Exercise bicycle training
By Kenny Pearson
Exercise bikes can be very useful in a training
programme. They can be used to maintain
fitness without putting the same strain on the
lower legs that running on a track does. They
have been used by many top athletes
including Jessica Ennis and Jenny Meadows to
keep them fit during rehabilitation from injury
allowing the athletes to return to full fitness
much quicker after injury.
Benefits of using an exercise bike
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It reduces the strain on the lower legs which can allow athletes to maintain fitness when
they are recovering from leg injuries which prevent them from running e.g.
o Shin splints
o Ankle injuries
o Foot injuries
o Knee problems (e.g. Osgood Schlatters syndrome)
It can be used to reduce the volume of work on the lower legs for athletes who are:
o vulnerable to lower leg problems to help prevent the above injuries occurring in the
first place.
o Who have not developed enough work capacity or lower leg strength to handle the
volumes of running required for their event.
It can be used to develop fitness in athletes unsuited to track running e.g.
o Aerobic work or recovery sessions for sprinters. Sprinters legs are conditioned to do
high intensity, low volume work on the track. They are not conditioned for high
volume track work. It may be better for them to do the high volume aerobic work
on an exercise bike to reduce injury risk.
o Throws specialists. The Loughborough elite throws squad do all their bioenergetics
work on exercise bikes. These are big guys who would just hurt themselves running
around a track.
Training priciples
Firstly to understand what training we do on the bike you need to understand what we do on the
track. Track sessions involve running with the following varied to get the correct training effect:
 Distance run (or time run for)
 Speed run at (or intensity)
 Number of repititions
 Amount of rest between repetitions
All of the above will vary depending on whether you are working on speed, endurance or a specific
energy system (I won’t go into these here).
The general idea is you are training your body to perform better at your event. As an athlete you
compete on a track so it makes sense to do this training on the track to prepare you for competition.
However for the reasons given earlier sometimes it is better to do all or some of the training you
would normally do running, on the bike.
Suppose instead of thinking of running at a particular speed for a particular distance, think of
pushing your body at a specific power output for a particular length of time. E.g. a sprinter running a
100m rep at 90% in say 14s is operating at 90% power for 14s. Or for endurance athletes running a
400m rep at 70% of maximum speed in say 80s is like operating at 70% for 80s.
If work at the same power level for the same amount of time on an exercise bike you will be working
exactly the same energy system and giving a similar training effect as doing this on the track. Using
this method all the energy systems can be trained on the bike. In other words you can keep yourself
fit even when you are recovering from injury meaning you can quickly return to competition once
you have recovered enough to run again.
Possible Sessions
Points to note:
 The possible sessions are different depending on whether you are training for endurance or
training for a power based discipline. Power based disciplines cover all events outside
endurance i.e. sprints, hurdles, throws, jumps, combined events.
 Start off with a lower number of reps particularly if you have never done this type of training
before. Don’t work too hard the first time you do this. You will be using some new muscles
so they may get stiff the first time if you overdo it.
 The training effect is not exactly the same as running as the lower legs are not being worked
in the same way. This is a benefit in many ways for the reasons given previously however to
mitigate this athletes will need to do supplementary foot and ankle work to maintain the
lower leg strength. And before returning to competition they will need to get some foot
contact work done through proper track sessions to recondition the lower legs for
competition.
Speeds:
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Adjust the resistance setting on the bike to be higher for the fast periods and lower for the
easy periods. There is a limit to how fast or slow you can peddle the bike. At too low a
resistance you won’t be able to peddle fast enough to achieve the power output of sprinting.
At too high a setting you won’t be able to ease off in easy periods without the bike stopping.
When you start doing these sessions you will need to work out what settings work for you at
what speeds. It varies from bike to bike and from athlete to athlete.
Fast means close to flat out. You should be working as hard as you would sprinting at 90% +.
Use a high setting on the bikes resistance. And before any fast repetition accelerate to a
medium pace for about 5 seconds to ease yourself into a fast speed.
Medium is equivalent to fast stride pace, working at 70-80%. Use a higher setting on the
resistance than for easy but not as high as for fast.
Easy is like an easy recovery jog between repetitions. Use a lower resistance setting that
you can maintain speed at whilst staying relaxed.
And you can do any speed in between the above.
Timings
 In general the timings given for the sessions are based on you having a clock going in front of
you, either on the bike, your phone or a stopwatch, that you don’t need to adjust. So the
timings give the time between the start of each fast repetition and the start of the next fast
repetition which will be an easily remembered exact number of minutes, usually 2 minutes.
So if it says 30s fast every 2 minutes you go fast for 30s when the clock reaches 0,2,4,6
minutes etc. to make it simple.
 Between each faster repetition you stay on the bike and go at an easy pace. Adjust the
resistance down.
 Where there is more than one set, between each set you get off the bike and relax.
 Where there is a fast repetition accelerate to a medium pace for 5 seconds before.
 Be careful getting off the bike after a hard session. It is easy to fall off! Chris Hoy was
famous for this.
Warm up:
Don’t forget to warm up. If you are doing this as part of another session, i.e. you have warmed up
already you can skip some or all of this.
Could do
 4 minutes or so steady at an easy pace (equivalent to a 2 lap jog).
 4x10-20s medium pace starting every minute gradually getting faster until you are going at
the effort you will be training at. Go easy in between each repetition.
Or whatever gets you ready to train.
Aerobic (extensive) session 1
Equivalent to a extensive running session say diagonals, 2x4x200m reps etc. A longer session for
sprinters to maintain fitness or shorter session for endurance athletes.
8-12x30s medium, 2 minutes between the start of each repetition.
Start with a low number of reps (8 or so) the first time you do the session. You can increase this the
next time.
Jessica Ennis did loads of these when she was injured.
Anaerobic (Intensive) session 1
Equivalent to a faster intensive running session for sprinters e.g. 3x3x100-150m
3-5x4x15s fast (90% of max power) 2 minutes between start of each rep, 5 minutes between sets.
Before each fast rep increase the resistance and do 5s medium before to gradually accelerate to fast.
Adjust resistance down for the easy bits. i.e. you will do 5s medium, 15s fast then 1:40 easy then go
again when your clock reaches 2 minutes.
Take 5 minutes between sets off the bike.
The 3-5 means 3 reps if you’ve never done this before but can increase to 5 once you get used to it.
Anaerobic session 2
Equivalent to a clock session say 100-150m and down.
Similar to the above session but instead do
3x10s, 15s, 20s, 15s, 10s fast. 2 minutes between start of each rep, 5 minutes between sets.
All the points for the previous one apply i.e. go to medium speed for 5s before each fast rep, go easy
in between and let clock tick to 2 minutes before going again. Again start at 3 sets and can do more
the next time.
Steady cycle for endurance athletes
Simply work for the same amount of time on the bike as you would going a steady run. E.g. if you
would normally go a 20 minute run do 20 minutes on the bike. If it is an easy run go easy on the
bike, if it a harder run go harder on the bike. Simple!
How often should you do these?
This varies from athlete to athlete and depends on circumstances but where required this could be
from 1-3 times per week but best discuss with your coach. E.g. if for rehab and it is replacing
running sessions as often as the running sessions.
Other Points
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I have many more workouts which I can give to anyone interested. I have only given details
here of the ones I have actually used on my athletes, but there is no limit to the types of
sessions you can do. But remember we are track athletes not cyclists so ultimately need to
be able to run at some point.
Elite athletes use WattBikes which give actual power measurements over the whole session
and can be programmed to specific resistance levels. They cost over £2000 and I have no
experience of using these. For developing athletes a normal exercise bike which allows the
resistance to be adjusted, should be sufficient.
In theory all the energy systems can be trained on a bike. The sessions I gave previously will
work most of them except the maximum speed/power system. I have read about sessions
elite athletes do to work the maximum power system but I’m not convinced it is worthwhile
for developing athletes. If they can’t sprint on a track they shouldn’t be competing any time
soon and maximum power could be maintained in other ways, e.g. gym work.
o For info Steve Hooker, using a preprogrammed WattBike maintained max power by
doing reps at 9s, 7s then 5s flat out on a bike to maintain his speed whilst injured
then won the world pole vault title off minimal actual track work.
Other types of training
Other strategies which can be used to reduce strain on lower legs include Swimming, Running on
grass, Running in training flats. These can all be applied in similar ways as exercise bikes.
Swimming is useful for
 recovery sessions
 developing aerobic capacity
 in the earliest stages of injury rehab.
The principles for constructing sessions are the same.
I suggest the following order for rehab, injury prevention:
 Swimming (lowest strain on legs but furthest from actual running)
 Exercise bike
 Running on grass in training flats (good for longer sessions to reduce impact on feet)
 Running on track in training fats (nearly ready to compete or for higher volume sessions)
 Running on track in spikes (fully fit, ready or almost ready to compete)
I hope this is useful. If anyone has any comments or has tried any of these sessions or any other
please let me know so we can share our experiences.
Train hard and happy cycling!
Kenny