3 Boredom-Busting Bike Trainer Workouts

Sweat drips off your forehead. You uncomfortably shift in your bike seat. You re-grip the handlebars for what seems like the thousandth time.

Then you glance at your watch.

Fourteen minutes.

You've been on that darn indoor bike trainer for just 14 freaking minutes, and already you have an intense desire to move onto something far less boring—such as knitting, watching the paint dry, or reading Moby Dick for the ninth time.

It's sad, but true: indoor bike workouts can be painfully boring. But here, you're going to discover three indoor bike trainer workouts that get you excited to train and will make time fly by like it's standing still. And I'll even throw in one fun bonus at the end.

Anyways, you're probably getting bored, so let's get started, shall we?

More: The 4 Common Indoor Bike Trainers

Boredom-Busting Workout 1: "The Big Game"

I'm a sports fan. Particularly, I tend to watch football and basketball, and often find myself doing indoor cardio sessions while I'm watching the big game. Hence, my invention of "The Big Game" workout.

This workout is based on the fact that team sporting events usually include changes of ball possession are quite conducive to cardiovascular exercise. For example, let's say that Team A is competing against Team B.

Anytime Team A has the ball, the puck, or any other kind of offense "possession", you do an intense interval, such as pedaling faster, increasing the resistance.

In contrast, whenever Team B has possession, you get to decrease to an easy, aerobic, recovery pace.

And for those of you who haven't yet discovered TIVO—how about the commercials? Easy. When the commercials appear, you do a tempo effort, which is a moderate pace at a medium intensity. Alternatively, you could do intervals during the commercials, so that every time a commercial break begins, you increase the resistance or cadence for the first commercial, decrease for the second commercial, increase for the third, and so on.

More: Mixed-Intensity Workout for the Indoor Trainer

  • 1
  • of
  • 2
NEXT

About the Author

Ben Greenfield

Ben Greenfield is a triathlon coach and nutrition consultant who helps athletes around the world via online coaching. For coaching, books by Ben, Ben's recommended supplements and more, visit Pacific Elite Fitness. Ben also has a free blog and podcast at BenGreenfieldFitness.com.
Ben Greenfield is a triathlon coach and nutrition consultant who helps athletes around the world via online coaching. For coaching, books by Ben, Ben's recommended supplements and more, visit Pacific Elite Fitness. Ben also has a free blog and podcast at BenGreenfieldFitness.com.

Discuss This Article