or spinning, will help you build lower body strength as well as burn calories. While riding, you can control 2 things: the speed at which you pedal, and the resistance of your bike. The resistance on a stationary bike simulates variation in outdoor terrain, such as going up hills.
Try these at-home indoor cycling workouts!
Biking Workout to Burn Calories
- 70 RPM moderate resistance – 1 minute
- 80 RPM moderate – 1 min
- 80 rpm increase resistance – 2 min
- 90 rpm keep resistance – 1 min
- 70 rpm keep resistance – 1 min
Total time: 6 min
Block 1: The goal is to keep resistance the same the first time through, then increase the second time through. Resistance should feel like a 6 out of 10, then 7-8 out of 10 second time through.
- 45s standing climb (65-75 rpm)
- 30s seated climb (65-75 rpm )
- 15s sprint ( 75 -95 rpm)
- 60s standing climb (65-75)
- 30s seated climb (65-75)
- 15s sprint (75-95)
Repeat for 2x through
Rest for 1-2 min
Total time of Block 1: 6:30s + Recovery
Block 2: Around the clock sprints — Goal is to stay under 100 rpm, so gear resistance that it’s a 7/10 to be in control. No rest in between.
- 10s seated sprint/ 50s stand
- 20s sprint/ 40s stand
- 30s sprint/ 30s stand
- 40s sprint/ 20s stand
- 50s sprint / 10s stand
- 60s sprint
- 2 min standing climb
Total time: 8 min
Recover 1-2 min
Block 3: 30/20/10. Repeat for 8 rounds goal is by the last round you are breathless, ending should feel like a 8-9/10 exertion. Every 2 rounds increase the resistance rpms (65-95)
- 30s standing climb
- 20s seated climb
- 10s seated sprint
- Repeat 8x no rest
Recover and cool down
Ladder Drill
For this drill, try to maintain a consistent pace of 90-95 RPMs. We’re going to only change the resistance to alter the intensity of our workout.
Warm-Up:
- 2 minutes light resistance (flat road)
- 2 minutes moderate resistance (slightly uphill)
Round 1:
- 2 minutes light resistance (flat road)
- 2 minutes moderate resistance (slightly uphill)
- 2 minutes very hard resistance (steady uphill)
Round 2:
- 3 minutes moderate resistance (slightly uphill)
- 3 minutes very hard resistance (steady uphill)
Round 3:
- 2 minutes very hard resistance (steady uphill)
- 2 minutes moderate resistance (slightly uphill)
- 2 minutes all-out resistance (steep hill)
Round 4:
- 2 minutes moderate resistance (slightly uphill)
- 2 minutes all-out resistance (steep hill)
- 2 minutes recovery/light resistance (flat road)
Cool-down:
- 2 minutes moderate resistance (slightly uphill)
- 2 minute recovery/light resistance (flat road)
Tabata Drill
Tabata uses short bursts of activity to get your heart pumping.
Warm-Up:
- 5 minutes moderate resistance (slightly uphill)
Tabata Circuit (Repeat 4 times)
- 20 seconds difficult to all-out intensity (Try standing sprints, sitting sprints, or use a heavy incline as ways to increase intensity)
- 10 seconds very light intensity
- Repeat above 8 times
- Recover at 1 minute at light resistance
Cool-down:
- 3 minutes moderate intensity
- 2 minutes light intensity
You can also add stretches to your cool-down as you gradually slow your pedals down. Be sure to hydrate throughout your rides and grab a nutrient-rich snack after you’re done!
Calories Burned Biking
As we mentioned above, the amount of calories burned biking will be determined by a number of factors including your age, body composition, duration of workout, resistance, and RPMs. The chart below estimates how many calories you will burn during a cycling workout of one hour based on the intensity/type of ride in relation to your weight.
As you can see, cycling is a very effective form of exercise when it comes to burning calories. No matter the style of cycling, indoors or outdoors, you’ll be challenging your body and improving your cardiac output (your heart’s efficiency at pumping blood throughout the body)!
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2 Comments
Linda one of the spin instructors from Barker Road said she posted a video on the Elite website of a spin class how can I find it thanks
You can sign up for our virtual studio at eliteclubs.com/virtual-studio