3. Tips & Tricks

Read through the TIPS and tricks below to make your cycling experience more enjoyable!

• Bikes were created for cardiovascular conditioning. During a cycling class, never use any kind of weighted equipment while on the bike. It is unnecessary and can be dangerous and harmful to participants and the equipment.
• For safety purposes, never ride no-handed when standing. Doing this while standing or jumping is dangerous and can cause serious injury. Only ride standing with one hand while taking a drink of water.
• It is tempting but refrain from lying on handlebars. Doing so allows the muscles in your core to relax, which will result in the pedal stroke becoming inefficient. It also can create unnecessary tension in the upper back and cause discomfort during the ride.
• As the rider pulls across the bottom of the pedal stroke, feet should remain flat. Pretend to scrape gum off the bottom of a shoe as the foot pulls up and around. Riding with pointed toes can cause inflammation of the tibial tuberosity. This can lead to overuse injuries that stress the lower limbs of the body. This can also cause numbness in the feet and reduced efficiency of the pedal stroke.
• Always have some level of tension on the flywheel. Failure to do so will result in a lack of muscle engagement, little to no calorie expenditure, and increased risk of injury. When no tension is on the wheel, it is easy to reach unnecessarily high revolutions per minute that could result in muscle strain.
• Refrain from pedaling backward. This movement unscrews the pedals from the crank arms, which can lead to injury when the pedals fall off.
• Check before class to ensure all knob adjustments are fully locked in place. Failure to do so could result in seats or handlebars dropping during class and could lead to injury.
• Please refrain from adjusting another rider’s resistance during class. Each participant should ride at his or her own pace and level.
• When seated keep the hands on the lower portion of the handlebars. The only time a rider’s hands should be at the top of the handlebars is when they are standing. Keeping the hands in a high position while seated will cause the body to be out of alignment and often causes the rider to lock out their elbows.
• Always add resistance when standing on the bike. Riders need more resistance while standing because their entire body weight is on the pedals. Standing without adding resistance is similar to riding without resistance and could result in injury.
• Never stretch with a leg on the handlebars. It places unnecessary strain on the bike and many people are not flexible enough to accomplish this. Instead, use the middle of the frame or the bike seat.
• Never take the bike cadence over 110 RPM. Exceeding this limit can be damaging to the tendons, muscles, and ligaments in the body.