Rationale:

Indoor cycling has become a popular mode for group exercise classes. Simple observation suggests that it may be a relatively high intensity type of exercise. However, there are few data documenting the range of exercise intensities encountered during group exercise.

Objective:

This study was designed to evaluate metabolic (VO₂, HR) and perceptual (session RPE) responses to indoor cycling.

Methods:

Twenty females (age = 24.5 +/- 5.8 yr, VO₂max = 39.9 +/- 4.5 ml*min^-1*kg^-1, HRmax = 190 +/- 8 bpm) enrolled in an indoor cycling class, performed 3 exercise tests; a VO₂max test and 2 videotaped cycling classes (~60 min duration). The 2 cycling classes had different patterns of exercise presentation, representative of common variations in the choreography of group exercise.

Results:

Outcome measures included: average VO₂ (75 +/- 11 & 69 +/- 9 %VO₂max); peakVO₂ (92 +/- 10 & 93 +/- 14 %VO₂max), average HR (89 +/- 5 & 83 +/- 6 %HRmax), peakHR (95 +/- 10 & 94 +/- 14% HRmax) and ratings of perceived exertion (session RPE)(7.6 +/- 0.9 & 6.3 +/- 1.2).

Conclusions:

The results show that indoor cycling elicits high intensity levels that may be inappropriate for beginning exercisers.