Again, I am looking to purchase a used stationary bike and would like to get the most from it. What are the things I should be looking for, or can I get some suggestions as to brand/model?
Thanks…
Rick
I hardly know anything about exercise bikes but in your situation I’d look at spin bikes. They’re simple and don’t have an electric motor so no worries about issues with that. They’re also much cheaper than powered exercise bikes, you can get a good new spin bike for $300. The drawback is they won’t freewheel or have computerized programs but for basic indoor workouts should more than suffice.
Stikki, thank you, I appreciate your response.
completed the bike workout as was shown on the video & delighted to report that today my muscle tone and mobility are a lot better than before I did it. I had some muscle stiffness in my hamstrings from a previous workout and also a small bit of muscle spasm in my lower back. The original plan was to do some tempo outside but as the weather was getting towards freezing conditions & with my back bothering me, I didn’t think I would be able to run enough vol to work up a sweat to flush out my system, so to the bike workout.
Mistakes I have made in the past, is that I have remained on the bike for long periods usually at a high resistance level which made my quads feel like rocks when I got off the bike. It just felt too easy on a low resistance and felt like I wasn’t getting a workout. Of course this resulted in muscle stiffness the following day, which is got good prep for speed work!
Keeping the resistance low, but at high turnover 100rpm, I started the warm up, keeping tracksuit top and bottoms on to aid faster increase in body temperature. By the end of the warm up which consisted of a few min on the bike, abb work,leg swings & stretches, my body temperature was up and feeling a bit looser but not as warmed up as I would for tempo outside as I’d usually do more jogging, leg swings etc. But I still felt ready to start the workout.
The first set of 10x45sec with exercises in btw went smoothly, I had no bench access so did pull ups instead of row which was prob a lot harder!!. By the end of the set I had worked up a good sweat and my back wasnt as stiff. The 2 min recovery btw sets went alot quicker than expected which means I was feeling it!
The second set was harder. I found myself drinking water after each exercise before getting on the bike, also my rpm was slower than the first set especially after the 5 rep. After completion of the set it felt as if I had run a solid 1500m vol tempo session. I was breathing and sweating, walked around for a 2min then stretched. Today I have no muscle sorness & my back is a lot better. A quick 1 hour workout.
Questions:
Ange, can u increase the number of sets or the time on the bike to make it a tougher workout, say for athletes used to doing 3000m vol tempo.
Do u ever use different exercises?
U mentioned a treadmill workout at the end, can u give us an idea of what this would look like.
Making workouts tougher is never a problem. I find most of the time the higher the motivation of an athlete the greater the need for a plan, a coach , excellent judgement ( does not come easily and it still a tough call) or all of the above.
Why increase number of sets? Why increase the amount of time on the bike? What are your needs for the training? Typically all the men I have worked with go right to high resistence which is exactly what you did. I find that funny. Woman often comment… " what is this doing" ? ( usually I say shut up and do the work or something like that") and athletes rarely question it and just do it.
You are partially answered your own questions by how you felt. Here is the thing. Once you understand what proper training is and how it feels it’s an excellent guide isnt it? Feeling great is not enough data to support elite training methods but it does validate day to day goals and help prevent injury.
We have used increased sets but mostly this model mocks small circuits , big circuit and 2 ( 10x 100meter) tempo. Some people may have to deal with issues around the shortening of their psoas but I have not come across this myself or with others. ( might be a problem for those with less back ground in general training)
Regarding the exercises? The role of the bike to replace the running is what you are after if what you want is a tempo for speed and or sprinting. If it’s fitness your goal you have to worry less about what exercises and refer to how we rank exercises in terms of % of muscles used. ( squats, lunges or these type of exercises).
A general rule about tempo is on or off the bike or grass… you want to finish as you started. If the demand is too high to begin with you won’t be able to finish the same way.
Be conservative and progressive and have a plan.
I like using the bike for tempo work and we have an Schwinn Airdyne at our facility and allows the incorporation of arm movement into the bike workout. I have also personally found that moderate load single arm KB snatch has been a nice alternative especially if my goal of the session is to work the aerobic system. As an example
the other day I did 30 seconds run on treadmill, 30 seconds rest to move to next station, 30 sec KB snatch, 30 sec rest, 30 sec airdyne, 30 sec rest, 30 sec KB snatch, 30 sec rest and repeat x 10
Are you saying 2x10 45on/15off bike tempo = 2x10x100 on grass??
Yes RB34.
Sometimes we have used 1 set of 10 / no exercises.
Other times with 2 sets with no exercises.
Usually I used the exercises in between if the person was handling the tempo ( bike in this case) , yet might not have the rpm’s too high . The advent of the exercises came along with those at a very high rpm and could benefit from something more. ( You see the bike and pool are ways you can get fitness up without the pounding) I don’t like suggesting that extra is better. I used to comment to Charlie all the time about certain athletes who were extremely capable. Just because you can does not mean you should. There seems to be this grey area for elite athletes vs fitness and or general training and how to apply the principles of methods spoken about on this site. One of the reasons Charlie liked Project Jane was he felt it took the ideas he used through his entire coaching career and applied it in real time for people to see.
I hope I answered your question.
I went through this dvd. I had a question if I am in a school gym I won’t be able to get on and off the bike like in my own workout place shown in the video. Can I make an adjustment like do 45 seconds at a higher rmp on the bike and then do 30 seconds at an easy rpm like 90 and that would be 1 rep. After 10 reps I can maybe get off the bike to take a break and do another set. Anyone have any suggestions on how I can adjust the bike tempo in a gym?
Thanks
This article has been around for a while, but here are some good guidelines
http://www.strengthpowerspeed.com/optimal-tempo-training/
Have a look at the tempo running equivalents table towards the bottom
But Angela has answered your question above
Quote Originally Posted by RB34 View Post
Are you saying 2x10 45on/15off bike tempo = 2x10x100 on grass??
Yes RB34.
Sometimes we have used 1 set of 10 / no exercises.
Other times with 2 sets with no exercises.
Usually I used the exercises in between if the person was handling the tempo ( bike in this case) , yet might not have the rpm’s too high . The advent of the exercises came along with those at a very high rpm and could benefit from something more. ( You see the bike and pool are ways you can get fitness up without the pounding) I don’t like suggesting that extra is better. I used to comment to Charlie all the time about certain athletes who were extremely capable. Just because you can does not mean you should. There seems to be this grey area for elite athletes vs fitness and or general training and how to apply the principles of methods spoken about on this site. One of the reasons Charlie liked Project Jane was he felt it took the ideas he used through his entire coaching career and applied it in real time for people to see.
I hope I answered your question.
I don’t really get what you are asking? The idea of doing tempo on the bike is to keep the rpm low intensity and with no power. AS soon as you add power you change the nature of the tempo. For some reason EVERYONE needs to increase the power or resistance. Go for it but don’t complain once you get on the track and can’t do speed work. If all you are doing is fitness that fine I guess. I like to keep my work high intensity or low intensity.
What I’ve noticed is that RPMs and their related outputs can vary significantly from one make of bike to another so really that’s the main adjustment I’ve had to make with my athletes-in general I’ve brought down the RPM recommendations for my athletes and the types of stationary bikes we have used. The guidelines offered in the DVD result in very good tempo sessions necessary at times due to weather restrictions or just the need to get in an active recovery session without the impact of running.
I think you misunderstood me. In the video I saw you get off the bike on every rep and do med ball exercises or core exercises, but I won’t be able to do this at the gym (get off the bike after each rep due to a lot of people in the gym wanting to get on bikes and there is limited space.) I understand the tempo principles and know how to use it while doing tempo runs. I was just asking how that would translate to the bike intervals for the walking phase of a tempo repetition like how you walk 50m after doing 100m tempo run so for bike I would bike 30-45 seconds on a higher rmp and then I was asking if it’s fine if I just did slow pedal maybe around 80-90 rpm as my “walk” phase on the bike. I just wanted some suggestions on that for what would be most effective.
What rmp recommendations have you brought it down to?
That’s a nice chart and breakdown of tempo. Ok I see I think I understand now so if I were to do no exercises then it would make sense for me to go higher rpm or at least progress towards that I guess. Endurance is a big part of soccer players so I take tempos very seriously as well, not only speed/strength days.
My point is that you MIGHT have to adjust the RPMs specific to your equipment so not everyone will need to reduce-those numbers are likely spot on for some bikes such as the one in the video. In our case we had to bring them down by, I believe, approx. 15-25 RPM because even without any resistance they could not get the RPMs as high as recommended. These particular bikes would not even permit hitting the highest RPMs.
I see I will gauge how I feel and if I am in that tempo zone or not while doing the work. For the equivalent of 1 repetition of 100m how long did u perscribe your athletes to go at a higher rpm before going in the walking zone with slow pedaling (also what speed was the slow pedaling and how long did it last to make 1 rep?). If I were to do 2000m of tempo and work my way up of that should I just do 20x100m equivalent on the bike with like 30-45 sec higher rmp stimulating the run phase of the tempo and slow pedaling for 30-40 seconds stimulating the walk phase?
Everything else (that I can recall) we did and do with bike tempo are done in accordance with the recommendations from the video.
If you are worried someone will be mad you keep getting on and off the bike for 20 minutes, I’d recommend getting an ab mat and doing the basement tempo version running in place, also found in the basement series videos.
My sprinters have done that for several years and were able to have decent fitness throughout a cold winter with no track or surface suitable for tempo work. If those feisty gym people complain you are stepping on the mat with your shoes, maybe bring a towel to place on top of it.
I honestly think the bike would be more convenient for me than running in place there. if I am just staying on it and doing 45 sec on and 15 sec off (slow pedal) for 10 reps and 2 sets or 20 reps and 1 set. As a soccer player I need to increase my tempo volume so doing after that maybe I would take the 2 minute break and do another set.