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!
