Cycling is a low-impact form of cardiovascular exercise. When you do cardio, you move in a repetitive fashion for an extended time frame. This burns calories and promotes weight loss. Interval training is a particular type of cardio that can enhance your weight-loss efforts. Doing interval training on a cycle might not cause impact but still takes hard work.
Significance
When you do interval cycling, you exercise at a high intensity. The more vigorously you exercise, the more calories you'll burn---even if you increase intensity for just a few minutes at a time, according to Mayoclinic.com. As a result of interval training, you also increase your aerobic capacity. This allows you to perform daily activities without becoming so winded.
Features
Interval cycling is performed by alternating your speed back and forth from high to low. Start your workouts with a light five-minute warm-up to slowly raise your core body temperature and to loosen up your body. After you have done that, pedal as fast as you can for 20 seconds, then pedal at a moderate pace for 40 seconds. Repeat this sequence for the rest of your workout. These time frames are only examples. You can pedal as long or short as you want; just make sure your low-intensity bouts are twice as long as your high intensity bursts. When you first start doing interval cycling, it is actually a good idea to start out with shorter time frames until your body adapts.
Time Frame
To maximize weight loss, you need to exercise for a long enough amount of time. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity performed five days a week. Instead of attempting to do this all at once, you have two options. Either do two or three interval sessions throughout the day to accumulate your time, or mix 10-minute interval bouts into your long training sessions. After you get into better cardiovascular shape, you will be able to do the full 60 to 90 minutes.
Effects
Even though interval training burns a high amount of calories while you do it, you also reap the effects of the after burn. This is known in the fitness industry as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. Simply put, after you get done with your workout, your body burns excess calories for several hours trying to get back to pre-exercise oxygen levels.
Potential
When you pedal an exercise cycle, you work multiple major muscles in the lower body, such as the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and tibialis anterior. Any time you build muscle, you raise your resting metabolic rate, which promotes faster weight loss. To work your leg muscles harder, increase the resistance on the bike and stand up while pedaling during your high-intensity bouts. If you use a spin bike, you can do this by turning a knob, and if you have an electric bike, you can simply press the appropriate button.
Considerations
Exercise cycles come in upright and recumbent styles. A recumbent bike has a bucket seat with a backrest, and the pedals are out in front of your body. Users with mechanical low back pain sometimes find the back support and reclining position of the recumbent bike more comfortable, according to the Spine-Health website. Choose this type of bike if you fall into this category.
Diet is another consideration. If you want to reduce your weight even faster, reduce your calories. If you cut back by 500 to 1,000 calories a day, you can lose one to two pounds a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eat foods that will give you energy during your interval workouts. These foods include fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, beans, whole grains and low-fat dairy products.
Warning
Interval training is grueling exercise. If you have not worked out in a long time or have never worked out at all, make sure to get your doctor's approval first. It is also a good idea to not do interval cycling on consecutive days because it is so intense. On the in-between days, perform cardio at a low intensity or do weight training.
