How does stationary bike help

As a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Aleisha uses her background in research, writing and gender issues to help people empower themselves through smart strength training.

Tiffany Ayuda, CPT. Tiffany Ayuda is a New York City-based editor and writer passionate about fitness, nutrition, health, and wellness. Tiffany is also a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise. When she's not writing or breaking up a sweat, Tiffany enjoys cooking up healthy meals in her Brooklyn kitchen.

In This Article Benefits Workout. The benefits of stationary bike workouts include endurance, lower-body strength, safety from on-the-road accidents and fat loss. And that's just the beginning. Video of the Day. It's Gentle on Your Joints. Thankfully, joint-friendliness is one of the main benefits of riding a stationary bike.

It Burns Lots of Calories. It's Convenient and Customizable. It Builds Endurance. You can sit on the saddle and pedal your way to better health. Stationary biking is also great for toning your lower body. It acts on your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.

You will shed fat from the legs and build lean muscle mass. This may not really be a health benefit, but it does benefit your health. If biking to and fro to work or school is not convenient for you, a stationary bike is a great option to keep yourself fit. Also, you can easily avoid heat, pollution, dust, rain, and all other outdoor factors that may prevent you from exercising. These are the 12 reasons stationary biking is good for your health. Here are some tips to make your biking workout sessions more fun.

Choose your saddle wisely. Your saddle or seat should be comfortable not to hurt your butt while working out. Get your seat fixed by a professional.

If you are doing it yourself, keep in mind that your seat should be at such a height that your legs are only slightly bent while you are cycling. This way, you would not be putting excess pressure on your knee joints. Most professionals recommend that you should buy an exercise bike with handlebars, and the handlebars should be adjusted to a height higher than your seat.

Using handlebars engages the upper body, which is not possible in mini exercise bikes that do not have handlebars. Resistance is as much a part of your cycling workout as is speed. While speed provides cardio benefits, resistance is needed for strength training.

If you do not use enough resistance, you are not working your muscles effectively. That means you will not burn as many calories. Use enough resistance to get better results. While strengthening your heart, lung and muscles, cycling is an efficient way to burn calories, and body fat, as well as:.

While stationary cycling lowers bad cholesterol levels, it is also an important exercise that can promote good cholesterol. When you include cycling in your workout routine, it will help improve your lung ventilation and efficiency. Like other moderate intense physical exercises, cycling will cause your breathing to be faster and deeper and consequently help reduce the risk of lung cancer.

This process causes an increased delivery of oxygen to the lungs, which the blood supply can take up to supply the additional oxygen needed by the body. Your first attempt at cycling might make you feel so much pressure on your muscles and joints, but as you stick to a routine exercise, you will find everyday cycling and physical activities much easier because the capacity of your muscles will increase. Regular cycling at a healthy level can lessen the probability of falls, improve muscle health, and heighten the coordination and balance of muscles and joints for elderly people.

The risk of type 2 diabetes also reduces because the muscles are healthier and better toned at taking up glucose. During cycling, the skin receives an increased blood flow to help it reduce the amount of heat in the body. While the skin performs a major role by regulating body temperature, a routine cycling exercise will improve your ability to regulate your body temperature and this will slow down your aging process and keep your skin young and fresh.

Although your heart normally pumps about 4 litres of blood each minute, during aerobic exercises, this increases to about 20 litres of blood each minute.

During regular exercise, your body needs sufficient supply of blood to your muscles to give your body the energy it needs to do the exercise. This kind of physical exercise will make your heart stronger. It will also lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. Cycling helps to burn calories and body fat.

Starting a cycling exercise can be difficult, but you can consider this cycling plan to help you get the best out of the experience. Outdoor exercises and activities are accompanied with a wide range of risks, including poor roads, haphazard drivers and unfavourable weather conditions.

Stationary bike cycling at the gym helps you avoid poor road networks, road traffic, and rains or the scorching sun that might accompany unfavourable weather conditions. You can stay in the gym and enjoy your cycling while you listen to music or even listen to some audiobooks. No matter the weather condition outdoors, you can stay physically fit by cycling in the gym. Indoor cycling can also be a suitable option to speed up recovery from injury. Relax the muscle in your shoulders and enjoy the cycling exercise by keeping your hands light on the handle.

Do not burn your knees when cycling. Always check to make sure they are straight to avoid any pains. Do not bend your feet. This means that you can use them anytime you like, no matter the weather.

You can cycle in the comfort of your own home without having to deal with hazards such as vehicles, pedestrians and even other cyclists. This means that they are not hard on the joints or ligaments like other exercises can be. It works the legs , particularly the quads and calves, but also the hamstrings and glutes. It relieves stress, anger, anxiety and you can take it all out on the pedal. Not to mention, cycling releases endorphins that generate that post-training high that we all know and love.

Looking for a workout program? Try using the Fitbod App , which will design your program based on your logged training data and goals. The workouts will adapt automatically to your levels of recovery and rate of progress.

With over movements and exercises videos, you can be sure to perform the movements correctly for optimal results. Take the guesswork out of your workouts. Try 3 free workouts on Fitbod. Which bike should you choose? While there are many, there are three main types of exercise bikes. The pedals are situated beneath the body and it has a smaller seat. You can use this bike either sitting down or standing up. As a result, it not only naturally works the legs but also the core.

The smaller seat might be uncomfortable for longer workouts and the upright bike does place more pressure on your hands and wrists though. Something to bear in mind.