By Aritra Laha / 26 Feb 2021
Cycling has always been a core component of fitness. Those who cycle every day have excellent muscles and can get the perfect amount of cardio done. But many people do not have the time to cycle on the streets in the morning. So to compensate for the tedious task of mapping a route and getting a proper bike and focusing on being safe, people can opt for a better alternative which is a stationary bike.
A stationary bike is a piece of exercise equipment that is used for indoor cycling. These are equipment that perfectly emulate the experience of cycling outdoor without the hassle of actually being outside. Apart from the convenience of being at home, the stationary bike allows you to customize the experience while pedaling. This means if you want to have a more intense workout session, you can easily adjust the parameters to do so and the opposite is also possible for the days you want to take it easy. Like all exercise and training equipment, stationary bikes have their fair share of benefits and advantages. Those who have their home gyms should make exercises bike a part of their routine and those who go to commercial gyms should ensure that they get a few rounds on the bikes whenever they get the chance.
That being said, here are the top 5 reasons why you should start using a stationary bike:
1. Lower And Upper Body Toning: it can be understood that by using a stationary bike, you can easily tone your lower body. But did you know that using stationary bikes also helps tone your upper body too? When pedaling, you are working your skin and quads the most. The rotation motion also helps train your glutes while your hamstring provides support. Along with this, if you add some simple hand weights and resistance bands, then you can also easily tone up your upper body. By not using your hand to support yourself, you can effectively and more efficiently work on your core. It should be kept in mind that when undergoing such training, the weights added should not be the same as what you would use during strength training. Rather, increase the weights slightly and increase the number of reps that you do.
2. Healthy Heart and Better Breathing: using a stationary bike is a form of low-impact exercise. Still, this is considered a form of cardio. So even though, the impact on your body is comparatively low, you can get a good cardiovascular workout done on stationary bikes. Having the right amount of resistance will help work the heart harder and make it pump blood better, this is essential for a healthy heart and helps prevent the risk of heart attacks and other heart-related illnesses in the future. A better working heart means that all the other organs in your body are getting more amounts of blood and oxygen. This is the same for your lungs. A harder pumping heart will need more oxygen which causes the lung capacity to increase. This amounts to better breathing which in turn helps increase stamina, endurance, and healing of broken/ torn tissues.
3. Promotes better sleep: A lot of people have trouble sleeping. This can be a result of numerous causes like restlessness, anxiety, stress and even boredom. Having an outlet for pent up energy is a great way to get proper sleep. This is why getting exercise is a great way to induce proper deep sleep which is essential for the body to heal and remain healthy after a long day’s work. Stationary bikes, being a type of cardio, is great for working up a sweat and releasing any pent-up energy that you may have. This also a great way to relieve stress and tension in the body. Having a loose and tired body helps in promoting better sleep. Better sleep will help you feel fresh and energized when you wake up. Sleep apnea is a common condition that people who are obese or skip out on exercise, may suffer from.
4. Positive mindset: exercise has shown to have a positive impact on the mind. This holds, especially for stationary bikes. Being easy to use, you can get a feeling of accomplishment easily by getting on the bike for a few reps each day. It is a great way to burn excess calories and goes well with any diet making you feel good about yourself. Being healthy and conscious about fitness helps improve one’s mood. This in turn promotes productivity and also helps stick to a healthier lifestyle. Being easy to use, stationary bikes give a sense of progress as many come with inbuilt trackers that display the distance you have travelled and the number of calories that you have burnt.
5. Beneficial for joints: the joints of the human body are some of the most strained parts. They are constantly subjects to stress and this especially holds if you are into HIIT or high-intensity interval training. If you have any injury or are finishing any training that has put a lot of strain on your joints, then using a stationary bike will help ease and relax them whilst letting you get in a few extra rounds of cardio. The rotational movement of the bike offers a low-impact style of cardio that helps keeps your knees healthy. Being low impact in nature also helps prevent any unnecessary injury or sprain from occurring in your knees and other joints.
There is a multitude of benefits of using a stationary bike. This piece of equipment offers benefits that not only are observable in the gym and during training sessions but also can be seen in normal daily life. With more and more people being health-conscious and opting for weight loss, having a stationary bike in your home gym or using one in a commercial gym daily will help get you noticeable results in a short time. So hop on a bike and start pedaling towards your fitness goal on your next trip to the gym.
