Keep your indoor cycling motivation high: 8 top tips you need to know
Sometimes, it’s tough to keep your indoor cycling motivation high.
But when you’re driven indoors, or when there’s less daylight, when the roads are icy, or you’re strapped for time, it’s a great alternative.
It’s just you, your mind, and your bike.
Use the bite-size technique
It’s easier to wrap your mind around a few minutes than one long hour.
So it may help to break your ride into small, mentally manageable 10-minute chunks.
For example, if you’re doing an interval workout that includes a cycling warmup, an interval set and cool down, push that entire workout aside and focus on just one segment. First, the warmup. Then, an interval. And finally, the cooldown.
Or, you could split your pedal time in other ways—from the length of a tv show to an upbeat song.
Whatever method you choose, opt for an amount of time that seems manageable to you.
Use breaks to your advantage
When you’re cycling outdoors, you’ll have coasting time, but there’s no such thing indoors.
That doesn’t mean you have to pedal non-stop inside.
Step off the bike to rest your mind and legs for a few minutes, and consume food, refill water bottles, or stretch.
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Reward yourself
We have different ways of rewarding ourselves.
Maybe it’s watching tv during a ride (maybe these cycling documentaries or tri documentaries), listening to a podcast (like these cycling training podcasts or these triathlon podcasts), or buying new gear, rewards can be a great incentive to keep riding.
Use beats to your advantage
Studies have shown that music with a faster beat keeps your energy high.
Cyclists using music used 7 percent less oxygen than those who cycled without it. Translation: a cycling session that lasts longer than intended.
For example, if you aim to stay within 90-100 rpms, you’ll want to find a song with 180 beats per minute (bpm).
Need help finding the right songs? Cycle by jog.fm lists music for specific cadences.
Or, search for the right music by beats per minute, by cycling cadence, or genre.
Shift your focus
Sometimes cycling is another thing on our to-do list. A chore or task that’s got to be completed.
And it’s easy to forget that cycling is something we get to do, rather than something we have to do.
Anytime riding your bike begins to feel like a chore, try this one-word switch to help shift your focus.
Create an reliable indoor cycling space
Do you have a dedicated space to ride inside?
It doesn’t have to be a big space, but one with enough room for a trainer, a mat, and your bike.
This space can make it convenient and easy to ride, if only for a few minutes.
Make it social
The popular cycling app, Zwift, makes cycling indoors fun again.
Use the app to virtually ride around the world and compete with fellow cyclists. You must connect to the app with a trainer/sensors to ride in Zwift.
And remember, if you don’t feel motivated, that’s okay too. Stress, lack of sleep, sickness can affect your desire to ride.
Your motivation will rise whether you choose to ride or rest.
Let’s Get Physical: The Psychology of Effective Workout Music, Scientific American