5 Things to Try Before Giving Up Indoor Cycling

You were really excited when you first got into indoor cycling. You couldn’t wait to start peddling away the pounds while toning your legs, thighs, and glutes. You even bought new exercise clothes. Some six months later, you are ready to give up. You are tired. You are worn out. You are just not motivated to pedal your bike one more mile.

Before you throw in the towel, do yourself a favor. Step back and evaluate why you feel the way you do. There may be something you’re missing, something that could change the game for you. The good folks at Salt Lake City’s Mcycle Studio offer the following five things to try before walking away for good:

• 1. Sign up for a Class

If you have been cycling at home, in solitary, you might have just reached the point where you no longer have enough self-motivation to keep going. No worries. There is nothing wrong with you; lacking motivation is completely normal. You might be able to overcome it by signing up for a class or two.

Indoor cycling classes rely on a number of things to motivate students. There is energetic music timed perfectly to each ride. Cycling instructors are trained in motivational techniques. And of course, exercising with a room full of like-minded riders is sometimes motivating to people who have only exercised in isolation.

• 2. Stop Going to Class

Maybe you are in the opposite position. Maybe you’ve been taking classes and find that you are intimidated by the group setting. That’s perfectly fine. There is no law that says indoor cycling must be done in groups. You might be far better off cycling at home while watching TV. You could still get the benefits of an organized class by watching a prerecorded YouTube video as you ride.

• 3. Find an Exercise Buddy

Some people struggle with any kind of exercise unless they have someone to do it with. Again, this is normal. Before you give up on indoor cycling, consider finding an exercise buddy you can work out with. You and your buddy can cycle your basement or sign up for a class together. You can motivate each other to keep going. You can talk about your exercise and weight loss goals. You can laugh over shared stories of rides gone wrong.

• 4. Have Your Bike Professionally Fitted

Some people give up on indoor cycling because they find it too hard. If that’s your thinking, try having your bike professionally fitted before throwing in the towel. Believe it or not, it does make a difference.

There is an ideal posture for maximizing the benefits of indoor cycling. You achieve that posture by positioning your seat, handlebars, and pedals commensurate with your body size and type. A professional will know how to make the necessary adjustments to fit your bike perfectly to your body. Then you might find indoor cycling more like what you originally expected it to be.

• 5. Reevaluate Your Goals

Finally, some people give up on indoor cycling because they went into it with unachievable goals. They try for so long but eventually give up because their goals have not been met. In such cases, the problem may not be the exercise itself. It might be the goals. Before you give up, re-evaluate your goals and see if they might have been unreasonable from the start.

Indoor cycling is a great form of low-impact cardio exercise. It would be a shame for you to give up without trying to figure out if there is a way to salvage your exercise program.