The frustration that comes with not being able to lose weight while cycling indoor is very stressful. Anyone who has spent time and energy making sure they religiously cycle, are completely disappointed if they don’t get the results they want. It is important in such cases to re-assess your diet, techniques, lifestyle and other factors that could have been responsible for the failure.
Indoor cycling can be enjoyable and give you so many all-round physical benefits. However, this is subjective to when it is done right. It can be easy to make mistakes while you are cycling at home as opposed to when you go for indoor classes at a studio. These pointers will help you correct these mistakes so you can cycle the right way, in the comfort of your own home.
Here are 10 common mistakes that users make, which disrupts the results achievable through cycling indoor. Some of these mistakes are so silly, that you would never imagine the detremental effects they tend to have on your cycling efforts.
1. Timely Attendance
When you take up cycling at a studio or you are following a program at home, make sure that you have sufficient time to set up the indoor cycling bike. Giving your-self at least 5 minutes before beginning a indoor cycling session to set-up is essential. Many people who get on the bike and start indoor cycling straight away, do not realize that their bike is not adjusted properly which can leave them, fumbling through most of the session. A common mistake but is simple as fixing in 5 minutes.
2. Weight Distribution
Most people put all their body weight on the handlebars of the indoor cycling bike. It is vital to understand, that handlebars are only for support and not to bear your body weight. To give your body a complete workout, the weight of your body should rest on your lower half and not on the handlebars.
3. Seat Height
The height of the seat is important. If you set the seat too low, you won’t be able to give your legs the right amount of workout by extending. A high seat can cause bruised groins and can be uncomfortable to ride as well. Your hand has to be in line with the seat, if you are looking for the right adjustment position.
4. Seat and Handle Bar Levels
The seat and the handlebars should be at an even level. If you do not pay attention to this, you might land up with a handlebar that is too comfortable or not effective. If your handle bar is set to the height of when you ride a bike for fun, you are missing out on giving your body the right amount of workout. If the handlebar is way too low, then you are straining your back and hurting your posture. Maintaining the right height for the seat and handle bar, makes sure that you stabilize your core muscles and give your body an intense workout.
5. Distance From The Emergency Break
The emergency break should be at a distance when you are not seated. If you find that your knees are brushing up against the emergency break while you are standing and pedaling, then you are doing something wrong. The same thing goes for when you are seated. The emergency break needs to be at a comfortable distance away from your knees for an optimal workout on your quads and core.
6. Doing The ‘Tap Back’ Right
This is an effective way to get those glutes firm. This technique ensures that your butt muscles are given a good workout while cycling. It is achieved by flying forward by very slightly bending your elbows. If you bend your elbows too much, you will feel the strain on your shoulders, instead of on your glutes. This makes the ‘tap back’ ineffective.
See more at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFyDC_n7Kg4
7. Don’t Sway
There are so many things that can distract you while you are cycling indoor. Some people are so absorbed by the music that they begin to sway from side to side. While they think that it’s okay to put some fun into your cycle, its important to know that, for the right workout, you are going to need the right techniques as well. When you sway, you tend to put your balance in the wrong places like the handlebar; this makes the development of muscles in the right place a challenge. The right way to cycle indoor is to keep your body in position without swaying and working out.
8. Pull and Push Pedals
Pulling and pushing of the pedals is the right way to cycle. You can tire out your quads when you only focus on pushing. Pushing also does not workout the other muscles than the quads. You will get a lot more out of your cycling session when you practice on both pulling as well as pushing.
9. Watch Your Resistance Level
Some users think they are ready to push their resistance levels to heights. They are unable to sustain a longer and effective workout session when they do this. Pushing the resistance levels higher than you are used to gradually, puts you at a risk of injury as well as tires you down completely before you have completed your workout. You also tend to sway trying to keep up the tempo, this again puts a challenge on your balance. There’s nothing worse than injuring your back, knees or quad and putting a stop to your indoor cycling sessions. If you are pushing your body way too much, go easy on the resistance.
10. Shying From Resistance
Once you get comfortable with a level of resistance, it is vital to slowly increase it. If you do not increase your resistance levels along with your muscle development, you not only don’t develop new muscles, you also risk injuring yourself. You might not be able to control your indoor cycling because of the easy resistance level and this can be risky.
See more: Choosing the right music playlist for a spin workout
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