An upright stationary bike is an ideal piece of equipment for workout fanatics who desire to burn extra fats while strengthening muscles, the heart, and the lungs. The outstanding benefit of the upright exercise bike is that it goes easy on your joints but still offers exceptional aerobics training.
Is An Upright Exercise Bike Beneficial To Your Healthy?
Yes, riding an upright stationary exercise bike has numerous health benefits. Among the benefits of the exercise bike is excellent weight loss management, burning fats, and muscle strengthening. Besides these benefits, there are several other healthy gains afforded by upright exercise bikes.
This article has explored various healthy gains associated with upright exercise bikes, alongside the safety tips when using the equipment. Keep reading to grasp what it means when you do your cardiovascular exercise using the cycle.
The 6 Healthy Benefits Of Upright Exercise Bikes
Enhances Cardio Fitness
A stationary bike is a piece of cardio equipment that helps strengthen your heart, muscles, and lungs. The exercise is best in enhancing the flow of oxygen and blood throughout the entire body system.
Enough supply of blood and oxygen to all body parts is beneficial to your health in the following ways:
1. Decreased stress levels.
2. Enhanced mood.
3. Improved body immune system.
4. Boosted memory and better brain functioning.
5. Enhanced sleeping pattern.
6. Generation of more energy.
7. Better blood sugar levels.
8. Lower blood pressure.
Burning Extra Body Fats
Upright exercise bikes enable you to work out at a high intensity, which in turn helps you to burn calories and enhance body strength. In the process of burning calories, your body also loses unwanted fats.
An independent study conducted in 2010 by PubMed central established that if indoor cycling is combined with meals with low calories, your body weight and fats reduce tremendously. The study was conducted on a few participants who consumed 1,200 calories daily and cycled for 45 minutes thrice a week. Besides burning body fats and reducing body weight, the cholesterol levels of the participants also dropped.
Bikes Offer A Low-Impact Workout
One great benefit of training with upright bikes is their ability to strengthen your bones and joints without exerting extra pressure on them. Generally, the bike offers a smooth low-impact workout that is beneficial to your health.
People with joint problems find it easy to train with an upright stationary bike as it doesn’t put too much stress on the ankles, hips, and knees compared to high-impact exercises such as jogging and jumping.
While exercising on a stationary upright bike, your feet remain on the pedals; hence the exercise is kind of on joints.
Upright Exercise Bikes Helps You Lose Weight
The upright stationary exercise bike can enable you to burn up to and more than 600 calories per hour if you work at a higher intensity. However, it would help if you were careful on your calories intake because burning excessive calories than what you consume leads to weight loss.
Muscle And Leg Strengthening
If you ride the upright stationary bike with high intensity, it will lead to healthy building and strengthening of your lower body.
Quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves benefit immensely by strengthening as a result of the pedaling action. The core muscles also gain strength out of the action.
An additional benefit of the upright bike is that you can also workout your upper body muscles, such as the biceps, shoulders, and triceps.
Interval Training
If you desire interval training, the upright exercise bike is the perfect equipment to use in your workouts. The cycle allows you to alternate between short, intense exercise and a longer, relaxed exercise. Interval training is ideal for burning more body calories within a short period to enhance your cardiovascular fitness.
With upright and other stationary bikes, you are at liberty to adjust various resistance levels to your comfort. You can choose to exercise in low, medium, or higher intensities, hence their suitability in interval training.
Upright Bike Exercising Plans For Various Fitness Levels
1. Beginner Level
Beginners who aspire to improve their fitness have to start slowly and increase the training intensity gradually.
The ideal time for a beginner to work out is 25 to 35 minutes. You can add on time gradually with 1or 2-minute increments while enhancing your fitness. Here is a sample of a beginner’s interval exercising plan:
1. Pedal at a low intensity for 10 minutes.
2. Shift to medium intensity and pedal for another 10 minutes, and follow it by;
2 minutes of high-intensity workout, alternated with 2 minutes of medium intensity. Repeat the exercise three times and wind up by pedaling at low intensity for 5 minutes.
2. Weight loss Level
If you are training at the weight loss level, you aim to burn calories, reduce body fats, and lose extra weight. You can achieve this goal by quickly switching up your resistance level.
Below is a sample of a weight-loss exercising plan:
1. Start pedaling at low intensity for 5-10 minutes.
2. Shift to medium intensity and pedal for 3-5 minutes.
3. Switch to high intensity and pedal for 1-3 minutes and alternate it with medium intensity for 3-5 minutes. Alternate the training for 20-30 minutes, and wind up pedaling at low intensity for 5-10 minutes.
3. Interval Training Level
After gradually building your fitness, it is time to enhance your stamina and strength by practicing interval training. The following sample is ideal for an interval exercising plan:
1. Pedal at low intensity for 10 minutes.
2. Shift to medium intensity and pedal for 10 minutes, and follow up by:
3. High intensity for 2 minutes, alternating with low intensity for 2 minutes. Repeat the alternating process 3 times before cooling down with low intensity pedaling for 5-10 minutes.
You are at liberty to increase your pedaling intervals one minute at a time as you progress.
Safety Exercising Tips
While practicing, observe the following safety tips to keep your body healthy:
1. Always use the proper form to avoid fatigue and position your body correctly for better balance.
2. Take breaks to enable your body to recover.
3. Don’t stretch yourself beyond your limit.
4. Seek the doctor’s advice if you have underlying issues.
The Bottom Line
Cycling the upright exercise stationary bike is an ideal way of improving your cardiovascular fitness. Follow the guide on this page, and your exercise will be a success.
