The Recumbent Exercise Bike

Series Summary

Using an exercise bicycle or stationary bike is a great way to get an aerobic workout. The low-impact cardiovascular workout stationary bikes provide have made them popular in rehab programs and sports medicine. The pedaling motion is also less stressful on the joints than the motions required to operate other exercise equipment. Newer models are often equipped with adjustable resistance and other features that isolate muscle groups to offer a more strenuous workout. It’s a great way to get and stay in shape, especially when the weather is rotten outside. In this series of free video clips you’ll learn the basics of using various types of stationary bikes, including a recumbent bike, a spinner bike, and an upright exercise bike. Expert fitness instructor Brian Lange shares tips and techniques to help you find the workout routine that is right for you, as well as safety tips for using an exercise bike.

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Brian Langey; I am the owner of On the Road Personal Training and Athleticism Training and Performance. You can reach me at ontheroadpt.com. Today we are talking about the recumbent exercise bike. The recumbent exercise bike is a great way to increase cardiovascular conditioning as well as burn body fat also a way to strengthen the glutes and the hamstrings, the quads, the hip flexors and the calves. To use the bike basically you straddle the bike here getting into position with the seat. The hand held heart rate grips are a great way to feed into the computer and tell you what your heart rate is or you can use a heart rate strap. To position your feet on the bike you can use the pedals here, the extension would be close to knee full extension but not all of the way. And you can make that adjustment with the seat. The back support bad gives you support in your lumbar region and up to the mid-back region. To get started all you do is start pedaling, you want to keep even pressure on the pedals, jump into quick start will get you going into the manual program and that way you can get started right away. To increase the resistance on a machine like this you just toggle up or down on the levels. There is a variety of programs to choose from, manual, heart rate, fitness, speed and all of them great for helping you meet your cardiovascular and fitness goals. The recumbent bike is great for people who have low back problems because of the lumbar support. It also has a wider seat so that there is more area for you to sit on. It is great for people who want to start out and they are a little overweight, but they need to start into a conditioning program and a recumbent bike is a great way to do that. Again, there is less stress on the back, it is non-weight bearing so there is less stress on the knees and the hips and the ankles as well. So it is a great way to get started and I would encourage using this to start out with."