At first look, an assault bike could look lower than spectacular with its old-school vibe and not one of the flash of a Peloton. However, no equipment are wanted for this machine, which supplies an unimaginable exercise utilizing solely a no-frills bike and connected fan.
The total-body cardio machine works your anaerobic power system (the identical power system you depend on to elevate heavy weights!) whereas boosting your cardiovascular endurance.
It is also simply integrated into high-intensity interval coaching or Tabata-style exercises, that means the calorie burn is excessive, and the time it takes to burn them is low.
Desk of Contents:
- What Is An Assault Bike?
- Is The Assault Bike A Good Exercise? (Trace: it’s!)
- 5 Finest Assault Bike Exercises
- What Muscle tissue Do Assault Bike Exercises Work?
- Assault Bike Advantages
- Air Bike Kind Suggestions
- FAQs
Not solely does an assault bike work your total physique, but it surely additionally workouts your psychological toughness. You’ll respect the additional willpower the following time it’s essential push your self to get one final rep in.
WHAT IS AN ASSAULT BIKE (AKA AIR BIKE)?
An assault bike, also called a fan or air bike or fan bike, takes biking up a notch by incorporating the higher physique into the exercise. Your arms will pump such as you’re cross-country snowboarding, whereas your decrease physique cycles by some highly effective resistance.
One other distinction between the assault bike and a extra conventional stationary bike is that the connected fan makes the resistance more durable the sooner you pedal. Nobody stated a cardio machine wants a elaborate display screen to be efficient.
IS THE ASSAULT BIKE A GOOD WORKOUT?
The assault bike is an unimaginable head-to-toe exercise that challenges your cardio and anaerobic programs, concurrently enhancing your endurance and strengthening your muscle tissue.
The train tools targets your chest, again, arms, abdominals, obliques, and legs. It is also a real exercise celebrity for high-intensity interval coaching and Tabata exercises, making it a full-body train that torches energy. In truth, if you happen to’re on the lookout for a fat-burning HIIT exercise to assist with weight reduction, the assault bike is the tools for the job.
Analysis reveals the air bike results in extra muscle mass and extra cardiovascular work than a leg-only pedaling bike1. Examine contributors elevated their coronary heart fee to between 163 to 170 beats per minute, exceeding the necessities for a high-intensity exercise. The air bike burned max energy, elevated muscle, and improved the cardiovascular system.
5 BEST ASSAULT BIKE WORKOUTS
Earlier than beginning any of those assault bike exercises, take 5 to 10 minutes to heat up, which you are able to do by pedaling at a simple to reasonable tempo.
1. Air Bike Rounds for Time Circuit:
Rounds for time (RFT) is a CrossFit time period that describes a exercise wherein you attempt to full a sure variety of rounds of an train routine as shortly as attainable.
The RFT prospects are countless, however these two assault bike exercises are good for getting you began. For each of those, you’ll spend time on the air bike after which hop off to carry out the extra workouts.
Air Bike RFT Model 1 (8 Rounds):
|
Exercise |
Length/Reps |
|
Pedal as quick as you possibly can |
40 seconds |
|
Push-ups |
12 reps |
|
Mountain climbers |
10 reps |
|
Bounce squats |
10 reps |
|
Leaping jacks |
10 reps |
Be aware: That is one spherical of the exercise. There are a complete of 8 rounds on this exercise routine. When you wrap up leaping jacks, spherical 1 is full. Hop again in your bike for spherical 2, pedaling for 40 seconds, and repeating the checklist of workouts. See how shortly you possibly can full all eight rounds.
Air Bike RFT Model 2 (8 Rounds):
Quite than staying on the air bike for a set variety of seconds, this model requires you to pedal, push, and pull till you burn a sure variety of energy. Hit your calorie necessities, after which carry out the checklist of workouts beneath, repeating the circuit as shortly as you possibly can for eight rounds.
|
Exercise |
Description |
|
Burn 80 energy on the assault bike |
Pedal, push, and pull till you attain 80 energy |
|
Bounce rope |
20 seconds |
|
Pace skaters |
10 reps |
|
Aspect-to-side plank walks |
10 reps |
|
Half burpees |
10 reps |
Be aware: That is one spherical of the exercise. There are a complete of 8 rounds on this exercise routine.
2. Reverse Tabata Assault Bike Exercise:
Tabata is an interval-format exercise that burns energy shortly whereas enhancing your anaerobic power system. As this assault bike exercise model targets your anaerobic system, built-in relaxation periods are essential for letting your power replenish, making the reverse Tabata a fantastic choice.
Put in 10 seconds of laborious work, adopted by 20 seconds of relaxation. This routine begins at 8 rounds, however as you construct your endurance, you possibly can add extra rounds. It is a easy exercise, however very efficient.
|
Exercise |
Length |
|
Pedal at max velocity |
10 seconds |
|
Relaxation |
20 seconds |
Be aware: That is one spherical of the exercise. Repeat this spherical 8 instances for your complete exercise routine.
3. Pyramid Intervals:
Pyramid assault bike exercise intervals are deceiving as they begin with much less work (hooray for 10-second dash periods adopted by 50 seconds of relaxation!) however shortly enhance the all out dash period whereas reducing the remaining durations.
The very best work session lasts 50 seconds, and you then start decreasing the dash time and re-increase your relaxation time. Eleven minutes in period, this pyramid exercise is grueling and pushes your endurance to the following stage.
Full one 11-minute spherical of this assault bike exercise, pedal at a sluggish to medium tempo (aka a restoration tempo) for five minutes, after which carry out the pyramid intervals another time.
Pyramid Assault Bike Intervals:
|
Minute |
Exercise |
Length (Dash/Relaxation) |
|
1 |
Dash on air bike |
10s dash / 50s relaxation |
|
2 |
Dash on air bike |
20s dash / 40s relaxation |
|
3 |
Dash on air bike |
30s dash / 30s relaxation |
|
4 |
Dash on air bike |
40s dash / 20s relaxation |
|
5 |
Dash on air bike |
50s dash / 10s relaxation |
|
6 |
Dash on air bike |
55s dash / 5s relaxation |
|
7 |
Dash on air bike |
50s dash / 10s relaxation |
|
8 |
Dash on air bike |
40s dash / 20s relaxation |
|
9 |
Dash on air bike |
30s dash / 30s relaxation |
|
10 |
Dash on air bike |
20s dash / 40s relaxation |
|
11 |
Dash on air bike |
10s dash / 50s relaxation |
Be aware: You’ll be able to carry out this routine for as much as 2 rounds, finishing every spherical in 11 minutes. Alter the depth to your health stage and guarantee correct type throughout sprints.
4. Air Bike Calorie Intervals:
The easiest way to burn energy in a full physique air bike exercise? You guessed it: Set a exercise objective to burn energy. With a calorie burn objective for every minute, the air bike intervals get progressively tougher because the exercise progresses.
Pedal, push, and pull till failure, and observe your development every week to keep watch over your positive aspects. Each minute added to your time means extra progress.
Put within the work firstly of every minute, pedaling laborious to hit your calorie objective. When you hit it, relaxation for the rest of that minute, earlier than minute 2 begins, and your calorie objective will increase.
|
Minute |
Exercise |
Energy to Burn |
|
1 |
Burn 4 energy |
4 |
|
2 |
Burn 7 energy |
7 |
|
3 |
Burn 10 energy |
10 |
|
4 |
Burn 13 energy |
13 |
|
5 |
Burn 16 energy |
16 |
|
6 |
Burn 19 energy |
19 |
|
7 |
Burn 22 energy |
22 |
|
8 |
Burn 25 energy |
25 |
|
9 |
Burn 28 energy |
28 |
Be aware: The desk contains the primary jiffy of the air bike exercise for example. Proceed growing the calorie objective by 3 for every subsequent minute till you attain your restrict or failure. Alter the depth and tempo primarily based in your health stage and monitor your type in the course of the exercise.
5. Timed Interval Exercise:
The one method to make an assault bike tougher is to throw burpees into the combination. This timed 6-round assault bike burpee interval exercise has you air-bike at your highest depth for five minutes, regularly growing your burpees as you go.
We’ve programmed this exercise for half-hour, however you possibly can simply personalize this by shortening the time, growing burpees, or ramping up your pedaling as your health stage will increase.
|
Spherical |
Exercise |
Length/Reps |
|
1 |
Pedal at highest depth for five minutes |
5 minutes |
|
|
Carry out 2 burpees |
2 burpees |
|
2 |
Pedal at highest depth for five minutes |
5 minutes |
|
|
Carry out 4 burpees |
4 burpees |
|
3 |
Pedal at highest depth for five minutes |
5 minutes |
|
|
Carry out 6 burpees |
6 burpees |
|
4 |
Pedal at highest depth for five minutes |
5 minutes |
|
|
Carry out 8 burpees |
8 burpees |
|
5 |
Pedal at highest depth for five minutes |
5 minutes |
|
|
Carry out 10 burpees |
10 burpees |
|
6 |
Pedal at highest depth for five minutes |
5 minutes |
|
|
Carry out 12 burpees |
12 burpees |
Be aware: You’ll be able to substitute burpees for future assault bike exercises too, with workouts just like the push up, pull up, kettlebell swings, and even planks. You’ll nonetheless have an efficient exercise with any of those choices, however burpees are arguably the toughest.
Bonus Assault Bike Exercise:
For the last word calorie-burning exercise, problem your self to burn 100 energy within the shortest time attainable. Bear in mind your time, and proceed pushing your self to beat it. Or, bump up the depth, and see how shortly you possibly can blast 200 energy.
WHAT MUSCLES DOES AN AIR BIKE WORK?
Virtually each muscle in your physique works throughout an assault bike exercise because of the pushing, pulling, biking, and resistance.
Simply consider the completely different cardio choices accessible in your fitness center: the elliptical does a fantastic job working the arms, shoulders, and chest, whereas the rowing machine works the again. A treadmill, elliptical, rowing machine, and stationary bike require activation from the decrease physique muscle tissue. Mix these actions and qualities into one powerhouse piece of fitness center tools (ahem, the air bike), and also you’ll activate each main muscle group.
Here is a breakdown of all of the muscle tissue working. Spoiler alert: There are a whole lot of them.
- Triceps
- Biceps
- Deltoids
- Pectoralis main and minor
- Latissimus dorsi
- Abdominals
- Obliques
- Erector spinae
- Hamstrings
- Hip Flexors
- Gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus
- Quadriceps
- Hamstrings
- Calves
6 BEST ASSAULT BIKE BENEFITS
The advantages of an air bike exercise are plentiful. The next perks come while you carry out rides on air cycles.
1) Builds muscle:
Do not forget that lengthy checklist of muscle tissue we simply highlighted? Due to the resistance, every of them turns into stronger when utilizing an air train bike.
As your lower-body muscle tissue are biking your complete time, and your arms are constantly working in a pushing-pulling movement throughout this full physique exercise, all your main muscle teams interact in the course of your air bike exercise. Continuous engagement plus resistance equals extra muscle.
2) Burns energy:
Estimating energy burned throughout a exercise is all the time difficult as a result of it depends upon a number of elements, together with your top, weight, and exertion throughout train. However if you happen to think about the calls for an assault bike locations in your physique, which includes gaining muscle whereas constructing endurance, you can begin to place two and two collectively that it’s a fantastic calorie burner.
As well as, assault bikes are perfect for HIIT and Tabata exercises, which may torch energy in a brief period of time. Analysis evaluating HIIT to resistance coaching, biking, and operating, discovered that one HIIT session that mixes resistance coaching and cardio train (on this case, the air bike) burns extra energy and will increase the center fee extra considerably than different workouts2.
As for energy burned, a separate research reviewed high-intensity interval coaching on a stationary bike and located that in simply 2.5 minutes, damaged up into intervals of 5 30-second sprints adopted by gentle pedaling, contributors burned as much as 220 energy3.
5 minutes of labor for 220 energy equals 44 energy per minute, which is phenomenal. Now, think about utilizing that very same HIIT format on a motorcycle the place your legs and arms are each working constantly. What number of energy you possibly can burn is limitless! When pedaling at your quickest velocity, you could possibly burn near 80 energy per minute on the air bike.
3) Helps weight reduction and sheds stomach fats:
No exercise permits you to spot goal physique fats, however as you burn energy throughout cardio coaching and drop extra pounds, you’ll lose extra fats all over the place, together with the belly space. Analysis evaluating HIIT to different types of steady-state cardio, reminiscent of jogging, discovered that HIIT reduces extra belly fats4.
HIIT exercises can scale back urge for food post-workout, whereas the pressure positioned on the anaerobic power system results in the next fee of fats burn. This can be a nice weight reduction instrument for everybody however could be notably helpful for an endomorph physique kind health routine.
4) Improves cardiovascular health:
As your main muscle tissue transfer constantly in opposition to resistance whereas on assault bikes, your coronary heart works simply as laborious.
Enhancing your endurance makes your coronary heart extra environment friendly at delivering oxygen to your muscle tissue, and as your endurance improves, you possibly can pedal sooner to proceed pushing your self. This technique retains constructing your coronary heart muscle tissue whereas making certain you keep away from a plateau.
5) Improves psychological toughness:
An intense exercise pushes you mentally simply as a lot because it does bodily, and the assault bike is difficult to say the least. You’ll attain a degree the place your physique is drained and needs to cease – in spite of everything, why does it matter if you happen to give up 2-3 minutes sooner than you deliberate?
However push by, end your assault bike exercise, and you will be mentally and bodily stronger for having finished it.
6) Helpful for everybody:
Whether or not you might be on the lookout for a low-impact exercise, one that can push your anaerobic system and cardio system, increase your endurance, or assist with weight reduction, air bikes verify all of the packing containers.
Now that you recognize the superior advantages of Air Bikes you is perhaps interested by buying one. If that’s the case, be certain to take a look at our put up that covers the Finest Air Bikes in the marketplace at present.
FORM TIPS FOR THE ASSAULT BIKE
You now know the advantages of the air bike and the muscle tissue it really works, and you’ve got a number of nice routines to work into your fitness center routine. The one factor left is to make use of correct type to get probably the most out of your assault bike periods.
- Alter your seat top. Essentially the most uncomfortable factor you are able to do for your self is hop in your assault bike with out adjusting the seat. You must have barely bent knees when sitting; assume 20 levels or so. This place allows you to pedal with extra drive whereas defending your knees.
- Lean ahead barely. One other technique for extra drive manufacturing, it helps you pedal sooner and burn extra energy.
- Hold your trunk nonetheless whereas pedaling. When on assault air bikes, hold the work in your legs and arms by not transferring your torso facet to facet or forwards and backwards. Transferring your trunk space places you at the next threat of injuring your again. Hold your torso nonetheless so your core should work more durable to stabilize your limbs and defend your again.
- Push, pull, pedal. Keep away from letting one muscle group work more durable than the remaining when utilizing a fan train bike. Simply as a lot work ought to go into your higher physique because it does your decrease physique.
FAQs
In quest of extra nice air bike exercise data? You’ve got come to the precise part!
HOW LONG SHOULD ASSAULT BIKE WORKOUTS BE?
Your exercise size depends upon your health stage. If you’re at first levels of constructing muscle and endurance capability, begin with 10-12 minutes and work your means up. If you’re in reasonable form, an excellent starting place is 15-20 minutes, whereas somebody very match can goal the 20 to 30-minute vary. HIIT exercises place excessive calls for in your physique, so pushing previous half-hour is pointless. In case you attain half-hour and are not totally fatigued, pedal sooner.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU DO AIR BIKE WORKOUTS?
Simply as you should not practice the identical muscle group on back-to-back days, that very same protocol applies for high-intensity interval coaching on the assault bike. Energy coaching, HIIT, and Tabata depend on the anaerobic power system, that means your physique wants time between periods to construct muscle and replenish power shops. Inexperienced persons on the assault health air bike ought to purpose for one session per week, whereas intermediate to superior health ranges can purpose for two to three periods per week. Be certain to offer your physique 48 hours between assault air bike exercises.
Air Bike Exercises: Abstract
Properly, there you could have it! Every part it’s essential learn about assault health bikes and maximizing your time on them. All you could have left is to get to the fitness center, hop on certainly one of these old-school machines, and put together to burn energy, construct muscle, and blast fats.
Belief me, it will be probably the greatest full-body exercises you are able to do.
Need to carry assault bike (a.ok.a. air bike) exercises to the consolation of your house? Try our checklist of the 8 finest air bikes in the marketplace. In search of a suggestion? Go for the Blitz Assault Bike from Bells of Metal. In our opinion, it’s the best choice in the marketplace.
The Blitz Air Bike is the definitive selection to your residence fitness center. Belt pushed with an outsized fan and comes customary with wind guard, bottle and cellphone holder and a brilliant comfortable seat…
References:
- BROWNE JD, CARTER R, ROBINSON A, et al. Not All HIFT Lessons Are Created Equal: Evaluating Vitality Expenditure and Relative Depth of a Excessive-Depth Useful Coaching Routine. Worldwide Journal of Train Science. 2020;13(4):1206-1216. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7523891/
- March 2015 – Quantity 29 – Subject 3 : The Journal of Energy & Conditioning Analysis. journals.lww.com. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2015/03000/Caloric_Expenditure_of_Aerobic
- Sevits KJ, Melanson EL, Swibas T, et al. Complete each day power expenditure is elevated following a single bout of dash interval coaching. Physiological Studies. 2013;1(5). doi:10.1002/phy2.131
- Boutcher SH. Excessive-Depth Intermittent Train and Fats Loss. Journal of Weight problems. 2011;2011:1-10. doi:10.1155/2011/868305
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