How to Use the Full Potential of a Stationary Bike?

For each of us, keeping regular exercise is a very good thing, because it helps us to keep healthy physically and mentally so as to stay away from diseases. Especially since entering the 21st century, with the gradual improvement of people's living standard and quality of life, more and more people are paying more attention to keeping healthy and perfect figure through proper exercise, and you are certainly no exception. Nowadays, there are many different exercise ways for you to choose from, each of which can bring a lot of benefits to your body. But I think cycling may be one of the best ways to exercise, because it can not only help you lose weight so as to make your body more symmetrical and attractive, but also accelerate your blood circulation and strengthen your heart function. If you want to experience the pleasure of cycling at home, you might as well buy a stationary bicycle. Exercise with it can also bring you the same good effect as outdoor cycling.

A stationary bike is an excellent choice for you to get in shape and burn fat at home. When you exercise with it, your arm muscles, leg muscles, hip muscles, abdominal muscles and waist muscles can be well exercised. Although it can bring many benefits, unfortunately, there are still many people who are inefficient in using it. This not only takes a lot of time, but also cannot achieve good fitness effect, which is definitely not what you want. Therefore, if you want to use it to its full potential in a limited amount of time, you must pay attention to some things. In order to realize the full potential of your stationary workout bike, I will tell you a few noteworthy things in the following article. Please keep these few things in mind to make the most of your stationary workout bike to lose weight and build muscle more effectively.

1. Set it up properly
Whether you ride a bike outdoors or use a stationary workout bike for cycling exercise, setting the position of the bike upproperly is always the most important key to success. If you don't set the position of your stationary workout bike up properly, you will not only be unable to use it to its full potential, but also be at risk of injurysuch as knee strain, neck strain and even back pain. Therefore, in order to make your stationary exercise bike use it to its full potential, it is very important to take the time to set it up properly, and properly adjusted stationary workout bike can also bring you more effective and comfortable training.

First, you need to set its seat height upproperly. Seat height determines the height at which you ride your stationary workout bike, the downward stroke angle of your legs and many other factors. Ideally, when your front legs are fully extended, your knees should be slightly bent, about 5 to 10 degrees. In this way, you can pedal comfortably without pointing your toes to fully stretch. But if your hips sway from side to side when pedalingor you have to point with your toes to pedal correctly, then your seat is too high. On the contrary, if your knees bend over 10 degrees, your seat may be too low. Therefore, when your seat is too high or too low, you should adjust its height in time. Secondly, you need to set the saddle angle of your stationary bike up properly, which is as important as the seat height. If it leans upward too much, it may cause pressure points on your hips and legs. If it leans down too far, you will slide forward when cycling, which will put more pressure on your knees, hands and arms. You'd better keep the saddle angle relatively neutral, and only slightly tilt forward or backward a few degrees. Finally, you need to set the handlebars of your stationary workout bike properly. If the handlebar is too high, too low, too close or too far away, you may feel pain in your neck, shoulders, back and hands. You can adjust the position of the handlebar until you feel comfortable.

2. Choose the right place to put it
Choosing the right place in your home to put your stationary workout bike can also be used to its full potential. Generally speaking, I suggest you put it in the basement or on the first floor of your home. Because the basement or the first floor of your home is cool in summer and warm in winter, it can provide a healthy environment for your exercise so that you can better do cycling exercise. But in most cases, you should try to avoid putting your stationary bicycle on the second floor or higher. Because the heat insulation upstairs is usually poor, it will be very hot in summer and even colder in winter.

3. Warm up before and after exercise
To realize the full potential of your stationary exercise bike, you must remember to warm up before and after exercising with it. Before you start cycling, please take some time to stretch your hamstrings, knees, back and neck. This will make your muscles more flexible and reduce your risk of injury. It is also necessary to take time to warm up after cycling. When you are ready to stop, ride your bike for an extra 5 minutes, and then gradually slow down instead of stopping completely at once. This will give your muscles more time to rest.

4. Make a personalized exercise plan
Without the goal, you will not be able to make great progress on the stationary workout bike. Therefore, making a personalized exercise plan allows you to use your stationary bike to its full potential. I suggest you try high intensity interval training (HIIT). The key of high intensity interval training is to combine short but very strong pedaling with longer and softer light pedaling. Incorporating it into your cycling can not only make your exercise less boring, but also better burn your fat and strengthen your muscles.

To sum up, if you want to use the full potential of your stationary bike, please keep in mind the four points mentioned in this article.