Air bikes, aka fan or assault bikes, are top-rated stationary bikes because they’re easy to use and compact. Many people purchase air bikes because they want to get healthier and happier, but these indoor cycles have many other benefits for your mental and physical wellbeing.
We’ll discuss them below.
Afterward, we’ll focus on some assault bike risks you need to consider. Few people know this, but fan bikes aren’t suitable for all people and can become dangerous if you’re not using them correctly.
Scroll down to find out more!
Table of Contents
Benefits Of Air Bikes
Let’s start with the advantages:
1. Increased Stamina
An air bike benefits your stamina, just like most other cardio equipment, because when you’re challenging yourself, your heart gets a good workout too. Besides, your lungs get used to normalizing your breathing even during intense effort so that you won’t be gasping for air anymore.
And here’s the bonus.
Assault bikes come with a unique selling proposition: their moving handlebars.
So as you’re moving your entire body, you can get your heart pumping faster without feeling out of breath. The absence of exhaustion in combination with a higher heart rate is essential to building stamina.
2. Total Body Workouts
We already disclosed this advantage in the paragraph above, but it’s too good not to mention again. Air bikes employ your entire body, which means you’ll burn more calories as you’re working out.
Thus assault bikes are best if you don’t want to purchase other fitness equipment for home use. They’re also excellent if your goal is to lose weight quickly or need comprehensive warm-ups before a total-body routine.
3. Workout Variety
Workout variety is essential to keep your body guessing and to engage your brain. Unless you do that, your body will get used to your routine, and your metabolism will slow down. That’s how you get weight loss plateaus.
Air bikes are easy to adjust, though. For instance, many people pedal without using the handlebars. This exercise gets them more quad work. But you can also find a lot of resources on assault bike workouts on YouTube to maximize your routines and target your muscles from all possible angles.
As you can see, you can use your assault bike for low-intensity steady-state cardio workouts, HIIT, and resistance training.
4. Knee And Back-Friendly
Assault bikes have a unique build that keeps your back straightish without having to bend over the handlebars too much. That sort of design is excellent for people with chronic back pain, the elderly, or pregnant individuals.
Besides, almost all stationary bikes – maybe except spin bikes – are very mild on your joints, absorbing all impacts to your knees, ankles, and hips. That means you can use an assault bike safely even if you have some preexisting health conditions.
5. Improved Flexibility And Balance
A fan bike benefits your flexibility because it mildly exercises your joints and hips. As you’re exercising your ligaments and toning your muscles, you’ll gain more functional abilities. Thus, you’ll be able to stretch, bend, or lift yourself effortlessly.
Your fan bike benefits your balance, too, because your lower back muscles and abs become stronger as you contract them more during your workouts. As you know, balance is critical during day-to-day life, especially if you’re recovering from surgery or an older adult.
6. Value For Money
Assault bikes benefit your wallet, too, because they’re affordable compared to other fitness equipment. For example, an average-priced air bike is in the $700-$1,000 range, but a reasonable treadmill costs double this amount.
Here’s another thing:
Assault bikes are highly scalable, and it’s virtually impossible to grow out of yours. So, choose a durable model and start pedaling!
The explanation is pretty simple.
See that massive fan in front of your bike? The harder you pedal, the faster it spins. And the faster it turns, the more resistance it creates.
So brawny people will create more resistance and will, thus, become even more muscular.
7. Fits Any Home Gym
Assault bikes are rugged, cheap, and don’t take up a lot of space. They’re versatile and train your total body so that you can use them for a myriad of fitness goals or training types.
So, whether an assault bike is the only thing you have in your home gym or sits aside some free weights and a vibration plate, it’s definitely helpful.
8. Burns A Lot Of Calories
How many calories – that’s on you. For instance, low-impact steady-state cardio can burn around 100 calories for a 120-pound female who’s not pushing herself very hard. Conversely, some people end up burning up to 90 calories/ minute on their assault bikes.
You can see that’s a vast range, so it’s critical to challenge yourself.
The advantage of an assault bike compared to other stationary bikes is that you’re using your whole body. So even a slow-paced workout can get you a higher calorie burn simply because you’re moving your arms too.
Basically, assault bikes are the best stationary bikes for home use if your goal is quick weight loss.
9. Lower-Body Resistance Training
We already pointed out that air bikes are versatile pieces of equipment for all types of training. Well, here’s one more: lower-body resistance training.
All you have to do is pedal with just your legs to set your quads on fire. This type of exercise increases your lower body lean muscle mass, especially in combination with strength training workouts. So, for example, add a few minutes of no-hands pedaling as a burnout round after a lower body workout to grow your legs’ muscles.
10. More Brain Power
As your heart and lungs get more robust, more oxygen gets to your brain. Besides, exercise releases happiness hormones called endorphins along with reward hormones called dopamine.
Oxygen, happiness, and rewards activate your brain.
That means your brain will do its job better so that you can be happier and healthier. Working out on your assault bike will decrease brain fog, mood swings, stress, and insomnia. Besides, it will strengthen your body against free radicals so that you can face pathogens better.
Disadvantages Of Air Bike
Now that we’ve discussed the most critical air bike benefits, you’re probably anticipating some of its disadvantages.
For example, we said those large fans activate assault bikes. You must have figured that fans don’t offer as much resistance as a heavy flywheel, right?
And that means air bikes are best for total body toning, not muscle building.
That may matter to you if you want to shape your body and develop lean muscles. It may also matter if you’re going to lose weight long-term because lean muscles accelerate your metabolism, so you can burn more calories even when you’re Netflixing.
Another possible disadvantage stems from their joint and back-friendly construction.
This sort of design is excellent if you have a skeletomuscular condition that requires extra care. On the other hand, this design prevents you from challenging yourself if you don’t have any such issue.
If that’s your case, know that an assault bike won’t strengthen your bones as well as walking, running, or strength training. If you’re past 35 or have a chronic problem like osteoporosis, you’ll need to consider increasing your bone density.
Thus, consider weight-bearing exercises such as walks in the park or some weight training.
Another assault bike disadvantage stems from the fact that it helps you lose weight fast. Air bikes are excellent for intense cardio because they’re so easy to employ – after all, you won’t need to push into a heavy flywheel.
And that’s a problem.
Many people become excited by their fast progress, and then they overdo it. You, too, may be tempted to exert yourself pedaling for hours every day.
That’s a bad idea because your muscles won’t have time to recover and because your body will get used to the effort. That leads to weak muscles and slow metabolism, which means you can actually gain weight and look flabby from over-using your assault bike.
Of course, you should consider that all this effort increases your risk of injuries.
If your goal is fast weight loss, go about it smartly. Do HIIT workouts on your assault bike and squeeze in one rest day between your routines.
Pro tip: If you’re doing just steady-state cardio for flexibility and your sessions last less than 20 minutes/ day, you can exercise daily.
In Conclusion
Assault bikes are excellent low-impact tools to help you lose weight, tone, and increase mobility. They’re affordable, long-lasting, and scalable. Besides, you can find plenty of attractive workouts to keep you motivated.
Conversely, air bikes aren’t best for muscle building and increasing bone density. Remember that over-training is very tempting on fan bikes, so plan your routines smartly to achieve your fitness goals.
It also helps to know that not all assault bikes are created equal. Some are best for toning, others for HIIT, and others for flexibility. So, choose wisely, considering all your needs and preexisting health conditions!
Mary advocates for one powerful idea: fitness is about challenging yourself, but it’s not a race against the clock. She wants people to understand that the best fitness equipment doesn’t have to be expensive or very popular. The best workouts and machines should always fit your style and needs, not the other way around. So, Mary’s dedication and hard work are the engines that keep this website going.
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Hi Mary. In the last paragraph of your article on assault bikes, you write that, “It also helps to know that not all assault bikes are created equal. Some are best for toning, others for HIIT, and others for flexibility.” Could you elaborate on which air bikes are best for each of the three purposes you mentioned, and the reasons. Thanks.