Exercise Bike Review
Low-Impact, Cardio Workout

An exercise bike offering the benefits of a great low impact workout for toning your legs, hips and butt and they give your knees a break from impact while offering a great aerobic workout. With an exercise bike you work out:

• Front of thighs (quadriceps)
• Back of thighs (hamstrings)
• Hips (gluteus maximus)
• Calves (gastronemicus)

Selecting the right exercise bike can be confusing. You need to compare prices, specs, company reputation and warranty details. And to add to the confusion you need to decide whether you want a recumbent or upright exercise bike. But having a bike in your home will further encourage a healthy lifestyle. Rather then making the arduous trip to the health club, where you have to pay a costly monthly fee and fight the crowds, you have the convenience of your own exercise equipment in your home.

An exercise bike is the ideal machine for a healthy cardiovascular workout. And ultimately the question is, "how much money do I need to spend to find the bike that will service my fitness goals. Here are a few suggestions when selecting an exercise bike:

A Recumbent or Upright Exercise Bike?

An upright exercise bike obviously simulates the feel of riding a road bike. The different is that you can simulate the road experience in the comfort of your home. Depending on the model you choose, you can get a variety of programs that will make it feel like you are on a flat plain or a hilly terrain. The recumbent bike has many of the same features of an upright bike the main difference is you exercise in a reclining position. The benefit is a recumbent bikes offer the ultimate in lower back and lumbar support! This truly ergonomic aerobic workout completely works your legs and lower back, as well as your cardio levels.

Heart Rate Control

You can purchase an exercise bike that has either heart rate monitors or heart rate controls. The monitor will display the level of you heart rate so that you can maintain your workout within a healthy range. Heart Rate Control is precisely what its name implies: The exercise bike reads your heart rate, and adjusts itself to keep you within a target range. Here's how it works. The exercise bike has a heart rate receiver inside the console. You wear a wireless heart rate monitor/transmitter (like the one shown at right), which fastens around your upper abdominals. The wireless monitor transmits your heart rate to the receiver in the unit. The unit then adjusts the intensity of your workout until your heart rate is in your preset zone.

Having Heart Rate Control in your fitness equipment ensures you get the most out of your workout.

Exercise Bike Programs

Some people just want to control the level of tension on their exercise bike. Others want to have challenging programs that will motivate their workout with a variety of options. In fact, there are exercise bikes that have screens that visualize riding on flat roads, hills and mountains. These program often have both pre-set and custom programs. The custom programs let you create your own workout experience.

Smooth and Quiet

From the very cheap exercise bike to the commercial models, the feel can vary. You want a bike that has the smooth flow of a road bike, not a jerky feel. A bike with a heavy flywheel will give you that experience. In addition, you want an exercise bike that is relatively quiet. If you like to watch TV or listen to music when working out, you'll appreciate a quiet model.

An exercise bike will provide a low-impact, high-cardio workout. Buy smart and you will be rewarded.

Several companies we recommend are Tunturi and Horizon. Fairly inexpensive bikes that are a good value.