Exercise Bikes, Which one Should you Choose ?

Exercise bikes have been around for a long time now which may give some people the wrong impression that they are outdated & no longer of much use when it comes to your fitness routine. However there are many types of exercise bikes you can choose from to give you a good workout & you will find that they have certainly kept pace with the increase in technology in the modern world in which we live today. They provide an excellent cardio, low impact workout helping you to keep fit & loose weight all in the comfort of the gym, your home or garage. No need to worry about the traffic or the weather.

There are basically 3 types of exercise bike, the standard upright bike, the dual action upright bike with levers or handles bringing the arms into play giving your upper body a workout & the recumbent bike which has a reclining seat giving more support to your back & also giving your abdominals a workout.

The cheapest exercise bikes, $200 or less, will have a tension belt whilst mid range, $200-$600 & top of the range $600 to $1500 and above will have magnetic resistance which is much smoother & quieter. If your budget allows you should go for a push button magnetic resistance exercise bike. A heart monitor is essential if you are serious about getting results as the whole point of exercising is to increase your heart rate to burn off those calories & increase your fitness levels.

Cheaper exercise bikes will have no display, or at best a poor display giving you little information & no feedback about your workout. Mid range bikes will have a lot more options including some pre-set workouts whilst the top of the range will have lots of pre-set workouts some pulse driven which adjust your workout according to your pulse making sure you are working at the optimum heart rate level.

Exercise bikes are produced by many manufactures including Lifecycle, Lifefitness, Precor, Startrac, Stairmaster, Tunturi, Diamondback, Fitness Quest, Healthrider, Nordic Track, Proform, Reebok, Schwinn, Stamina, and Weslo.

Whilst exercise bikes may be seen by some people as outdated I would definatley beg to differ, they offer lots of advantages over other similar pieces of fitness equipment ie treadmills in that they are a very low impact form of exercise with very little impact on the joints such as knees, ankles, hips & back but yet still provide the same level of cardio workout. Plus they take up little space & you can even watch TV or read whilst you workout !