Hello again all

OK I got my new exercise Bike yesterday and have just finished setting it up in my bedroom for use.

I am really really out of shape, heart rate goes crazy just running up my stairs each day so I don't want to wear myself out.

When I was at school I was always the kid that used to be right at the back of the cross country run and when warming up around the field so this isn't anything new, I was 12 then and now I am 24.

I am just starting my new diet 1800 to 2000 calories a day and wanted to do some exercise bike work with it but wanted to start off slow, don't think I can do this 80% heart rate straight off.

Can someone please give me some advice to were to start please?

Thank you very much

Stu

I started my routines with an exercise bike. I would say start slow, you want to be at 55 - 65% of max HR. Don't go for too long at too high a level or your legs will pump up and you'll walk funny for a couple of days.

Start off slow and your body will adapt over time. If all you can do is 10min, do 10 min. Work your way up to 15 20 25 30min etc.

Make sure you stretch to avoid muscle cramps, especially the Psoas muscle, or you will be hurting in a couple of days.

~Todd
St Paul, MN

I like to use the "talk but can't sing" method. Go slow enough that you can carry on a conversation fairly easily but fast enough that you can't sing. When I do that, it sometimes doesn't feel like I'm working very hard at all. It's a pace that I can keep up all day if I want to. As you get in better shape, you'll find that you're pedaling faster and faster to stay at the same level.

I recommend getting one of these as well...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001DB75S/qid=1098290555/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xglna/002-6252427-4798428?v=glance&s=hpc&n=507846

It's $50 and it's just as important as the excercise bike itself. It takes all the guesswork out of measuring your heartrate and Polar's are really accurate.

Thanks guys, appricate your help with that, I think the 10mins and 55/60% heart rate sounds like a good idea, think I worked out my heart rate at 196 at the age of 24 years, maybe someone can confirm that for me?

Will also look into stretching exercises as no I have never done that before.

Slush - Thanks for the info, I do have heart rate monitor on my bike (you have these silver grip points on the bike) is it worth picking one of these watch type monitors up anyway or is the bike good enough?

Thank you all

Stuart



I started my routines with an exercise bike. I would say start slow, you want to be at 55 - 65% of max HR. Don't go for too long at too high a level or your legs will pump up and you'll walk funny for a couple of days.

Start off slow and your body will adapt over time. If all you can do is 10min, do 10 min. Work your way up to 15 20 25 30min etc.

Make sure you stretch to avoid muscle cramps, especially the Psoas muscle, or you will be hurting in a couple of days.

~Todd
St Paul, MN

I don't know how accurate your bike monitor is, but the Polar's are very reliable. If you're only doing cardio on the bike, then I'd say don't worry about it. The nice thing about having the watch monitor is that you can do any type of cardio with it or go anywhere with it. That just makes it a more versatile form of measuring your heart rate.

The heart rate monitor on your bike is just fine. It will be close enough, as there are different ways to measure heart rate, and everyone is different anyway. Therefore having perfect accuracy is not as important as getting it in the general range. If you are going to do 10 minutes, try it twice a day for awhile. Ten in the morning and ten at night. 20 minutes a day is an absolute minimum. Just do it slowly if you have too. The duration is more important than the intensity when you are starting out.

Hello all

OK its the first morning of using the bike and after my 20mindog walk roughly about half a mile I got home straight away and used the bike for 17mins at 12.5 mph at about 145 heart rate (I couldnt really slow it down as the pace was about right for me).

How does that sound for the first morning? I will do the same again tonight.

Thanks

Stu

Hello all

OK its the first morning of using the bike and after my 20mindog walk roughly about half a mile I got home straight away and used the bike for 17mins at 12.5 mph at about 145 heart rate (I couldnt really slow it down as the pace was about right for me).

How does that sound for the first morning? I will do the same again tonight.

Thanks

Stu

Sounds like a great start, keep it up. Remember at this stage duration is more important than intensity.

Thanks Jesse, glad you think its a great start, going to post my whole days diet later on so you can see how I got on and if I am doing ok.

Cheers