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Exercise library / Stationary Bike

Stationary Bike

Suggestions, not prescriptions. Exercises here pass automated checks. They have not been clinically reviewed, and no exercise is right for everyone. Adjust to your comfort and ability.

A seated cardio machine movement that drives a flywheel through a continuous pedalling cycle, training the legs with no impact through the joints.

Main focus
Cardio and endurance
Level
Starting
Equipment
Gym machines
Load
A guided machine path
Stability
Guided by a machine
Before you start
  • Warm up first with a minute or two of easy walking or marching in place, and cool down the same way after.
  • Wear flat, closed shoes with a good grip, or go barefoot on a non-slip floor if that feels steady to you.
  • Clear the floor around you. Keep a sturdy chair, counter or wall within reach for any move you do standing.
  • Build up slowly. Add repetitions or minutes over weeks, not days. If you take a break, work back up gradually.

Talk with a doctor or physical therapist before you start if you have not been active for some time, if you have a health condition or a worry about exercise, if you have fallen or fear falling, or if a clinician has told you to limit activity. This library is general information, not medical advice.

What you need

A gym machine, with a trained person to show you the set-up the first time.

How to do it

  1. Set the saddle height so your knee stays slightly bent at the bottom of the pedal stroke, then sit down and place the balls of your feet on the pedals.
  2. Take the handlebars with a relaxed grip and sit tall, with your back neutral and your shoulders down.
  3. Push one pedal down and forward while the other rises, keeping the effort in your legs rather than pulling on the bars.
  4. Keep pedalling in a smooth, even circle at a steady cadence, breathing in rhythm with the stroke.
  5. Adjust the resistance to hold your target effort, and continue for the desired time or distance.

How much

To start: Begin with 5 to 10 minutes at an easy to moderate effort. Add a few minutes each week as it feels easy.

As it gets easier: Work toward 20 to 30 minutes at a moderate effort, building over weeks. Add intervals only after steady work feels easy.

How it should feel: Moderate effort means you are breathing harder but can still talk, and could not sing.

Make it easier

Use the other ways to do this movement below.

Make it harder

Use the other ways to do this movement below.

Tips

  • Set the saddle before you start: too low grinds the knees, too high rocks your hips side to side at the bottom of every stroke.
  • Drive with the legs and keep the upper body quiet — gripping and hauling on the bars adds nothing but neck and shoulder tension.
  • Raise the resistance rather than spinning the pedals loose and fast; a light flywheel at high cadence feels hard on the lungs but does little for the legs.

Safety

  • Warm up first, and keep your breathing steady. Breathe out on the effort and in as you ease off. Do not hold your breath.
  • Move with control. Do not lock your joints straight at the end of a movement.
  • Choose a version, load and number of repetitions you can finish with good form. The last few should feel hard but not shaky.
  • Adjust the seat, pads and range so the machine fits your body before you add weight.
More safety notes
  • Start with a light weight and learn the movement.
  • Use the full, controlled range that feels comfortable. Do not let the weight stack drop or bounce.

When to stop

  • Stop and rest if you feel dizzy or lightheaded, sick to your stomach, or unusually short of breath.
  • Stop if you feel sharp, sudden or joint pain. Muscles working hard is expected. Pain is a signal to stop.
  • Stop and sit down if you feel unsteady and cannot settle yourself right away.
  • Call your local emergency number for chest pain or pressure, fainting, or sudden weakness, numbness or trouble speaking.
  • After any of these, do not repeat the exercise until you have talked with a doctor or physical therapist.
  • A pad or handle does not fit and cannot be adjusted.
  • You cannot control the weight through the whole movement.

Other ways to do this movement

Sign in and we will show other ways to do this, with other equipment or at a different level, chosen from your own answers. Sign in

Where this comes from

Steps and tips are from an open exercise dataset named below. Starting amounts, equipment and safety notes are Fitafter50's general guidance. Nothing here is clinically reviewed.

Steps and tips: Exercise data by RepDB (repdb.co). License: RepDB Free Tier License v1.0: personal or commercial use inside applications, visible attribution, no redistribution as a dataset or API. All credits.

    This is general information, not medical advice. It does not diagnose anything or tell you whether an exercise is right for you. Adjust to your comfort and ability.