5 Stationary Bike Workouts to Try

Switch up your next gym sesh with this fun piece of equipment!

A stationary bike is your ticket to a great workout. Good for your heart and several other muscle groups, you can hop on the seat of a stationary bike and let your imagination run wild. You’ll feel like a pro cyclist in no time.

Let’s explore the benefits of a stationary bike and how to add it to your gym routine.

What Is a Stationary Bike?

A staple at the gym, a stationary bike is a two-handled, one-wheeled pedaling machine on the road to nowhere.

Stationary bikes come with various resistance levels and pre-programmed workouts, which makes them perfect for every fitness level. You can adjust the intensity of your workout by changing resistance and pedaling speed, and even standing up as you cycle. Go at your own pace without the risk of being left behind.

Types of Stationary Bikes at the Gym

There’s more than one way to get your feet moving and heart pumping with a bike workout. Let’s review a few stationary bikes you’ll encounter at the gym.

Spin Bike

Spin bikes are the type of stationary bike you’ll see in spin class. They’re designed to help you move between seated and standing positions, similar to how you’d bike on the road. They typically have reinforced pedals so your feet stay in place no matter how fast you pedal. It’s the perfect duo of a standing cycle machine and a sitting cycle machine and it gives you the most flexibility in your workouts.

Recumbent Bike

Recumbent bikes are like the Cadillac of stationary bikes. They have a wider seat and back support, making them ideal for anyone with joint issues or back pain. The pedals are farther out in front of you, so you can pedal while slightly reclining. These bikes put less pressure on the joints and spine, giving you a low-impact workout.

Air Bike

Air bikes add the upper body element to your stationary bike workouts. The handlebars move in an alternating pattern so you can pump up your arms while toning your legs. The front wheel is usually a fan and tailors its resistance according to how hard you push.

Upright Bike

Upright bikes look similar to spin bikes, but they have wider seats and aren’t made for as many up-and-down movements. However, they do tend to have digital consoles so you can see your workout data. You can use this console to change the resistance, time your workouts, and see your calorie burn.

How Many Calories Can I Burn with a Stationary Bike Workout?

Would you expect to burn the same calories doing a low-impact workout for 30 minutes as a high-impact spin class in the same amount of time? Of course not!

Like other workouts, calorie burn on a stationary bike can vary by person. It depends on factors like body weight, age, intensity, duration, and resistance.

On average, you can expect to burn anywhere from 200 to 880 calories per workout. That’s a wide range, so we broke down how many calories you burn with a stationary bike workout in a separate article.

What Muscles Do Stationary Bikes Target?

Stationary bikes typically work your lower body muscles, including:

• Glutes
• Calves
• Thighs
• Quads
• Hamstrings
• Lower back

But truth be told, no muscle goes unnoticed with a stationary bike. Your abs will also get some love to keep you upright and on the seat.

Your arms will feel the burn too if you’re using a standing cycle machine or challenging yourself with the alternating handles of an air bike.

5 Types of Stationary Bike Workouts to Try

Grab a bike, take a seat, and put the pedal to the metal? That could work, but biking in place might get boring after a while. Instead, you can switch up your moves without changing your equipment. Make these stationary bike workouts part of your bigger beginner gym workout plan.

1. Take a HIIT

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts can include a bike as part of the fun. Here’s a plan you can use:

• Start with a five-minute warm-up at a low resistance.
• Pedal at a high intensity for 30 seconds—no breaks!
• Pedal lightly for the next 30 seconds.
• Now, increase the resistance and go top speed for 30 seconds.
• Go back to light pedaling for 30 seconds.
• Repeat this pattern four more times (light resistance, then medium resistance, with light pedaling in between).
• Cool down for five minutes at a low resistance.

You’ll need to figure out how to change the resistance on your stationary bike, but other than that, this workout is pretty easy to manage.

2. Bike Sprints

Sprints in running require you to run at full speed for a certain amount of time without stopping. We can apply this same idea to cycling.

• Start with a five-minute warm-up of light cycling at a low resistance.
• Increase the resistance so it feels slightly challenging but not impossible.
• “Sprint” on your bike for 30 seconds, then cycle at a comfortable pace for 90 seconds.
• Repeat this a few times, whatever feels good to you.
• Finish with a five-minute cool-down at a comfortable pace.

This workout is a little less intense than a HIIT workout but still gives you good heart-pumping action!

3. Endurance Cycling

If you’re new to stationary bikes and curious to see what it’s all about, consider an endurance workout. This type of workout tests you to see how long you can cycle, no fancy tricks required.

• Start with a five-minute warm-up at a light pace.
• Set the resistance to whatever feels comfortable — the goal is to cycle for as long as you can, so you don’t have to challenge yourself too much here.
• Start pedaling at a normal pace and see how long you can maintain it (bonus points if you set a time goal!).
• Reduce your speed and intensity for a five-minute cool-down.

4. Seated to Standing Workout

Adding the standing element to your bike workout can challenge your muscles in new ways. Try this easy workout to feel comfortable in balancing on the pedals.

• Warm up with gentle cycling for five minutes.
• In one-minute intervals, go from seated cycling to standing cycling (don’t worry too much about resistance at this stage, just do what’s comfortable).
• Aim for 10 minutes total, giving you five seated rounds and five standing rounds.
• Finish with a five-minute cool-down.

As you gain confidence in standing while cycling, you can add more intervals or make each interval longer, increase the resistance, or raise the intensity.

5. Use a Pre-Programmed Setting

Most stationary bikes at the gym will have pre-programmed workouts you can choose from. We suggest experimenting with these as you get more comfortable using an exercise bike. These workouts are usually based on resistance, distance, and time.

Start with a short workout to get a feel for how the bike changes resistance over its duration. The more you use these features, the better you can decide what you like in your workouts!