Unless you’ve been stuck on the International Space Station or at a laboratory in Antarctica for the last year, you’re probably aware that SoulCycle and Peloton are pretty hot right now when it comes to fitness crazes. The former has people showing up to dedicated studios as instructors/DJs scream motivation in nightclub-like settings, while the latter has riders emulating that experience at home. The common denominator: that fact that all that sweating and exertion takes place atop a stationary bike.
In essence, stationary bike workouts are having a moment.
So what’s the big deal about this fitness trend? Glad you asked – here are seven facts!
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1: Stationary bike workouts are great for all levels of fitness.
Yes, it’s true. Whether you’re just starting out on your fitness journey or you’re now at a stage in your life where you’re well-advanced in achieving your health goals, indoor cycling is a great way to have fun while sweating out those stubborn calories away and building your lower-body strength. And all you need is a good pair of spin shoes (they can make or break the workout) and a quality indoor bike.
2: Stationary bike workouts are a low-impact exercise, which makes it easy on the joints.
You may just be recovering from an injury or you just generally feel pain in your knees, then there is no better way than to benefit from indoor cycling. It’s low impact by design. Compared to running when you feel your feet pound the ground with every step, indoor cycling doesn’t stress your joints out too much while strengthening your muscles.
3: Stationary bike workouts only take 45–60 minutes of your day, at least 3x a week.
Within an hour, you’ll find yourself successfully burning fat and calories. Of course, if your schedule permits it, you can amp up your indoor cycling habit a notch by doing it every day. Since you can get an intense workout in an hour, it’s no wonder that indoor cycling benefits the busiest of people. With the use of just an indoor bike, you can get your sweat on without worrying about spending so much time getting a bike out of the front door.
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4: Stationary bike workouts are a great high-cardio workout to help torch calories.
It’s true. By just sitting your butt down on an indoor bike, you can help yourself lose the last bit of pounds you’ve been grieving over the past months. Indoor cycling is a high-cardio exercise, so you help your body burn more in relatively less time, especially during a HIIT or high-intensity interval training session on the bike. This detail is particularly attractive to those who can’t spend more than an hour a day at the gym.
5: Stationary bike workouts are customizable and can be done with a class or in the comfort of your own home.
With indoor cycling, you can customize your workout to varying intensity, degree, and goal. Notably, one of the awesome indoor cycling benefits there is for regular indoor bikers is the creativity they can incorporate with their workouts. Plus, they are not limited to just biking by themselves; they can enjoy an entertainment exercise session with friends in a studio with a live trainer or coach calling the shots and guiding the class’s cycling fun.
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6: Stationary bike workouts are great for building endurance and strength on your quads, glutes and core.
So, you want to have great legs or feel stronger when you go about your normal day-to-day activities? Then try indoor cycling. Contrary to popular belief, indoor cycling doesn’t give you bulky, big legs. This exercise actually works the whole body—yes, even your core. Nevertheless, it is an exercise designed to build the strength and endurance of particularly quads, glutes and hamstrings. So, you’ll not only engage your core, but you’ll also have a stronger lower body.
7: Stationary bike workouts safer and more accessible than outdoor cycling.
So, because you have your own Peloton or any indoor bike at home, you don’t have to worry about ongoing traffic outside when you’re smashing your workout session on the bike. Aside from that being one feature that attracts busy people, the accessibility of indoor cycling is a relatively big dealbreaker for music lovers. Instead of using bone-conduction headphones (which are still currently a piece of pricey tech equipment), you can use ordinary earphones with the volume at full-blast when rocking out your indoor cycling sesh.
And aligned with the fact that you can get your sweats in at the comfort of your own home with indoor cycling ANYTIME, owning your own indoor bike can be a big investment in the long run. (Of course, that’s only going to be true if you commit to it.)
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The Benefits Outweigh the Investment
Sure, running may remain to be the cheapest form of exercise. And paying a per-session indoor cycling class like those offered by SoulCycle or buying your own Peloton bike is no joke on your monthly budget. But, in truth, you can burn more calories in an hour with indoor cycling, compared to spending an hour pounding the pavement.
And so, whether you’re thinking of joining an indoor cycling class or investing in an indoor bike, you can be sure of the fact that physical, emotional and mental health benefits you get from indoor cycling will outweigh any financial investment you may need to make. Now, don’t you think it’s high time to sit your butt down on a bike?