Benefits of Air Bikes: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Air bikes which are also known as assault or fan bikes are quite popular as top-rated stationary exercise bikes because of two main reasons – their compact structure and their ease of use. Most people purchase air bikes to get a healthy and happy lifestyle but there are many more benefits of using an air bike as far as your mental and physical well-being is concerned.
In this detailed guide, we will discuss those benefits along with some risk factors that you need to consider before buying them. Not many people are aware of this but air bikes are not completely suitable for all people and they can be rather dangerous if not used properly. So, let’s take a closer look at Assault Bikes (air resistance exercise bikes) –
Benefits of Assault Bikes
Let us start with the Advantages of Air Bikes –
Increase in Stamina
Just like most cardiac-workout equipment, air bikes play an important role in improving your stamina. When you pedal hard on an air bike and challenge yourself, your heart gets blood flowing into it and in turn, gets a good workout.
In addition to your heart, your lungs get used to your heavy breathing during the workouts and normalize that process accordingly. This helps immensely in intense workout sessions as you do not gasp for air anymore.
Moreover, air bikes come with moving handlebars. So, when you are moving your entire body on an air bike, your heart starts to pump blood at a faster rate, and therefore, you would not feel out of breath while riding. So, the sheer absence of any exhaustion coupled with a faster heart rate helps an individual in boosting their stamina.
Full Body Workout
Air bikes with their moving handlebars work on your entire body and not just on any specific part of it. As a result, you get to burn more calories by riding an air bike.
So, if you purchase an air bike, you do not need any additional equipment for your whole body workout. Also, an air bike is your best choice if you want to shed weight quickly or if you are in need of a thorough warm-up session before working on your entire body.
Variation in Workouts
Variety in workout routines is essential for your body as well as your brain. Until and unless you bring some variation in your training routines, your body will soon get accustomed to it and as a result, it will slow down your metabolism rate. And this is how you can get to a ‘weight loss plateau’.
With air bikes, you can easily adjust your routine. If you want more quad work, you can just pedal without using the handlebars or you can watch resources on YouTube to know how you can change your air bike routine to target specific muscles from specific angles.
In a nutshell, an air bike can be used for a variety of things –from low-intensity cardio workouts and HIIT, to steady-state cardio workouts and resistance training.
Knee & Back Friendly
The built of air bikes is such that you can keep your back straight, without having to bend a lot over the moving handlebars. This unique design is highly suitable for the elderly, pregnant women, and individuals who suffer from chronic back pains.
It’s important to remember that most stationary bikes, with the exception of a few spin bikes, work very mildly on your joints as they absorb the impacts on your hips, knees, and ankles. In simple terms, you can definitely use an air bike if you have pre-existing health conditions.
Improves Balance & Flexibility
An air bike improves balance and flexibility as it puts mild pressure on your hips and other joints. If you work on your ligaments for toning your muscles, you will surely boost your functional abilities. As a direct result of this, you will be able to bend, stretch or lift yourself up, without putting in much effort.
When you ride an air bike, the muscles at your lower back along with your abs get contracted. This movement makes those muscles stronger and stronger and in turn, this improves your balance by a considerable extent. And we all know how important balance is in our daily life; especially if you are an elderly person or an individual who is recovering from surgery.
Value for Money
Air bikes come well within your budget compared to some other fitness equipment. To give you an example, on average an air bike like Assault Classic costs you around $700- $1,000. But a standard treadmill will cost you double that.
Also, assault or air bikes are highly scalable. So, it’s almost impossible for you to grow out of your durable air bike.
Another great advantage of an air resistance exercise bike is the massive fan attached to its front. The harder you pedal, the faster that fan will spin. This means brawny people can create more air resistance on them and become more muscular while keeping your fresh during summer rides.
Suitable for All Home Gyms
As mentioned above, air bikes are sturdy, durable, and pocket-friendly. When it comes to space, they are highly versatile and take very little area to settle.
So, whether you put an air bike in your home gym or use your living area for one, you can rest assured that your workout training won’t occupy large spaces.
Burns Significant Amount of Calories
What is the exact amount of calories that an air bike burns depends on you and your workout routine! To give you an example, a session of low-intensity steady-state cardiac training can help a 120 lbs female in burning around 100 calories, provided she is not challenging herself that hard.
On the other hand, some people train hard and burn almost 90 calories a minute by riding their air bikes. The important advantage that an air bike gives you over other stationary bikes is its ability to work on your full body. Therefore, a slow-paced workout on an air bike can burn more calories compared to other fitness equipment.
Helps in Lower Body Resistance Training
In addition to helping you with full-body workouts and quick weight loss, air bikes also provide you with lower-body resistance training.
To get your quads fired up with blood flow, all you need to do is pedal with just your legs. If you combine this training program with strength-training sessions, you will be able to increase the volume of your lower body muscles, quite significantly. To get proper lower-body resistance training, add a session of hands-free peddling after a lower-body workout.
Improves the Power of the Brain
When your lungs get more air, your heart pumps more blood, and more oxygen reaches your brain. On top of that, any form of exercise releases endorphins (happiness hormones) and dopamine (reward hormones) in our brains. So together, oxygen, happiness and reward work hand-in-gloves to improve the power of your brain.
Also, a workout program on your air bike will help you cut the brain fog, act against insomnia and stress, and help you immensely in controlling your unnatural mood swings. So, your brain will be healthier and happier along with your body; which will be able to fight better against free radicals and other pathogens.
Drawbacks of Air Bikes
Having discussed the advantages of air bikes, let us now look at some of its disadvantages –
The Large Fans
Air bikes come with a big fan that gets activated by peddling. But how much a big fan, that too which operates manually, can generate an air resistance, when compared to a heavy flywheel? The answer is not significant! So, air bikes or assault bikes are best for full-body toning and are not meant for muscle building.
As a person if you are looking to shape your body and work on getting some lean muscles, or if you are someone who wants to work on losing weight, for long-term purposes, an air bike is not a good option for you.
The most annoying part of an air bike would be the loud noise. Unlike magnetic spin bikes where there is barely any noise, air bikes create a lot of noise which some people can find it unbearable. So, I suggest you hear the noise yourself and if you have a partner, make sure she/he is okay with it.
Joint-friendly Structure
Here, one of the advantages of the air bikes turns out to be also, one of their disadvantages. The back-friendly and mild-on-the-joint construction of air bikes are excellent for people who have conditions related to their skeletomuscular system. They are the ones who need that extra protection for their joints and back.
If you do not have any such issues, an air bike won’t increase your bone strength or impact your running, walking, and strength conditioning. The friendly design will not challenge you in any way.
If you are an individual suffering from osteoporosis, and your age is above 35, increasing your bone density is critical for you. In that case, you should consider taking walks in the park or training yourself with some weight-bearing programs.
The Problem of Overdoing
As discussed above, an advantage of air bikes is that it helps you in losing weight fast. They are so easy to work out on, that intense cardio sometimes may feel like a breeze; especially when you see the results fast, compared to what you get pushing a heavy flywheel.
As a result people often overdo it, excited by fast progress, and in the end, they start looking flabby than toned. This happens because when you overdo working out on an air bike, your body becomes accustomed to your effort, which then leads to weak muscles along with slow metabolism.
So, be smart about your goals and if you do HIIT on your air bike, take a day off in between your schedule.
Pro Tip: For people who want flexibility and do steady-cardio for less than 20 minutes a day, can easily go about their routine daily!
Conclusion
Air bikes or assault bikes are top-quality, pocket-friendly fitness equipment that helps you in weight loss, muscle toning, and increasing your overall mobility. They are durable, scalable, and you can find a lot of attractive workout programs specifically designed for air bikes.
On the contrary, assault bikes are not the best option when it comes to increasing bone density or muscle building. Always remember that over-training is very common on air bikes and therefore, you need to plan your workout routine beforehand to reach your fitness goals.
Also, note that all assault bikes are not meant for the same purposes. If some are good for toning, then some are best for flexibility training and HIIT. So, before making a purchase, think about your needs, consider your health conditions, and then make a wise decision.
Hi there, I'm Sayed Hamed Hosseiny, the founder and one of the authors at yourexercisebike.com (YEB). I am a former indoor cycling instructor and personal trainer with nearly 20 years of experience. With a passion for indoor cycling, I have spent years designing cycling parts, repairing, and importing exercise bikes. All the articles, tips, guides, reviews, and comparisons on YourExerciseBike.com (YEB) reflect my personal opinion and expertise in the field. I'm excited to share my knowledge with fellow exercise bike enthusiasts and help people find reliable indoor cycling information and the best exercise bike for their needs.
