Cycling is one of the best aerobic activities for those wanting to improve general fitness, reduce body fat, and lower the risk of heart disease and other causes of premature death. There is no jarring of muscles, tendons, or joints so the possibility of an exercise-stopping injury is reduced while effort can be easily maintained in the target heart rate range.
Fitness workouts in this section emphasize "aerobic" exercise - lower intensity activities that do not cause the accumulation of lactic acid and use fat primarily for fuel.
Improving basic aerobic fitness involves carefully increasing your weekly time in the target heart rate range. Workouts are divided into two types - easy using only the 1 intensity zone (see Workout Heart Rates for determining heart rate ranges), and brisk taking you into the 2 to 4 zones. Notice that the 5 zone is avoided in all workouts in this section. Easy workouts are done either on a flat to gently rolling course, or in the Stand Alone or SpinScan modes with a lower resistance setting. Brisk rides are on hilly courses or with higher settings in the Stand Alone or SpinScan modes.
Maintaining a cadence of at least 80rpm is important. Grinding away at a low cadence places undue stress on your knees. Until you become comfortable with higher spin rates, you should frequently monitor your cadence.
Following are three 12-week schedules: "Novice" for those who are just starting a fitness program, "Intermediate" for the more experienced, and "Advanced" for long-time exercisers. You may start at any point on any of these sc hedules based on your current level of fitness. If you're beyond the Advanced schedule, you may consider the Century program at the beginning of this section or a racing schedule.
All entries on these schedules are in hours and minutes.
| Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off | Easy | Brisk | Off | Easy | Easy/Off | Easy | ||
| 1 | Off | :30 | :30 | Off | :45 | Off | :45 | 2:30 |
| 2 | Off | :45 | :30 | Off | :45 | Off | :45 | 2:45 |
| 3 | Off | :45 | :30 | Off | :45 | Off | 1:00 | 3:00 |
| 4 | Off | :30 | :30 | Off | :30 | Off | :45 | 2:15 |
| 5 | Off | :45 | :30 | Off | :45 | Off | 1:00 | 3:00 |
| 6 | Off | :45 | :45 | Off | :45 | Off | 1:15 | 3:30 |
| 7 | Off | :45 | :45 | Off | :45 | Off | 1:15 | 3:30 |
| 8 | Off | :30 | :30 | Off | :45 | Off | :45 | 2:30 |
| 9 | Off | :45 | :30 | Off | :45 | :30 | 1:00 | 3:30 |
| 10 | Off | :45 | :30 | Off | :45 | :30 | 1:15 | 3:45 |
| 11 | Off | :45 | :30 | Off | :45 | :30 | 1:30 | 4:00 |
| 12 | Off | :45 | :30 | Off | :45 | Off | :45 | 2:45 |
| Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off | Easy | Brisk | Off | Easy | Brisk | Easy | ||
| 1 | Off | :45 | :45 | Off | :45 | :45 | 1:00 | 4:00 |
| 2 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | Off | :45 | :45 | 1:15 | 4:30 |
| 3 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | 1:30 | 5:00 |
| 4 | Off | :45 | :45 | Off | :45 | :45 | 1:00 | 4:00 |
| 5 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | Off | :45 | :45 | 1:15 | 4:30 |
| 6 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | 1:30 | 5:00 |
| 7 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | 1:30 | 5:30 |
| 8 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | Off | :45 | :45 | 1:15 | 4:30 |
| 9 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | 1:30 | 5:00 |
| 10 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | 1:30 | 5:30 |
| 11 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 6:00 |
| 12 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | Off | 1:00 | :45 | 1:30 | 5:00 |
| Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off | Easy | Brisk | Easy/Off | Easy | Brisk | Easy | ||
| 1 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | 1:30 | 5:30 |
| 2 | Off | 1:15 | 1:00 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 6:15 |
| 3 | Off | 1:15 | 1:00 | :45 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 7:00 |
| 4 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | 1:30 | 5:30 |
| 5 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 6:00 |
| 6 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | :45 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 6:45 |
| 7 | Off | 1:15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 1:15 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 7:30 |
| 8 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | Off | 1:00 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 6:00 |
| 9 | Off | 1:15 | 1:00 | Off | 1:15 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 6:00 |
| 10 | Off | 1:15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 7:15 |
| 11 | Off | 1:30 | 1:00 | 1:15 | 1:15 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 8:00 |
| 12 | Off | 1:15 | 1:00 | Off | 1:15 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 6:30 |
Tests: Calibration
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