Your pants are a bit tight, you can’t seem to stop eating junk, and
you’re tired all of the time. It’s time to get healthy and lose weight.
Combined with a more sensible diet, an exercise bike can help you
achieve the results you want.
Ugh, the Diet.
So many
people go wrong here. Forget fad diets, forget starvation. Slow and
steady wins the race. Try changing one thing about your diet. Limit
yourself to one soda a day. Stop skipping meals. If you always clean
your plate, start leaving one or two bites. A total change in diet is
work. If you go for a radical change, you are setting yourself up for
failure. You’ll be surprised how well small changes work.
The Right Bike Determines Your Success
This
is a critically important part. There are literally hundreds of
exercise bikes available. You have to be honest with yourself to
discover the one that will work best for you. If you talk yourself into
some fantasy world where your exercise plan is going to work this time
even though there’s nothing different, you’re going to be disappointed.
If you think ahead, you will buy the right bike for your needs. You
will end up with a successful long-term exercise routine.
Think
back to your last exercise routine attempt. Why did you stop? Did you
suffer an injury? Did you get bored? Was it just too hard to do every
day? Was it hard to find the time? Answer these questions truthfully.
If you don’t figure out where you went wrong, you won’t be able to come
up with a solution.
Avoiding and Working Through Injuries
If
an injury caused you to stop working out, how did you sustain your
injury? Becoming physically fit is supposed to help you prevent
injuries, not cause them. There is an exercise bike for someone who has
been injured working out. It’s called a recumbent exercise bike. It’s
the kind found in a lot of health clubs. It has a large, bucket seat,
and you sit back and low to the ground. It is perfect for people
beginning a new exercise routine. It’s also very good for back problems
as it forces you to keep good posture. It puts no pressure on your
joints, and you can keep working out even if you have minor injuries.
Overcoming Boredom
Did
you get bored the last time you tried to workout on a regular basis? If
you did, you are likely to get bored again. With exercise bikes, the
solution is usually a bike with several different levels and riding
programs. You can get bikes with different difficulty levels. This
means that when it becomes too easy for you to pedal, you simply move
up to the next level instead of having to ride longer (which just isn’t
likely to happen for the person who is easily bored). You can also get
different programs. Programs give you variety and goals. They make you
pedal harder, simulate conquering hills, and even sprinting for short
periods.
Riding programs might not be enough for you. You might
need a bike that you can hook up to your television that simulates
riding through different courses. You can take a leisurely ride through
a park or compete with other computer riders on a difficult obstacle
course. These bikes might cost more up front, but if you don’t invest
in a bike that will let you sustain your workout, you’re wasting money
on anything less.
The coolest thing for game addicts who get
bored is an interactive bike that plugs into a Sony Playstation or
Playstation 2. It makes over 50 games interactive. Whatever is
happening on your bike happens on the screen in bike, car, and similar
games. There are all types of similar bikes available.
If you
plan on listening to music or watching TV while you cycle, be sure to
pay attention to features that will make the exercise bike quieter.
It’s also a good idea to get a quieter bike if you live with other
people. For all you know, your workout time is going to be 5AM or
midnight. A quieter bike won’t disturb other people in your home.
Don’t Try to Be Lance Armstrong Yet???
People
beginning exercise programs are sometimes too ambitious. It’s good to
be excited, but you have to remain realistic. If your last exercise
program failed because it was just too much work, don’t make the same
mistake again. Fight the urge to overdo your first workouts. It is
critical to your long-term success that you start out slow. If you go
from no exercise at all to 5 to 10 minute exercise bike workouts with
little resistance, you are much more likely to avoid injury, soreness,
and most of all, early feelings of defeat. If you aim too high –
expecting to go from a sedentary lifestyle to 45 minute workouts
immediately, for example – you are setting yourself up for failure.
When you don’t reach your unattainable goal, it is more likely you’ll
quit altogether to alleviate the feeling of failure that much sooner.
The perfect bikes for people who get a bit over-excited are exercise bikes
with built in riding programs. You simply start out at the lowest
level, and the bike determines your workout. You program in a small
goal (10 minutes, 50 calories, or .25 mile) and when you reach that
goal, your workout is over.
Finding the Time
You do have
time to burn fat and calories on an exercise bike. No matter how
intense your schedule is, there are people busier than you who find
time to make an exercise routine work. They are not better than you.
They don’t have more than 24 hours in a day. They simply figured out
how to make it work. You can, too.
It can be as simple as the
time of day you chose to workout in the past. There is scientific
evidence that people who are “morning people” or “night owls” are
physically different. Different people have energy at different times.
Think about when you work best. If you wake up without an alarm clock
ready to go, you should exercise first thing in the morning. If you are
a night owl, you should consider working out at night. You might find
that you are one of the people who tire yourself out enough with a
night workout to sleep like a baby.
You Can Do This!
Losing
weight is not a punishment. You are smart enough to know how to eat a
little better and become more active. If you are honest with yourself,
you will choose the proper bike. You want to look forward to the
workout itself. Don’t get caught up in which bike burns more calories.
Find an exercise bike you will enjoy riding. Figure out the time of day
that’s best for you to exercise. Make it like getting dressed or
bathing – it’s just something you do every day. You don’t have to train
for the Tour de France. You just have to get on and do something every
day. Ten minutes a day will yield results. Bookmark this article for
future motivation, find your exercise bike, and get busy!
Michael Walker is a freelance author providing useful information about exercise bikes, recumbent exercise bike and exercise bikes, home fitness equipment. His numerous articles offer comprehensive tips and solutions for the fitness enthusiast.
Michael Walker
Michael Walker is a freelance author providing useful information about stationary exercise bikes, recumbent exercise bikes and spinning bikes. His numerous articles offer comprehensive tips and solutions for the fitness enthusiast.