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I have been trying to lose weight so I adjusted my diet. I also have a new hobby, that is to do 1 hour of cardio every day on a stationary bike. I have been doing this for 1 month and I love it, I feel good and I have lost a lot of weight so far. (I'm 184cm and went from 95k to around 87kg)

I simply do the workout at a constant pace for 1 hour and I adjust the intensity so that my BPM is around 120-130, sometimes up to 140. I love it because I can do something different in the meantime, e.g. reading, watching a video or even gaming.

Do you see anything wrong with this workout? Should I take resting days sometimes (why or why not?).

I hope a bit that I'm able to increase intensity over time and maintain BPM, so that overall I will burn more calories in the same workout. Do you think this will happen automatically?

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First of all, hats of for the work you've put in and the weight you've lost!

Do you see anything wrong with this workout? Should I take resting days sometimes (why or why not?).

Doing cardio at 120-130bpm is fine, it's actually not a very high heart rate during cardio so there is no issue there. If you feel that at some point your heart rate doesn't go up as much as it usually does, it might be because you need some rest. But honestly 120-130bpm can be considered as active rest. I think you can keep this up for a long time.

I hope a bit that I'm able to increase intensity over time and maintain BPM, so that overall I will burn more calories in the same workout. Do you think this will happen automatically?

If you keep this up, your body will be come better and better at doing the cardio, which will make your heart rate go down during the same intensity. This means that you'll indeed be able to do higher intensity with the same heart rate as you're working with right now.

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Only have rest days if you have worked strenuously

Resting is vital in ensuring your muscles repair themselves and get stronger. This is important, as it reduces your chances of injury. However, rest days are not always necessary if you are not doing very intense exercise. If you were to do very intense exercise, 1-2 rest days are optimal.

In your case, You are not working very hard and your body does not need that much recovery time. If you are feeling weak and worn out then a rest day would be recommended, but is not necessary if you are feeling strong and active.

Consider HIIT training

HIIT training is a popular form of training that constantly switches between periods of high intensity exercise and low intensity exercise, to ensure you burn lots of calories while staying motivated. If you are more concerned about weight loss, then this would be a good improvement, but this requires more concentration and therefore, you will not be able to read at the same time, though you will probably still be able to watch a video.

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  • @JustSnilloc Is that better or could it do with improving?
    – Daemon Beast
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 21:54
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    It's better, but HIIT isn't necessarily better for fat loss either. HIIT requires less time and offers more cardiovascular benefits, but also requires more recovery. A person could burn X amount of calories either way, both have their benefits. My main problem with the answer is that it just feels like generic advice rather than something addressing the specifics of the question.
    – JustSnilloc
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 22:58
  • About HIIT, people tend to overdo it. Cardiovascular benefits are detectable for as little as 3 min/week of max intensity exercise. I would suggest starting at 3 sets of 1 min once or twice a week as a complement to the normal exercise routine.
    – Wood
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 5:02

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