Will I burn fewer calories if I don't do upper body exercises on the bike?

Will I burn fewer calories if I don't do upper body exercises on the bike?

To get the best results from indoor cycling, skipping any ‘upper body exercises’ while on the bike and concentrating one pedalling technique with an appropriate level of resistance (intensity) and cadence (footspeed) is the best thing to do - and will burn a good number of calories. Obviously calorie burn is determined by several factors including

the above, but also rest intervals, the condition you’re in when you ride (hydrated, rested, stressed, overtrained, nutrition status, etc) as well as other factors such as body composition - the more muscle fibre you have the more calories you’ll burn. The average adult will burn at least 500 calories in a 45 minute indoor cycling using proper technique.
What tends to happen when you do handlebar pushups, freeweights, etc on the bike, is that you tend to reduce the resistance so there’s no real effort required in pedalling, and to focus on what you’re doing with your arms rather than pedalling effectively. These two things mean you could be wasting time on the bike. There’s a reason pro-cyclists don’t ever do this…
If you did want an upper body workout, combine a freeweights session or bodyweight session with indoor cycling - but come off the bike to do those moves. However, the best thing would be to mix your indoor cycling classes with other resistance training throughout your week - you don’t have to do everything in one session, and nor should you for maximum results.
Bottom line: focus on pedalling effectively with sensible speed and sensible resistance and enjoy. Jazzy moves don’t work. Good instructors won’t teach them.

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