But there are some definite pitfalls to indoor cycling when youre a beginner.
Heres how to bypass the beginner mistakes and get comfortable in the saddle.
Cycling shoes have cleats on the bottom that click in to special pedals on the bike.
Your bike may have come this way, or maybe you got a basic bike that has flat pedals.
Do yourself a favor and find out what kind of pedals you have, or choose some pedals.
(SPD are common on many bikes; Peloton uses LOOK Delta, so thats another option.)
Then buy cycling shoes, and install cleats on them that match your pedals.
We havea guide to navigating the shoe and cleat market here.
Its not that complicated, I promise.
Butcardio does not count as leg day.
You still need to strength train your lower body if you want to be an all-around strong person.
What about upper body?
Same deal: Youre not going to be able to do it on the bike.
This is better than nothing, but its no substitute for proper weight training.
Youre making your musclestiredmore than youre making themstronger.
If you find that fun and motivating, cool.
But there are two things your brain can do that turn the leaderboard against you.
The first is that you might end up viewing the leaderboard as the only metric that matters.
The problem with that is thattraining days are not to be confused with race days.
Sure, throw in a race or a good ol time trial every now and then.
Theyre fun, and the challenge will be good for you.
But the training that actually makes you better is unglamorous.
Anybodybelowyou on the leaderboard, you clearly beat them fair and square.
But anybodyaboveyou is probably cheating, right?
Body size has a lot to do with cycling output.
None of that matters for your own workout, though.
