Indoor Cycling: the best exercise for strength and endurance

Exercising on an exercise bike or indoor bike is a good way to gain or strengthen muscle mass in the legs, core and buttocks while improving lung capacity or endurance.

It is one of the most complete exercises along with swimming. It allows you to exercise in a very controlled way and avoid injuries. As you don't have to leave your home, you don't depend on external elements such as the weather, car or people traffic or the pandemic situation.

If you are thinking of buying an exercise bike and you have a moderate budget, here are the things to consider before deciding on a particular model.

Transmission Type

The drivetrain carries the power from your feet to the flywheel. It can be either a belt or a chain drive. More advanced models use a belt drive as it generates less noise and does not require as much maintenance as a chain drive.

Brake

To adjust the different resistances or difficulties to pedalling, the exercise bike can use several systems: friction, magnetic or electromagnetic. The most common form is friction, a pad rubs against the inertia disc which produces an extra effort to maintain the movement. These pads eventually wear out and should be checked and replaced from time to time.

The other two systems are less intrusive and are used on high-end models as they brake the disc without touching it by means of magnetic forces.

Adjustability

Both the saddle and the handlebars are usually adjustable so that people between 1.50m and 1.90m can use the bike comfortably. There are also different grips for the foot to the pedal that allow us to transmit the force in a more effective way to another.

Panel

Since we cannot control the distance we ride in any other way, it is essential to have a display that shows us the duration of our training, its distance and difficulty. In this way we will be able to increase our sessions and control our progressions.

With these basic indications, it is easier to choose the machine that best suits our needs. An exercise bike for a gym where it will be used for several hours a day is not the same as one for home and sporadic use.