Why A Stationary Bike Should Be In Every Home

• Burns Body Fat And Helps With Weight Loss: There’s the obvious benefit of weight loss. Since an indoor cycling bike works nearly every part of your body, it is ideal for losing weight. Depending on the difficulty of your workout, you can burn more than 600 calories an hour! The more calories you burn, the more weight you can lose. To lose 1 kg or about 2 pounds, you’ll need to exercise for at least an hour on your stationary bike three times a week.

• Improves Your Heart Health: Regularly working out can improve your cardio-respiratory capacity, which means you can exercise longer without being out of breath. It’s also well known that exercise can improve your heart health and reduce cardiovascular disease risk. By exercising your body, you’re also exercising your heart muscle, which can lower your blood pressure and decrease the risk of a stroke. Cycling can lower your cholesterol, which also reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. To take advantage of these benefits, you should exercise at least two to three times a week for 30 to 45 minutes.

• Reduces The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes: An endurance sport like cycling can offer plenty of benefits for people with diabetes. When we workout, our muscles use glucose, and our blood sugar levels decrease as a result. If you have diabetes, lowering your blood glucose levels is vital for your health. Exercising can also benefit your insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone in our bodies that regulates our blood glucose levels and lowers your blood sugar levels right after eating. If you have diabetes, your insulin levels aren't functioning correctly, and you have an increase in blood sugar instead. Regularly exercising makes your body more sensitive to insulin, which means that the amount of insulin your body needs to lower your blood glucose level decreases so your blood sugar can be better regulated.

• Gives You A Low-Impact Workout: The smooth movements of a home exercise bike help strengthen your joints and bones without putting too much pressure on them. For anyone with joint issues or injuries, cycling is perfect for you since it is gentler on your knees and joints than running or other exercise forms. You can still have a challenging and fulfilling workout where you reach your fitness goals without potentially damaging your joints or being in pain.

• Strengthens Your Muscles And Tones Your Body: Using a fitness bike for your aerobic exercise is crucial for strengthening your legs and lower body. The constant pedaling will strengthen your calves, quadriceps, and hamstrings, as well as your core, glutes, and back, providing an excellent overall body workout. And, if you have a stationary exercise bike with handles, you can even strengthen your biceps, triceps, and shoulders as you work your upper body. 

• Boosts Cardio Fitness: Cycling is an excellent way to strengthen your heart, muscles, and lungs by getting the blood and oxygen flowing in your body. This can improve your memory and brain function, support your immune system, help you sleep better, and lower stress levels. Who wouldn't want those health improvements in their life? All of that is possible for you and more by merely exercising four to five times a week.

• Helps Your Mood And Gives You Energy: Have you ever heard the phrase, “runner’s high”? That good mood you experience isn’t just limited to running. Doing any form of exercise can produce endorphins and serotonin, which gives you a feeling of euphoria several hours after your workout. Those happy hormones are crucial to help regulate your mood and relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. Using a stationary bicycle can also give you energy and help you not be as tired throughout your busy day. A study in Athens, Georgia, shows that people can increase their energy levels by 20% and decrease their fatigue by 65% by regularly engaging in low-intensity exercise.

• Fights Against Degenerative Diseases Like Alzheimer’s, Dementia, And Parkinson’s Disease: It is essential to exercise throughout your entire life and not give up when you get older. Studies have shown that regular physical exercise can reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer’s by up to 50%. If you already suffer from memory or cognitive problems, exercising can slow further deterioration since it stimulates the brain’s ability to retain old connections and make new ones.

• Indoor Cycling Is Safer Than Riding Outdoors: While this may not seem like a health benefit at first, getting injuries caused by unsafe road conditions or unaware drivers won't help your health. Additionally, if it's too hot, you could suffer dehydration or heat exhaustion. And if it's raining or snowing, road conditions could be dangerous. With an indoor stationary bike, you can bike at any time and in any weather and not have to worry about it being dark outside, low visibility, or bad weather conditions.

• The Style Of Exercise Bike: There are three main styles of bikes to consider. There's a regular indoor cycling bike, an upright bike, and a recumbent bike. An indoor cycling bike or spin bike looks pretty similar to the bikes you see in the gym. An upright stationary bike is compact and ideal for fitting in small spaces. It is designed like your typical road bike, where you sit upright and lean over the handlebar as you cycle. A recumbent exercise bike allows you to sit back as you pedal, which provides a little more stability. This means that it's even gentler on your joints than an upright exercise bike and takes some pressure off your back with its back support. 

• The Type Of Resistance The Bike Provides: The more resistance there is, the more intense your workout is, and the more significant results you'll achieve. You can turn up the bike's resistance to get the same level of difficulty as cycling up a hill or turned down when you want a more leisurely ride like cycling on a flat road. An indoor stationary bike has two kinds of resistance, friction resistance and magnetic resistance. Physical friction resistance is caused by your pedal squeezing the pads against the flywheel, much like a regular outdoor bike. The tighter you manually adjust the knob attached to the pad, the more resistance on the flywheel, which makes it more challenging to pedal. 

Magnetic resistance is incredible since there aren’t any parts rubbing together that can wear down. The flywheel passes through a magnetic field, creating magnetic resistance. If you want a higher resistance and a greater challenge pedaling, you’ll move the two magnets closer to the flywheel. If you wish to reduce the resistance, move the magnets further from the flywheel.  It has an adjustable resistance, controlled either by buttons on a console or a tension knob. Another difference between physical resistance and magnetic resistance is the noise level. A bike with friction resistance will have a low hum, like a loud whisper, whereas an indoor bicycle with magnetic resistance is 100% silent since no pieces are rubbing together. A bike with magnetic resistance is ideal for an intense, high-speed cardio workout. They may be pricier, to begin with, but they’re well worth the quality in the long run.