Trying to understand the benefit of pedaling a recumbent bike!
I think I am officially a work out snob!
I travel alot and use various work out rooms at the Hilton's as well as my own gym......I watch these people pedal bikes at no resistance and about 55 RPM's reading a book.
Does this do anything for fitness?
I hope it does and it is better than sitting on the couch watching donuts but sometimes when there are limited equipment pieces it is crazy annoying.
I know this is a bit snobby but is their a benefit to just getting on a bike and pedaling? I guess it is the same as my wife and I walking the dogs........I just envision half these people at the buffet after their "workout" because they think they exercised sooooooo much!
This is curiousity and it is not meant to offend.
Haha well it is better than sitting on your @$$ and eating donuts, but not a whole lot :]
All in all, I'd guess it's a pretty big waste of time.
Yeah, idg what those people are doing. I don't think they get what they're doing either.
Well you kind of hit a nail on a head when it comes to 'cardio does nothing for weight loss". People go on these machines and barely "break the sweat" but then since they are doing this "work out" and need to "re-hydrate" down a bottle of gatorade, maybe a post "work out" protein shake or smoothie from the bar, and go celebrate at McDonalds. 
So in the end they maybe have burned 100 Calories, but consumed a tons.
UD
The bike is fine for cardio as long as you actually out some effort into it. I agree that it is pointless to get on a bike and not put anything into it. The bike is perfect for HIIT because the pedaling motion really lets you go all out on the sprints. The bike isn't a very efficient calorie burner. However, that is my last concern. My main concern is improving cardiovascular fitness and to do that you just need to get your heart rate elevated for a period of 20-30 minutes.
What I like doing is getting my HIIT and steady state cardio done all at once. The HIIT empties your glycogen stores just like a lifting session would, and then doing steady state afterwards helps to burn additional fat. So I will do my HIIT session on the bike (3 minute warm up and 20 minutes of 20/60's) and then I will do 20 minutes worth of pedaling after that. This gets me 120 minutes of cardio overall for the week, and that is all you need to maintain cardiovascular fitness.
The cool thing about doing HIIT and then steady state right after, is that you have to expend less effort to keep your heart rate up because of how long it takes you to cool down from HIIT. I can literally pedal at 70-80 rpm's after HIIT and my heart rate will still be at 140 or a little higher. I just look at it as an extended cool down from my HIIT.
It is a form of cardio workout but I agree with other posters if you're not "breaking a sweat" then you're probably not getting the full benefit from it.
As far as sitting on the bike and reading a book while pedalling away - I'm guilty of that. I get bored watching the timer, myself in the mirror, or the tv and if I have a book to read the time goes much quicker - the other day I ended up doing an extra 5 minutes on the bike cause the book was good. However, I do make sure that I'm increasing the resistance as I go along and that I'm definitely sweating and breathing harder. Then I do the other parts of my routine. And then I drink water to replenish the sweat or just cause I feel thirsty. It works for me and that's what counts.
My two cents.
I had to switch to sometimes using an exercise bike (rather than running) when I started having knee issues - I find that it doesn't aggravate the knee. I tried the standard upright ones and found them excruciatingly uncomfortable, and use the recumbent ones instead. However, I also do HIIT with it by increasing resistance to as high as I can handle and going as fast as I can - well over 100 rpm. Reading a book wouldn't even be possible.
I think it's not the particular piece of equipment that's at issue, it's the effort expended by the individual using it.
I think it's not the particular piece of equipment that's at issue, it's the effort expended by the individual using it.
Agreed - I understand that the recumbants are less stressful on the back... but I remember seeing guys reading the morning paper on those, looking like they were putting in more effort holding up the newspaper than pedaling.
But I've also seen people break quite a sweat.
Recumbents are awesome!
I lost my 154 lbs in a year soley riding the recumbent for cardio!
I was doing thirty miles a day reading the paper and hitting three level intervals by resistance 60-60-60....it really isn't the equipment it is the effort and intensity! :):):)
I agree with some of the other posters that it's gotta be better than nothing, but after seeing what I can do on a treadmill, I feel like the recumbent bike is for days when you don't feel like seriously working out.
I think it's important that people realize that even with cardio, you have to put in some effort against some kind of resistance... if you're doing it at the base level that the machine starts at, it probably won't do much for you.
Also, lol at the post workout McDonald's celebration...
If I can read a magazine while I do it...I don't consider it exercise. But that's just me.
Lol don't worry about being a workout snob. It's not like you're walking up to those people and saying "Excuse me, I just wanted to tell you you should just cut out the workout and hit the buffet you're not accomplishing anything anyway."
Original Post by amethystgirl:
I think it's not the particular piece of equipment that's at issue, it's the effort expended by the individual using it.
Agreed - I understand that the recumbants are less stressful on the back... but I remember seeing guys reading the morning paper on those, looking like they were putting in more effort holding up the newspaper than pedaling.
But I've also seen people break quite a sweat.
Agreed x2. I would be one of those who can work up a hell of a sweat on the recumbent bike. Reading while working out? How?!
Hmm - the people I see on them at my gym are going at a pretty good pace and sweating and look like they probably bike in races - and when they are done they go lift weights - so the generalization doesn't work at my gym. Of course, we have a total of six bikes, none of which have controls that work - two "fan" bikes, two "normal" bikes, and two recumbents. They are usually ignored in favor of the multiple and new treadmills and ellipticals.
personally, I hate them - it's hard to keep my feet on the pedals.
I do wonder about people who come and go with never breaking a sweat, though...maybe they have a secret method that doesn't leave them all sticky and stinky.
If I tried to read while exercising I'd probably hurt myself.
The recumbent bike is the last of my workouts and I do it as a "cool down" for the most part. I have always had breathing issues so I don't run, but I will do 15-25 minutes on the treadmill at a brisk pace, then 20-25 minutes on the elliptical, followed by the recumbent which I'll do for 20-25 minutes and never at a low setting until the computer puts me in cool down mode. I'm still new to the whole gym thing, but I definitely break a sweat on all machines!
Not high on my priority list for me or any other steady aerobic exercise.
Well my fat $$$ on the bike is better than me sitting on the coach. I don't break a sweat, but my heartbeat is up...I have lost weight from it in the past..so I guess for me it works...
It has worked very well for me in the past. I was at my lowest weight ever (well, other than when I was a kid) when I was regularly using a bike for workouts. It all depends on how much effort you're really putting into it. Me, I'm always pouring with sweat and huffing and puffing by the time it's over.
