Gym Bike sessions

TommyTheGun

Hi Lads,

I just want to get your thoughts on the comparison/or rather contrast between a gym bike session and one on the open road.

I bought my first road bike this summer and have been out on it frequently, but not as frequent as I like. Now i would be fairly close averaging 30kph over 2 hours, for a 60k cycle obviously. But generally i dont get the time to do much more than that.

Now with the weather and other reasons, im kind of restricted to gym bike sessions midweek. On these i find myself chasing my targets which are generally in the 46-47km over 60 mins on the bike. bare in mind that I do the hill plus, which consists of cascades every 60 seconds on a level 13-14 generally so I am not just strolling along. typical rpm varies at 95-112rpm depending on the cascade difficulty. I find that i generally burn up 800 calories according to the data on the bike and I find myself absolutely dripping in sweat afterwards. I find i dont get this same release of sweat on the road.

So generally, would people recommend the gym bikes as good training? Another point to note is that it really doesnt feel anything like cycling on the roads so am I just kidding myself really?

Cheers for any replies,
Tom

smacl

One thing I do when I'm trying to compare workouts for different types of activity is to stick on a heart rate monitor. Maybe try this, and compare your results for the gym session versus the bike. I haven't tried it for cycling, but know that I certainly burn way more calories running outdoors than on the treadmill at a similar pace and incline. You also have more variables to contend with outdoors, such as the weather, surface, obstacles, etc...

seamus

You're kidding yourself to a certain extent.

It's still exercise at the end of the day, but it's a stationary bike, so you have no wind resistance, you're not focussing on anything but the cycling and any virtual hills or speedometers are just that - virtual. So it can't be considered the equivalent of getting out on the road for any hour because there are too many different variables.
I've no doubt that it could improve your fitness, but for overall technique you're better off on the road.

If you've ever drafted a bus on the flat you'll know that 40 - 50km/h is easily achieveable except for the wind resistance.
You also won't get the same release of sweat on the road because your body doesn't have to work so hard at keeping cool.

mickeycav

totally agree, last time i used a HRM outdoor, the calorie expenditure was way more than i could ever achieve indoors in the same time

kennyb3

Your burning calories and prob working your general aerobic system, prob no more.

Depending on the set up on the bike you might not even be working all the correct muscles.

Why not buy a turbo and save on the gym fees? Or get a decent set of lights and hit the roads for the hour. Lovely day for it today:D

Miklos

I'm sure it's still good exercise but I'm also sure it's mind-numbingly boring!

TommyTheGun

Thanks lads,

All very valid points. To answer a few, I did presume that the NO wind resistance factor may have been scewing my results but wasnt sure how much difference it was making consisdering half the 60 mins on the bike, is actually on an incline and some at a very steep incline too.

The heart rate factor, it seems my heart rate is generally in the 150-170bpm so i believe this is good for weight loss? Why I waste money on the gym? well i dont see it as wasted, trying to lose weight and I participate in weight sessions also. I have issues with shin splints and also find the swimming pool great as another non-impact sporting activity.

I'd love to be out on the road, but my experiences over the last few months leave me with no faith in the ability of SOME people on the road driving as to if I can get home safe. Also, none of my friends are into cycling so unfortunately I have to do a lot of training on my own.

I am worried abou whether I am using the correct muscles on the gym bike and if there will be any negative effect on my body, but as suggested, for the moment, its excercise so its better than me being on the couch I guess.

Cheers for all the input.

as a side note, has anybody any experience of spinning classes in the gym and would these be more benficial than what I am currently doing?

Thanks,
Tom

TommyTheGun

NickWray wrote: »

I'm sure it's still good exercise but I'm also sure it's mind-numbingly boring!

I fully 100% agree with this but I am out on the road alone too so thats boring sometimes. On a plus note, I can at least have my headphones on in the gym, Cant do that on the road!

Tom

mel.b

TommyTheGun wrote: »

I fully 100% agree with this but I am out on the road alone too so thats boring sometimes. On a plus note, I can at least have my headphones on in the gym, Cant do that on the road!

Tom

I cycle out on the road with my left headphone in - allows me to hear my music but also the traffic. Mind you, i'm not riding in Dulin or suburbs, but out in the country.

triggermortis

mel.b wrote: »

I cycle out on the road with my left headphone in - allows me to hear my music but also the traffic. Mind you, i'm not riding in Dulin or suburbs, but out in the country.

I'm out in the country too but I'd never ride with music on, even only in one ear. I'd probably spend more time air drumming than concentrating on what I was doing and end up in a ditch!

Wheely GR8

I always have headphones on ,I use a sony MW500 with akg 316 phones and I can still here cars coming in the background.
I can also answer my phone from the mw500 on my collar and google tracks sounding every 5km ,average speed and time.

TommyTheGun

Hi Guys,

Im back on the topic of gym sessions. This time though, I went spinning for the first time tonight in the gym and I really felt this a good workout.

Can i ask if people have experiences of spinning and would they recomment it. I ask this because, I felt this really tough on the knees as a lot of it is standing up on the pedals. I have no problem sitting on the saddle and am generally fairly powerful and effective this way (on a road bike) but i just felt this uncomfortable. I felt whilst I was standing I kept having to increase the reistance considerably as i felt like I was pretty much cycling against nothing.

Basically, can anybody give me a reason not to continue these sessions as in regards to if its bad for knees etc..

on a side note, the other people were quite impressive and it did make me think if my 47km sessions in 60 mins were actually improving my fitness at all!!!

Cheers,
Tom

ashleey

It's sort of part of the workout to stand up and pedal fast against low resistance and do the opposite when sitting down. Then you can switch both roles: stand and high resistance, sit and sprint. There is supposed to be variety to work on cardio fitness and also strength. You'll get used to it. This is my second winter doing spinning since my final knee injury finished soccer and find it great. I snapped a cruciate in the past and have had loads of knee injuries in the past. Spinning seems fine for me at the moment compared to 11 a side soccer.
I don't know what your class is like but it's way more social than a resistance trainer in the house.

TommyTheGun

ashleey wrote: »

It's sort of part of the workout to stand up and pedal fast against low resistance and do the opposite when sitting down. Then you can switch both roles: stand and high resistance, sit and sprint. There is supposed to be variety to work on cardio fitness and also strength. You'll get used to it. This is my second winter doing spinning since my final knee injury finished soccer and find it great. I snapped a cruciate in the past and have had loads of knee injuries in the past. Spinning seems fine for me at the moment compared to 11 a side soccer.
I don't know what your class is like but it's way more social than a resistance trainer in the house.

Cheers for the reply and the info. Absolutely agree on your point of being better than the resistance trainer socially. plus, doesnt make sense to splash out on a trainer when I already am for the gym membership.

I'll take your info on board. I have had knee problems in the past , although not as bad as yourself, so maybe thats why I'm feeling uncomfortable. But it is reassuring to know that spinning doesnt seem to do any more damage.


Tom

fat bloke

You can't compare two at all, but that works both ways.

You'll never get (or at least I never do) the same focused 45 -60 minute workout on the road that you can get in a gym. There's no faffing about getting out of your estate, there's no 10 minutes of speed ramps or traffic lights to negotiate to open road, there's no riding buddy to shoot the breeze with for the first 20 minutes, there are no punctures to interrupt or ruin a workout or interval. The gym is great for a reliable, focused, high intensity workout, and a great parallel to some regular road work.

In my opinion.