By the healthiergang writer , personal trainer with a degree in Exercise and Sports Sciences.
Exercise Bike For Weight Loss
I cardio machines they are almost always the first thing you see when visiting a gym, endless rows of treadmills, exercise bikes, elliptical trainers and so on and so forth now occupy at least 50% of the weight room surface; considered the basis of training for some and useless tinsel for others.
Without entering into the (almost always sterile) controversy between the two factions, today we will deal with one tool in particular, and its use in a training protocol aimed at weight loss: the exercise bike.
Types of exercise bikes
The exercise bikes that we commonly find in the gym are of 2 types: the stands and the recline.
The stands are those that should simulate a "normal" bike, that is where the fulcrum of the pedals is almost perpendicular to the saddle, have the adjustment only on the vertical column of the saddle and the pedals have the cage for the sneakers and almost never the attacks for the bicycle shoes.
Almost all companies now have models on their list with very advanced computers capable of taking a lot of data on the subject (heartbeat, RPM, watts, calories consumed) quite accurately and with very advanced central movements that create the least possible trauma to ankles, knees and hips; however, not being able to adjust the saddle-handlebar distance and the height of the latter are a huge limitation.
The reclines have the same technical characteristics as the stands (excellent quality bottom bracket, advanced computers, pedals with cage instead of attachments), but in these the bottom bracket and pedals are parallel to the length-adjustable saddle, and the latter is always equipped with an adjustable backrest in inclination.
This typology is the most used in gyms, because it also allows elderly people or people with poor mobility to be able to exercise with a movement (pedaling) that has countless advantages, without the contraindications of a bike stand (difficulty climbing, pain in the ischial and genital area caused by the saddle, back).
Having done this necessary excursus, let's answer the main question, namely: it is possible and sensible to use the exercise bike in a weight loss training program?
The answer is obviously yes!
Does it really work?
The exercise bike is a tool, so in itself it is neither good nor bad, but depends on usage what do we do with it; if you are following a serious and carefully studied weight loss program, the exercise bike (especially the recline) can help you especially at the beginning, when running or even just walking could do more harm than good.
In fact, pedaling has the advantage of being a cyclic motion without impact (unlike walking and running, which also has an aerial phase with subsequent increased impact); while in a more advanced phase it could still be used in rotation with other cardio equipment (treadmill, elliptical, Nautilus, Cardio Wave) to make the workout always varied and training.
If on the other hand you think that spend an hour on it in the gym or put one in the house is enough to reach the shape you want, you are out of the way.
Conclusions
To conclude we can say that the stationary bike (or rather the stationary bike) can be an excellent ally in any training protocol, allowing you to train quite intensely without putting too much stress on the joints of the hips, knees and ankles; but like any tool on the face of the earth, it alone does not work miracles.
Plan your workouts carefully and execute them with even more care, and every tool if you practice it will be useful, otherwise they will be just pieces of iron with no use.
