As we learned in our last “HIIT At Home” article, knowing and applying are two completely different things.
The knowledge that you gained in the first article was applied in the second article as you learned how to format different HIIT workouts with your treadmill at home.
I would hope that over time, you begin to build a plethora of quality equipment for your at-home gym (or as I’d like to call it, your sanctuary). You may start with one piece of equipment, but as your knowledge and interest grows, you’ll add more items to your gym in order to continue improving your health and fitness.
This week, we’ll be going over a couple of formats that you can implement on a different piece of equipment - the bike.
Do you want to learn more about HIIT Training? Download our FREE HIIT Training Workout Guide.
As we discussed the week before, there are tons of different ways you can use your treadmill for HIIT. Although on a bike, your feet are strapped into the pedals and your hands are on the handlebars most of the time, there are still plenty of ways you can incorporate your bike in a HIIT workout. Today, we’ll briefly go over a couple of my favorites. 
Have an Outdoor Mindset
My favorite way to perform HIIT with your bike at home is by taking your mind to the outdoor terrain. If you were outside riding your bike, what would make a period of your bike ride far more difficult than the rest? An incline, that’s what. When you’re doing your 15-30 minute HIIT session, the more challenging parts of your ride will be treated like an incline or a hill. In order to create the same effect indoors that a hill would outdoors, you’ll need to ramp up your resistance. As you approach your “hill” or all-out interval, increase the resistance on your bike, making it harder for you to pedal. Make it hard enough to where you can’t help but stand up to pedal, as you would going up a hill outdoors. Alternate between this all-out climb for one minute, with a two to three minute recovery at a lower resistance.
Alternate On and Off
Another great way to perform HIIT using your bike is to alternate between the bike and other lower body movements. You may want to consider using the side of your pedal with a strap for this one. With this format, your bike can be used during the highly intense bursts, or the moderate bursts. Switch it up and find out what you enjoy! Here are a couple of different formats for each method. If you’re using your bike for the all-out bursts, a great exercise to use for recovery would be bodyweight squats. Not only will you recover while working your quads and glutes, but it’s also a good opportunity to practice your squat form. If you’d like to use the bike for your recovery, you can do more intense exercises for your all-out bursts like burpees or squat jumps. The beauty of this format is that it gives you an opportunity to practice your technique and body awareness as your perform your HIIT.
Whether you’re using the bike the whole time or not, there are plenty of ways you can use your bike for your HIIT sessions. Use your bike to increase your cardiovascular fitness during hills, as well as recover after a strenuous bout of burpees. Either way, your HIIT session will be more effective and enjoyable.
Do you want to learn more about HIIT Training? Look for next weeks blog post or download our FREE HIIT Training Workout Guide.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.