Most people who want to improve their fitness have to come to a decision on whether they want to commit to a gym membership or being workout equipment home. For many people, gym memberships never get used more than a handful of times, so it makes sense to bring equipment home for consistent workouts.
As an exercise bike is one of the smallest—and often more affordable—type of home workout equipment, you may be considering bringing one of these stationary bikes home to help you have more productive workouts. If you are still on the fence, here are nine benefits of having an exercise bike at home that can help you make your decision.
Easy Access For Exercise
Part of what makes sticking to an exercise plan is the lack of convenience. For instance, if you have a gym membership, you need to find the time in your day to go workout. If you have children, that requires some coordination, especially if they need to be watched or taken to activities.
Then there is the juggling of your own schedule. Rather than trying to pack in a visit to the gym somewhere between work, family, and your other responsibilities, you can just hop on your exercise bike at home.
While you will still need to make time for your workouts, you won’t have to drive anywhere. Instead, you can literally roll out of bed, get changed, and start exercising.
Cheaper Than A Gym Membership
The initial investment of an exercise bike can range from $300-$1,999, depending on the quality of the exercise bike. While that can look like a lot, a gym membership can run you quite a bit as well, and you end up owning nothing at the end.
For example, let’s say your gym membership costs $35 a month—which is pretty cheap for a gym. A year membership will cost you $420. That doesn’t include the hard upselling that happens at gyms. Do you want a locker at the gym? That can run you an extra $5-$10 a month.
Many gyms also push personal trainer services, workout classes, and other services that can really drive up the price of your gym membership. Along with these things, you also need to drive to your gym, which can be an extra 15-20 minutes out of your way, eating up time and gas.
Instead of throwing money at a commercial gym continually, making a one-time investment in an exercise bike makes more sense. As nordictrackpromocodes.com points out, “people are far more likely to use their home fitness equipment than their gym memberships.”
Silent Way To Pack In Workouts
When you don’t want to disturb others in your household or your neighbors, an exercise bike is an excellent workout option. Even if you choose a stationary bike with air-resistance rather than magnetic resistance built-in, your workouts are bound to be far quieter than any treadmill or weight lifting workout could hope.
Parents especially can enjoy the benefits if the only time they have to exercise early in the morning or very late at night. With a silent exercise bike, mom or dad can work up a sweat, and the kids can still sleep peacefully.
Helps With Weight Loss Plan
The majority of weight loss comes with making dietary changes. However, you can supplement your weight loss plan by adding in calorie-burning exercise on a stationary bike.
For instance, let’s say a 35-year-old woman who was 5’5”, and 175 pounds used an exercise bike for a 25-minute moderate-intensity workout. Using an exercise calorie burn calculator, this example woman can burn around 180 calories.
While that isn’t a huge amount of calories burned, if the example woman did the same thing at least four times a week, she could burn an extra 720 calories a week to help supplement her weight loss. Since weight loss is an ongoing journey, this kind of slow-burn can be far more effective than higher calorie-burning activities you end up quitting because they are too draining.
Great Form Of Low-Impact Cardio
Engaging in aerobic workouts that help build up the cardiovascular system is essential to your long term health and fitness.
With regular cardio exercise, you can strengthen your heart, lungs, and prevent issues such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Even better, with an exercise bike, you can engage in low-impact cardio and enjoy all these benefits.
So, if you have joint issues, balance problems, or just don’t like high-impact cardio but want the benefits of a cardio workout, a home exercise bike is an excellent option.
No Need For A Babysitter
When there are young children in the house, it can be difficult to find the time to get away and workout. That difficulty level rises if the parents have overlapping schedules or you are a single parent.
But you don’t have to give up on fitness until your children are older. Instead, to help you be a healthier, more active parent, bringing an exercise bike home makes the most sense. Also, as your children see you make time to work out, they will understand the importance of making time for exercise in their own lives.
Enjoy Your Favorite Entertainment While Working Out
Working out at a gym limits your options when it comes to entertainment. Most commercial gyms require that you use headphones if you are listening to your own entertainment. Also, the TVs set up at most gyms seem to only have two channels—the news and HGTV.
If you aren’t really up for another round of Property Brothers and you want to blare your music but not go deaf, a home exercise bike is for you. It is easy enough to move your exercise bike in front of your entertainment center or just play videos on your personal smart devices. Some high-end exercise bikes even come with personal trainer-built workout videos you can enjoy.
So, rather than being stuck with limited entertainment options, you can free yourself with an array of entertainment during your home workouts and enjoy some natural stress relief as you exercise.
Builds Up Lower Body And Sculpts Muscles
Leg workouts generally fall pretty low on the scale of exercises that people enjoy. But with an exercise bike, you don’t have to do repetitious squats, leg presses, and other lower-body sculpting moves.
In fact, as one study has shown that over just 16 weeks, body fat was significantly reduced by indoor cycling, and the lower body muscles were strengthened. It can be tough to see this progress over time, but by being consistent with your exercise bike, you can sculpt your lower body.
Safer Than Outdoor Cycling
There are a lot of issues that can come up with outdoor cycling, from bad weather to careless drivers and pedestrians. Rather than run these risks, an exercise bike in the comfort of your own home can provide you with a cycling workout without a car honking at you.
With so many benefits to having an exercise bike at home, it just makes sense to add one to your home.
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