Home Fitness Equipment - Excercise Bikes

Excercise bikes are an affordable piece of gym equipment that you can use in the comfort of your own home without having to go out on the road.
You can improve your heart and lung fitness and really tone up your muscles - a great way to burn those calories!

The main benefits of using an exercise bike are:

1. Focused for building stamina and leg strength - Bikes are a great choice for those people who want to train for road biking, as a suppliment to running training or for those who want to improve their cardio vascular fitness and stamina.
2. Good choice for overweight people and beginners. - The low impact and ease of use of exercise bikes makes them ideal for overweight people and those just starting out with a regular exercise regime.
3. Excellent for multi-tasking. Exercising from a seated position means that it is safe to watch TV or read a book at the same time as burning off some calories on the bike.
4. Well suited to steady state cardio If a comfortable seat is chosen the user can pedal for long periods of time. Calories burned while performing steady state cardio on a bike are around 9 calories a minute which means 270 can be burned in about 30 minutes of exercise.
5. Good for indoor use Can be used as an alternative to outdoor biking if the weather is not good.

Types of Stationary Exercise Bikes

Standard, upright stationary bikes place the user in a the conventional bike riding position. The seat is located directly above the pedals and the seat and handlebars can be adjusted to accomodate different sized riders.
Upright bikes are normally smaller and take up less space than other types of exercise bike and therefore they are usually bit cheaper. The other benefit of an upright bike is that the user can stand up during periods of greater exertion which replicates the way that one uses a real roadbike.
The main drawback to seated exercise bikes is that they can be uncomfortable to ride for longer periods of time compared to a recumbant bike.

A recumbent bike, is a type of stationary bike that has is tilted in a reclined position. It places the body in a semi or fully laid back position, which takes pressure away from the users back area.
Some people feel the position takes some time to adapt to at first, but as recumbant bikes usually come with a larger seat, many people find them easier to stay on for longer periods of time without experiencing discomfort later.
As the user is more laid back compared to a standard bike, the recumbent bike targets the abdominal and hamstring muscles more and this type of bike also offers greater support to the back which can be beneficial to those with back problems.

Please view Home Fitness Equipment's recommended excercise bikes