Think you’re too macho to hop on an indoor bike for a workout? You’ll likely reconsider once you realize how beneficial the low-impact cardio activity is.

While body-fat percentage, height, age, and other factors determine just how many calories you’ll burn per session, a 190-pound guy riding for an hour can incinerate upwards of 670 calories, according to mapmyfitness.com. But if you pedal like a mindless meat stick, your odds of experiencing joint or back pain or screwing up an awesome cardio session kick into high gear.

Here, Mantas Zvinas, a senior instructor at SoulCycle in New York City, explains how you can avoid the most common mishaps.