I recently noticed that my scales are telling me I’m heavier than I really am. It’s like the problem of clothes shrinking while hanging in the wardrobe. I think it’s because I’m not cycling as much as I used to. The kids are too big for Busby and we walk most places now. This is why I’ve been campaigning for bike paths in Aberdeen – it’s too dangerous for children to cycle around and now I’m losing the health benefits of cycling because we’re forced to walk instead.
I decided to teach my scales a lesson and for the past week I’ve been cycling at my desk. It’s not the same as cycling outside but it’s better than sitting on my arse doing nothing.
It has 8 settings but 1 is too easy and 8 is too hard. I generally keep it at around 3 or 4. If I want some strength training then I’ll set it to 5 or 6 for a short period. If I just want the movement then I’ll put it at 3 and pedal for longer. I don’t use it all day but I’d like to get into the habit of pedalling for 2 hours. Luckily it tells me how much cycling I’ve done so I simply reset it each morning as an easy way to keep track. It’s heavy and doesn’t shift around on the floor. The resistance is also very good and this is coming from a cyclist who is used to pedalling 100kg uphill.
Obviously I’d rather go cycling outdoors but when you work full-time and have kids to look after at the end of the day there are limited opportunities. If I go out somewhere by myself I still always ride. But when I’m taking the kids somewhere now we have to walk.
rachel.blog 
That’s a fantastic idea! Not sure my co-workers would like it though, with pedals churning away all day. I saw an article recently that Apple is fitting out it’s new offices with standing desks.
It’s pretty quiet so I doubt your coworkers would even notice. Great idea to put in standing desks too although I use mine less now that I’m pedalling.
Do the rest of the family use it too?
My son has been using it too but the novelty may wear off.
I like this and have just found out my office-mate is moving out 😉
Perfect! I doubt it would bother other office workers though because it’s so quiet. It might make them jealous 🙂
Ah but given I am practically deaf to high pitches I find it hard to gauge these things so try to be as unobtrusive as possible! Being married to a woman with super-sensitive hearing for 30 years has trained me well….
I’ve never seen this tiny ex bike before and I think it’s a great idea. We all spend far too much time just sitting and since we’re not using our legs anyway, it’s perfect.
Definitely! I feel so lazy sitting on my bum all day. We’re not meant to live this way.
I’ve been thinking about one of those a while ago when looking for ways to expend more energy whilst at the desk.
Would be great if you could use it to produce power and load your gadgets.
And … how about you can hook it up to strava or something similar to race your co-workers, be they local or remote.
Oh yes! I was looking for something that could power my devices but there’s nothing on the market at all so I made do with second best. It seems like there’d be a lot of demand for something like this.
It is always challenging to keep up with workout routine amidst changing environments and life situations. Great to see you making alternate arrangements and keeping at it!
I like your desk setup! Is that some vegan brownie in the plate on your desk?
Yes! Every Saturday I buy some vegan cakes from Foodstory and we cut them into quarters and all have one morsel each. Now I can eat my cake guilt-free 🙂
You won’t need this now you’re cycling again – do you still do it and is it not distracting?
I will still use it because otherwise I’m sedentary for 8 hours a day. It can be distracting so if I’m concentrating on something tricky I’ll stop. Otherwise it’s a nice way to keep moving while at my desk.