How to choose an exercise bike for home? Types of exercise bikes. Top tips for choosing home exercise equipment - Setafi

It’s easy to figure out how to choose an exercise bike for your home. First you need to decide on the purposes of its use, then study the main types and their technical characteristics. For more information about selection rules, see this article.

Purpose of use

First of all, you need to understand for what purposes the device will be used. It is conditionally possible to distinguish 3 groups of tasks:

1. Maintain moderate activity, especially during recovery from injury. This also includes wellness classes for the elderly, sparing exercises for people with a lot of excess weight.
2. Weight loss at a moderate pace, maintaining muscle tone.
3. Active weight loss and the rapid formation of a beautiful relief of the legs.

In the first case, you can practice only 1-2 times a week. For such purposes, standard models are suitable, as well as a bicycle ergometer - this is a tool that simulates a bicycle ride. Compared to conventional simulators, these are more advanced models. They allow you to adjust the load as accurately as possible due to the necessary settings.

In the second case, it is recommended to choose a regular model for home use, inexpensive, but at the same time not too cheap. This is the most common group of models that are purchased most often. The number of workouts is moderate - 2-3 times a week.

Finally, for quick weight loss and sports training (third case), it is recommended to purchase professional devices. They are more expensive, but they are distinguished by increased wear resistance. Designed for intensive training 5-6 times a week.

Types of exercise bikes

When choosing, you should also study the main types of exercise bikes. Depending on the dimensions, there are 2 types:

1. Vertical - a classic version with a seat, like a regular bike. Compact, so they are well suited even for a small city apartment.
2. Horizontal – has a seat with a back, thereby reducing the load on the back. Suitable for overweight people, as well as for diseases, back injuries.

Another important criterion is related to the control system. It can be of 3 types:

1. Mechanical – works without connection to electricity, is simple and convenient in management. Such models are cheaper, but they do not allow you to set a particular program, to determine the level of load.
2. electromagnetic - a modern simulator with a network connection. Equipped with several programs with a different number of load levels (minimum 16). It works from the mains, less often from the built-in generator, which needs to be periodically charged.
3. induction - the most advanced devices belong to professional simulators. They are characterized by maximum reliability, able to maintain a given level of load for a long time. At the same time, they are the most expensive of all, most often used in fitness centers.

Criterias of choice

Also, before buying, you should pay attention to other criteria, how to choose a home exercise bike:

1. User weight - each model has a maximum load, but you need to purchase with a margin (optimally add 20%).
2. The space in the apartment - if it is too small, you should not give up the simulator. You can simply purchase a folding model or a compact vertical type device.
3. Availability of programs - if the goals are related to weight loss, cardio exercises, you need to choose a model with pre-installed software.
4. The presence of an informative display is a convenient addition that allows you to get all the necessary information during a workout.
5. Flywheel weight is a very important parameter that is often overlooked. This is a disk that starts to rotate when you press the pedals. It is optimal that it has a sufficiently large weight - at least 8 kg. If you plan to simulate cycling as accurately as possible, the weight should be from 15-20 kg.

Thus, there are several ways to choose an exercise bike for your home by studying the types of exercise bikes. All the described criteria matter - from the type of device to the weight of the flywheel. It is better to purchase models of advanced brands with a long warranty period. It will not be superfluous to study customer reviews on different sites.