A stationary recumbent bike is one of many exercise machines designed to give you a cardiovascular workout, contributing toward the American College of Sports Medicine’s recommendation that you get 30 minutes of moderate cardio exercise five times a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous cardio three times a week.
When choosing a piece of exercise equipment, you need to like it. If you don’t, it will gather dust. Should a stationary recumbent bike’s features and function appeal to you, it might be just the machine to get you exercising regularly.
Muscles Worked
A recumbent cycle works your glutes, hamstrings and quads, with minor contributions from your calf muscles. Most recumbent bikes provide no upper body workout, but you will on rare occasion find one with moving handles that you swing back and forth to work your chest, back and arms. These are known as dual-action bikes, or recumbent cross-trainers.
Function
A recumbent bike’s pedaling motion is almost as intuitive as an upright bike’s motion--just sit, place your feet on the pedals and go. You’re slightly out of position compared with a road bike, so a serious cyclist seeking to train for road or mountain biking might be happier training on upright stationary bikes. They more closely approximate the stress and position of actual biking.
Considerations
Recumbent bikes offer more back support than a traditional upright bike. This can help obese individuals who lack the muscular strength and endurance to remain upright without support, as well as aiding people with back problems. You may find that the recumbent bike seat is more comfortable than the significantly narrower upright bike seat.
Types
Recumbent exercise bikes use four types of resistance. Direct tension resistance requires you to adjust a knob or lever that clamps down on the bike’s rotating wheel. Flywheel resistance comes from a heavy, weighted wheel; you provide the kinetic energy to keep it moving. Air resistance has a fan that blows into the wheel, providing a counter-force against your pedaling and cooling you at the same time. Magnetic resistance adjusts with the push of a button. It’s quiet, smooth and more expensive than other types of resistance, but often offers the best workout. The recumbent exercise bikes you see in the gym use magnetic resistance.
Cost
You could buy a decent recumbent exercise bike for under $500, as of May 2010. Galt Technology says that once you reach prices of $1,000, you should be able to purchase equipment similar to what you’ll find in a gym--with a smooth, quiet ride, long-term durability, electronic programming and a good warranty.
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