Am I getting enough exercise?

[Emma22]

 Hi, people! I hope you've enjoyed a reenergizing weekend - I know I have. Some of you may recognize me from my fitness post a few weeks ago, asking how I could get moving in the comfort of my home. I came to the conclusion that buying an indoor exercise bike would be beneficial. As I am no cyclist by any stretch of the imagination, I am starting off slowly, and playing around with the tension controls and speeds. Right now, I've been doing intervals of 6, 7, and 8, and when I get truly exhausted, 1. I'll generally bike ten miles, all while changing the tension, giving me a balanced workout. Is this the most effective way to be working out? Should I opt for a 6. and stay there for my entire ride? Cyclists, please give me some tips! Thanks so much, Emma

[russsss]

Hi Emma  !!!

Your question very much remind's me of one I asked several years ago in cardiac rehab (post heart attack) about using the treadmill ... incline or speed, which is the better way to go and I recall the answer was do what the nurses tell you to do lol  ... now years later when I do spend time on a treadmill I mix up speeds and inclines in different patterns every couple minutes ... the reasoning for that is that it keeps it interesting and I enjoy it.   However ... outside solo walking is my absolute favorite .  So I suppose the reality is if you like pushing those buttons and mixing it up then push away and have fun .  

Fit bit has to be fun or it's just a cheap watch that needs to be charged every few days . 

[SunsetRunner]

I've been doing lots of spinning about a year ago and what I found that worked for me was variety. Your body adapts to existing conditions. If you keep doing the same thing with same pace etc. your body will become more efficient in just doing that. It means that the exercise will be less efficient. Adding more variety to the exercise gives an element of surprise to your body. When usual "terms and conditions" don't apply, your body has to improvise and work harder. This is actually why HIIT workouts are so efficient. What I did was finding music that gives me a pace and adjusting resistance depending on how the song changed. The playlist was random so I couldn't know what's going to be my next pace ( could be slow but with high resistance, could be crazy fast etc. ). I've been doing that for 3-4 months before I felt more comfortable with running. The key is a variety of settings.

Also, why don't you sign up for spinning classes just to see how it is done by professional coach? This is how I learned to change my position between standing, sitting, leaning forward etc. Before I tried classes I was always sitting. That's another thing worth adding to the spinning workout.

[Emma22 · Accepted solution]

Hi, thanks for responding! I have tried spin classes and highly enjoyed them. I am trying to save money by canceling my gym membership and purchasing my own bike (quite similar to the spin bike at the gym). I was asking a question about the effectiveness of HIIT vs. low impact exercises. Thanks for your responses .:)

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@SunsetRunnerwrote:

I've been doing lots of spinning about a year ago and what I found that worked for me was variety. Your body adapts to existing conditions. If you keep doing the same thing with same pace etc. your body will become more efficient in just doing that. It means that the exercise will be less efficient. Adding more variety to the exercise gives an element of surprise to your body. When usual "terms and conditions" don't apply, your body has to improvise and work harder. This is actually why HIIT workouts are so efficient. What I did was finding music that gives me a pace and adjusting resistance depending on how the song changed. The playlist was random so I couldn't know what's going to be my next pace ( could be slow but with high resistance, could be crazy fast etc. ). I've been doing that for 3-4 months before I felt more comfortable with running. The key is a variety of settings.

Also, why don't you sign up for spinning classes just to see how it is done by professional coach? This is how I learned to change my position between standing, sitting, leaning forward etc. Before I tried classes I was always sitting. That's another thing worth adding to the spinning workout.

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[SunsetRunner]

@Emma22 so to clarify, with HIIT you give your body the element of surprise. Low-impact exercise with steady pace for sure will bring some results but your body learns and adjusts and the longer you go, the less efficient such exercise becomes. HIIT, on the other hand, gives you variety which keeps your body on the constant alert state 🙂 It doesn't mean however that you should not be doing low-impact exercise. I do it from time to time when having nothing else to do, there's something not very engaging on the TV etc. so I can spin for 45-60 minutes. It is mostly compensation for not walking/cycling enough for me, as I have such days and day when I don't go to the gym. I treat such exercise mostly as "anything-is-better-than-nothing" type of exercise 🙂

About classes I did go 3 times but wasn't impressed however what I learned I implemented in my own spinning and I find it lot more efficient if I'm in control 🙂 Still, if I do spinning I prefer the bike in the spinning studio in my local gym. I have a stationary bike at home but I use it mostly for a reason I stated above. For an actual HIIT exercise, I do it in the gym especially that it's one of the exercises my wife joins me in 🙂

If you find that your spinning becomes less demanding or even boring it means that you need to add something new, change something like pace, resistance, positions etc. Anyway I'm sure you got the idea by now 🙂