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Regardless of your fitness level, avoid doing too much too soon. Selecting too
hard a course or too high an effort level are common errors. Give yourself time
to become familiar with your cycle and to improve your fitness level. Then you
can gradually increase the effort level or course difficulty to make your workouts
more challenging.
How Long Should I Exercise?
The length of each exercise session depends on your fitness level. Exercise
physiologists have determined that, to attain cardiovascular benefits from
exercise, you should maintain your heart rate in its training zone for at least 15
minutes. This is in addition to your warm-up time, and does not include cool
down. You should always allow several minutes to bring your heart rate into
your training zone, by starting out slowly and gradually increasing work level.
Similarly, use several minutes of light exercise after the workout to bring your
heart rate down to near resting level.
The higher your fitness level, the longer you should maintain your heart rate in
the training zone (between 20 and 30 minutes). Beginners should always start
slowly, and gradually increase their sessions to 20 minutes or more.
How Often Should I Exercise?
Research indicates that aerobic sessions of 20 minutes or more should be done
at least three to five times a week to obtain significant cardiovascular benefits.
Most experts agree that sensible eating habits and regular aerobic exercise are
the keys to weight control and fitness. A recent study, which tracked several
subjects over a period of years, conclusively showed that exercise, not dieting,
is the key factor to long-term weight loss.