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I have been sedentary for most of my adult life so am looking to see what I can do to be fitter. I'm not aiming to run a marathon or enter the Worlds Strongest Man, just improve my fitness, but for a sedentary man I have a full day (three children fills it up easily!) so finding space within that day is a challenge.

I play console games (PS3) regularly to wind down and figure I can easily use an exercise bike and continue to play games at the same time so this is an obvious first place to start (from my point of view) but I would like to know how a low- or medium-intensity bike ride for an hour 4-5 days a week is going to affect my body so that I can look at other exercises to affect other parts.

What will it improve? Muscle tone and stamina is my thought but I would prefer answers from others who more about this than I do. If it helps any I am the ideal weight for my height (BMI: 23.4).

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Martin
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    Sure it will improve more than if you did nothing, but I playing games while working out will be frustrating. Either you don't get a good enough workout because you're actively focusing on the game, or you suck at the game you're playing because you are actively focusing on the workout. Personally I can't even listen to music when running or working out, but I'm also 100% focused on what I'm doing. If it's a hard run, or hard lift, I get frustrated with distractions. Focusing on your workout and working hard for 30 minutes will benefit more than a 60 minute lackadaisical workout. – Demarini Mar 02 '15 at 20:23
  • Thanks, I understand your point of view, for me it is less of an issue since I was using the gaming to pass the time rather than do well, much like watching videos as they do in many, many gyms these days. Clearly your way of doing it would get better results more quickly, I was simply wondering what it would actually do, bulk out the muscle or improve the stamina. Experience has shown that it's stamina that improves most for me though muscle definition as improved as well. – Martin May 29 '15 at 09:49

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I personally like to start as heavy as possible, but doctors say it is safer to start slow and move up. So this is what i am going to say. Start slowly, if do not move too much on a daily basis and don't lift.

Get your heart rate up, but don't go so hard that you feel like your heart is going to jump out from your chest. Then try to improve every time you train.

There is really no point in doing it every day since, as a beginner, your body needs to recover longer, so i would recommend every other day.

After a while, when you have no problem riding for 60 minutes, you can look into HIIT Basically you can cut down a 60 minute training to 10 minutes, but it requires some cardiovascular training before hand.

It is a good choice you have made. I personally train every day after a long day in the office, and it is the best.

Best of luck

s3v3ns
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