Indoor cycling is ideal for runners who can’t get their normal workout in either because of injury, because they simply want to try something new or perhaps because they’re traveling away from home. If you’re on the road, for example, almost every hotel gym has some form of exercise bike and any bike will do.
Cycling is a perfect example of high-intensity replacement cross-training, which is just as it sounds — a replacement workout for running. “If you’re approaching cross-training because you have an injury, the goal is to maintain or improve your aerobic fitness because running is not an option. Don’t be disheartened, there are plenty of ways to stay fit that don’t involve running,” says McCrann.
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Sample Cycling Workout: 35 mins.
Warm-up: 10 mins. of cycling, including two 30-sec. intervals at high intensity and effort
Main Set: 10 sets of 1 min. of hard cycling followed by 1 min. of easy/recovery cycling, for a total of 10 mins. of hard cycling and 10 mins. of recovery. Do the hard efforts at the max resistance and speed you can maintain. Spin with minimal resistance to recover.
Cool Down: 5 mins. of easy cycling