Styles of Stationary Bikes

!±8± Styles of Stationary Bikes

Stationary bikes come in more styles and types than most people realize. Many people still visualize the class upright stationary bike with the handlebars directly in front of you.

Today you'll find recumbent exercise bikes, you'll find mini fitness bicycles and you'll even find peddles isolated as devices entitled peddlers. These peddlers don't even have handlebars.

Recumbent stationary bikes are great for people with back problems, prostate problems or hemorrhoids. They allow you to sit in more of a bucket seat than a saddle and they allow you to lean back. Recumbents vary, from bicycles which aren't that different from a standard upright stationary bicycle to recumbents which are low to floor and almost have you lying down backwards.

One drawback of recumbents is that they don't workout your glutes to the same degree as an upright. For those of you who don't know what I mean by glutes, I basically mean your butt. So if you're trying to tighten your rear through bicycling, a recumbent may not be your best bet.

Mini fitness bicycles are essentially bare bones exercise bikes which often fold up for storage. The basic concept here is to provide a stationary bike for people with little space to fit their exercise equipment. They often lack the varying and robust resistance capabilities of larger, more complicated models, but they still provide you the basic ability to get your bicycle exercise indoors.

Peddlers are a step smaller than mini fitness bikes. These are almost not bicycles at all: they are often just an isolated peddle mechanism. Peddlers allow people to obtain bicycle-like exercise without having to have a full stationary bike. You can often use a peddler while sitting on your couch or even at your dining room table. You will also see peddlers used by hand to exercise arms. This ultra miniature take on the stationary bicycle is often used for physical therapy.

So before you quickly categorize what you think stationary bikes consist of, be sure to do your research to learn about all the different varieties and capabilities available.