Indoor cycling is one of the best workouts you can do. Whether your goal is to do more cardio, increase your stamina, get stronger or boost all-round fitness, clipping yourself into the pedals for an intense, sweat-soaked class will help you find your limits, and push right through them. 

But what is an indoor cycling class, what are the benefits, and what gear should you be wearing? Here’s everything you need to know about indoor cycling.

An indoor cycling class is a kind of group workout using fixed exercise bikes. You will be led by an instructor who will guide you through a series of intervals that are designed to be challenging and to push you hard. Typically, the class is accompanied by motivating music, with beats that help you get into rhythm. 

The indoor cycling instructor will use different techniques to add intensity or to work different muscle groups, including:

• Speed: There’s usually a mix between slower pedalling and sprints. 
• Resistance: You can add or release tension on the exercise bike, letting you ratchet up the difficulty. 
• Sitting and standing: You’ll usually switch between sitting and standing on the pedals to work different lower body muscles. 

Upper body training: Your upper body might be worked by doing ‘press up’ movements on the handlebars while cycling, or lifting dumbbells.

Joining an indoor cycling class will provide you with tons of benefits. Here are seven reasons to start indoor cycling.  

1. It’s easy to start

Anyone of any fitness level can take part in indoor cycling, and it’s super accessible as a sport. While the instructor will push you, you can go at your own pace, choose your preferred resistance and tempo. 

You can attend indoor cycling at specialist studios, but many regular gyms offer standardised indoor cycling classes. It’s also possible to do indoor cycling virtually - there are several companies offering online classes that you can take part in while using an exercise bike at home. 

2. It’s insanely good cardio

An indoor cycling class will seriously work your cardiovascular system (that’s your heart and blood cells). Whether you’re sprinting for 60 seconds, or pedalling at high resistance, your cardio system will be working at its upper limits. 

Over time, doing lots of cardio will reduce your resting heart rate, meaning your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to perform its usual functions. Your heart muscle will also grow, so it can pump blood around your body more efficiently. 

Good cardio fitness is closely linked to higher life expectancy, among tons of other health benefits. 

3. It tones and strengthens muscles

People often think cardio doesn’t make you stronger. But that’s not true. 

With indoor cycling, you’re constantly pushing and pulling on the pedals, engaging your glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves. This will tone and build leg muscle. 

Many indoor cycling classes will also incorporate upper body training too, with pushups and dumbbells adding to the resistance for your biceps, triceps, pecs and back muscles. As you maintain an upright posture while pedalling, your core will also get a workout. 

4. Gives you a mental boost

Like most kinds of exercise, indoor cycling will release endorphins that boost your mood, and dopamine that helps fight stress. Indoor cycling classes have other mental health benefits too: 

• Get a sense of achievement from smashing personal goals.
• Boost your confidence by seeing an improvement in fitness with each class. 
• Get a buzz from cycling in sync with others. 

5. Easy on your joints

Cycling is a low-impact exercise, which makes indoor cycling classes a good option if you’ve got lower limb injuries. 

6. It’s fast, but effective

Want to stay fit, but don’t have hours to spare? Indoor cycling is an incredibly good option. Many classes are just 30 minutes long (including warm up, cool down and stretches), but offer the same fitness benefits as other workouts twice that length. 

7. Indoor cycling is fun

Don’t underestimate the importance of fun when working towards fitness goals. In a single indoor cycling class, you’ll be bouncing on your pedals to motivating music, the variety of different exercise types (sprints, climbs, weights, etc.) keeps things interesting, and there’s a real buzz from pedalling in a group in time with other people. 

You are going to sweat. You’re going to get hot. And you’re going to be driving your legs hard. So, it’s important to wear suitable gear to indoor cycling classes. Here are the essentials. 

You need gear that stays in place - no one wants fabric flapping about during a hill climb. Form-fitting indoor cycling shorts also cut the risk of chafing.  

Choose gear that wicks sweat and dry fast. It should keep you cool with breathable designs. And you want fabrics that are lightweight, but also durable.  

Indoor cycling is a low to medium impact exercise. Choose sports bras that are super breathable, supportive, and which use advanced technical fabrics that keep you cool and dry.   

Indoor cycling is easily one of the best forms of training out there. And with the best gear, you can get even more every session. 

Under Armour’s performancewear, shoes and accessories help you push your limits even further. We use some of the most advanced technologies - from quick drying UA Vanish, to UA HeatGear® fabric that keeps you cool, or insanely soft but sweat-wicking UA Meridian - everything here is built to help you train better. And that means you can push your limits further with indoor cycling.