Exercise bike

mozattack

Would cycling 5 miles per day on a cycling machine do much for fitness (for someone who believes walking to the fridge is exercise)

Beasty

Yes, 15-20 minutes or so a day is much better than doing nothing. Why not think about a real bike though? That way you can get some enjoyment out of your exercise.

seamus

It would make you fit enough that you could cycle 5 miles a day on an exercise machine. Maybe even 6.

5 miles isn't much, twenty minutes. Twenty minutes per day on an exercise machine will burn about 150 calories, or about an extra 1,000 calories per week. Assuming you don't overeat to compensate and you are eating a calorie balanced diet, you can expect to lose about half a kilo a month with that amount of exercise.

If you're insisting on an exercise bike as opposed to a real bike, then aim for time rather than distance. Half an hour every day and you'll find that you start getting more distance covered as the week go on. However, I'd be surprised if you manage to keep it up unless you have a good routine, such as doing it while watching Home & Away. Exercise bikes are boring as hell.
Better off getting yourself a real bike and getting out on the road. Your fitness will improve quicker and you'll enjoy yourself a lot more, making it less likely that you'll give up.

mozattack

Disappointing that 20 minutes hard exercise or 5 miles per day isn't seen as being much... guess I'd have to wonder that the point is then!!! :eek:

With regard to actual real cycling, I don't have the time.. 2 kids, full-time work etc. How would it be possible. Also i'd never average 15-16 miles per hour on the road so a lot of time would be wasted.

Granted the longetivity of sitting on a boring machine is questionable so too is allocating 3 times more time to go out cycling to get to the same result (perhaps)

Beasty

If you do it every day it will bring along your general fitness leaps and bounds if you currently have a sedantary lifestyle, particularly if you push yourself. I guess the point being made is that more is better ...

seamus

mozattack wrote: »

Disappointing that 20 minutes hard exercise or 5 miles per day isn't seen as being much.

It's a start, but that's about it. That's not to say you shouldn't bother, but if you stick with it within two months you'll be well able for longer times and when you're sitting on an exercise bike for an hour, bored out of your skull you'll be wondering why you didn't go for the real bike.

You asked how fit it would make you, so I'm just trying to give the reality. For cyclists on here who are only leisure cyclists, never mind racing cyclists, 5 miles is a warm-up, not even the main part of the cycle. But then lots of us came from a place of zero exercise too and in our early days a 5 mile cycle involved lots of sweating and sore legs.

So your 5 mile plan is a start, a way to go get going for the first few weeks, but if you want to be properly "fit", then you will need to up your time and distance, regardless of whether you're on the exercise bike or the real bike.

With regard to actual real cycling, I don't have the time.. 2 kids, full-time work etc. How would it be possible.

I say this in the nicest way possible: That's just an excuse. There are plenty of people here with full-time jobs, 10-hour days, 3 kids and they still manage a couple of hours a week to get out on the bike.
It's all about how your arrange and prioritise your time. You're looking at an exercise bike because it lets you be at home and look after the kids while exercising. It's a nice thought, but doomed to fail in reality. You will get distracted mid-session to deal with something, and then you won't get back to it. This will occur in most sessions and you eventually give up. If you schedule time for yourself where someone else is looking after the kids and you're out on the bike with no distractions, then you will finish your session and enjoy it.

Also i'd never average 15-16 miles per hour on the road so a lot of time would be wasted.

The speed isn't really all that relevant so long as you're putting in the time at a decent effort. You'd also be surprised at how fast you'll get a road bike to go on a flat road.

Beasty

I'm trying to break the OP in gently here seamus...

Seriously though, as seamus said it is a start, and we all have/had to start somewhere. 6 years ago I did virtually no cycling, and had done very little exercise since I left school a number of decades previously. Now I'm fitter than I have ever been in my life. Admitedly I now take my cycling very seriously, but it was and still is a matter of fitting it in whenever I can - which has meant cycling to work (23km - but nowadays I'll try and take detours), turbo sessions of up to 3 hours into the middle of the night. And yes I have a full time job which has actually meant spending many hours on gym bikes in every Continent on the planet. Oh, and I have 4 kids also.

Lumen

Cycling outside is fun. Cycling indoors is not.

This is why people who enjoy exercising whilst sitting on their arse choose to cycle outdoors.

billyhead

Lumen wrote: »

Cycling outside is fun. Cycling indoors is not.

This is why people who enjoy exercising whilst sitting on their arse choose to cycle outdoors.

The only problem for the OP is that with the dark nights fast approaching and the colder and wetter weather due over the winter how motivated will he be to get out on the bike. Like some other cyclists the urge to cycle in cold or wet weather will impede them and they may prefer training indoors

Lumen

billyhead wrote: »

The only problem for the OP is that with the dark nights fast approaching and the colder and wetter weather due over the winter how motivated will he be to get out on the bike. Like some other cyclists the urge to cycle in cold or wet weather will impede them and they may prefer training indoors

Right, but cycling indoors seems like a really great idea until you actually try it.

There is a reason that exercise bikes are mostly used to hang washing.

manwithaplan

Cycling indoors is downright awful. If time is the enemy (I'm dubious about that as a father of four), take up running or something. You can get a lot done in half an hour on the road and there's bugger all gear involved. If you buy an exercise bike, it will eye you up from the corner and whisper horrible things for years to come.

mozattack

Thanks for the feedback but aren't some people judgemental all because one wants to use an exercise bike.

Comments:

1. the bike is not a new acquisition, around 9 years old and I used it then and lost around a stone in weight

2. surely using a bike indoors (garden shed actually) is more appealing that cycling through a town in the night or cold or rain etc

3. accept comments on running but i had the FAD that is running and I personally dont want to be seen outdoors exercising (it is lame)

4. re not having enough time, okay maybe if i cut out playing PS3, watching football and TV i could exercise more but i dont want to - just doing the bare minimum here!!

Plastik

Doing the bare minimum will do the bare minimum for you in fitness terms. If you're too lazy to cut out playing computer games or watching people partaking in real actual sport (!) then you can expect nothing back.

You might cut your dash to the fridge time by 0.5 of a second.

seamus

mozattack wrote: »

1. the bike is not a new acquisition, around 9 years old and I used it then and lost around a stone in weight

Why did you stop using it then? What makes you think you won't stop using it this time?

surely using a bike indoors (garden shed actually) is more appealing that cycling through a town in the night or cold or rain etc

Night and/or cold: No, outside is still more fun. Rain: Maybe if I'm feeling weak that day.

3. accept comments on running but i had the FAD that is running and I personally dont want to be seen outdoors exercising (it is lame)

Are you 15? Lame? Who cares what you do outside?

4. re not having enough time, okay maybe if i cut out playing PS3, watching football and TV i could exercise more but i dont want to - just doing the bare minimum here!!

As Plastik says, if you just do the bare minimum, you'll get the bare minimum in return.

By all means sit on the bike while you watch football on TV. Personally I'd prefer to get out on the road for two hours, then come home and crack open a beer and sit in front of the TV. That way I get to fully enjoy both things, rather than ruining my TV watching.

rflynnr

mozattack wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback but aren't some people judgemental all because one wants to use an exercise bike.

Comments:

1. the bike is not a new acquisition, around 9 years old and I used it then and lost around a stone in weight

2. surely using a bike indoors (garden shed actually) is more appealing that cycling through a town in the night or cold or rain etc

3. accept comments on running but i had the FAD that is running and I personally dont want to be seen outdoors exercising (it is lame)

4. re not having enough time, okay maybe if i cut out playing PS3, watching football and TV i could exercise more but i dont want to - just doing the bare minimum here!!

I can see how some of the above may seem judgmental but I think most of it is genuinely motivated by the feeling that the nature of exercise bikes makes it difficult to sustain interest in them. Quite a few people hereabouts would have indoor turbo trainers (akin to exercise bikes) and the experience for many is that they're boring and thus it's difficult to find the motivation to keep at them. That said, if you can find the motivation, five miles a day is clearly better doing nothing at all.

I think what we're trying to suggest is that it might be no harm at least giving an actual bike a try because based on our experience it IS more appealing than sitting in a shed even in winter/rain (both of which can be addressed with cycling gear). If, on the other hand, you're adamant that exercising outside is lame then a cycling forum may not be the best place to find an answer to your original question. It might be worth re-posting the question in the "Health and Fitness" section under "Rec".

Lumen

mozattack wrote: »

personally dont want to be seen outdoors exercising (it is lame)

I think someone needs to consult a dictionary.

Unless you meant lamé. Exercising in lamé is just divine, darling.

BunShopVoyeur

How the hell is exercising outdoors lame?

I'd be more inclined to think sitting in front of the telly playing computer games is lame in comparison.

petethedrummer

Just buy a Wii fit.