If you happen to discover that the majority cardio exercises really feel too onerous in your physique, the very best recumbent train bikes are a wonderful different. As an alternative of sitting perched over the handlebars (like on a conventional stationary bike), you’re in a reclined seated place on a recumbent bike. That places much less pressure in your knees and core, and engages your hamstrings extra, Andy Fata-Chan, PT, DPT, a bodily therapist and health coach at Second Bodily Remedy & Efficiency in New York, tells SELF.
Intrigued? Able to improve your property gymnasium with a beginner-friendly piece of train tools? Proper this manner—we spoke to Dr. Fata-Chan about the advantages of recumbent bikes, what to search for within the mannequin you convey dwelling, and the very best machines at present available on the market.
Our prime picks
- Greatest General: NordicTrack 10 Recumbent Bike, $1,500
- Runner-Up: Sole LCR Train Bike, $2,000
- Greatest Funds Choose: Merach S19 Recumbent Train Bike, $360
- Greatest Splurge: Life Health RS1 Lifecycle Train Bike, $2,339
On this article
Store the very best recumbent train bikes
Begin pedaling.
Greatest General: NordicTrack 10 Recumbent Bike
NordicTrack
10 Recumbent Bike
Dr. Fata-Chan extremely recommends NordicTrack’s recumbent bikes—and the brand new 10 mannequin is actually distinctive. It has an adjustable seat with lumbar help, extensive pedals, and resistance stage controls proper on the handlebars. It’s a severely comfortable bike that newcomers and seasoned cyclists can equally take pleasure in. The extensive resistance vary and iFit entry make it simple to select your tempo and discover courses that focus on your health stage. Plus, with the bike’s SmartAdjust characteristic, it might probably mechanically dial into the precise stage of resistance that fits you.
At $1,500, the ten Recumbent Bike is actually an funding. However its sheer consolation and studio-quality exercises make it properly value it.
Weight: 186 kilos | Dimensions: 67.20 x 23.30 x 51.90 inches | Resistance settings: 26 ranges of magnetic resistance | Weight capability: 350 kilos | Show: 10-inch touchscreen
Membership and app choices
This bike is appropriate with iFit memberships, which join you with hundreds of trainer-led exercises, sync with third-party apps like Strava and Apple Well being, and value $15 per 30 days for iFit Prepare and $39 per 30 days for iFit Professional.
Runner-Up: Sole LCR Train Bike
For much more resistance choices, pre-programmed and customizable exercises, and a transparent interface, take into account the Sole LCR, one other prime choose from Dr. Fata-Chan. He says it has a fantastic vary of options and shouts out the massive show, which makes all of it the better to comply with together with the Sole+ App’s exercises. It additionally has a snug seat and a heavy-duty flywheel, so you’ll be able to put a ton of miles on it with out worrying about put on and tear.
The one draw back to the Sole LCR is its barely increased value, which is why we put it behind the NordicTrack. That mentioned, if you happen to’re open to this worth level, it’ll severely improve your property exercises.
Weight: 152 kilos | Dimensions: 56 x 29 x 60 inches | Resistance settings: 40 ranges of magnetic resistance | Weight capability: 350 kilos | Show: 10.10-inch touchscreen
Membership and app choices
The free Sole+ app comes with all Sole health tools and gives entry to tons of of courses.
Greatest Funds Choose: Merach S19 Recumbent Train Bike
Merach
S19 Recumbent Train Bike
Merach’s extra budget-friendly S19 recumbent bike received a SELF House Health Award final yr for its practically silent experience, breathable mesh seat, and kit shift-style resistance controls.
Katie Pierson, CPT, creator of MT Lady Health, an indoor biking teacher, and a House Health Award choose, informed us it’s her favourite machine when she desires a extra relaxed experience. “I assumed it was such a fantastic piece of apparatus that I gave it to my mother after I used to be completed testing to assist her with hip-replacement rehab,” she says. “I nonetheless experience it after I go over to her home.”
Weight: 97 kilos | Dimensions: 48.03 x 23.62 x 46.46 inches | Resistance settings: 8 ranges of magnetic resistance | Weight capability: 330 kilos | Show: LCD show display screen
Membership and app choices
The Merach Health App has free courses, progress monitoring, scenic rides, and exercise challenges.
Greatest Splurge: Life Health RS1 Lifecycle Train Bike
Life Health
RS1 Lifecycle Train Bike
Dr. Fata-Chan notes that the Life Health RS1 Lifecycle bike doesn’t have fairly as many high-tech options because the NordicTrack and Sole do, nevertheless it comes along with your alternative of two show consoles. The Go Console gives core metrics, whereas the Observe 2.0 is extra detailed and may connect with health trackers just like the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch. That lends the machine a streamlined expertise that spares you the difficult tech, so you may get straight to pedaling.
Bells and whistles apart, this bike merely gives a clean, luxurious experience. It’s quiet, comfy, and constructed to final. If you happen to’re bored with schlepping to your gymnasium or PT to log a while on a recumbent bike, you’ll be able to convey that high-quality exercise expertise dwelling to you.
Weight: 133 kilos | Dimensions: 66.50 x 25.50 x 51.50 inches | Resistance settings: 20 ranges | Weight capability: 300 kilos | Show: LCD display screen
Membership and app choices
This bike is appropriate with the Life Health Join App whenever you entry it out of your private machine and connect with the bike by way of Bluetooth. The App has an enormous train library, exercise monitoring, and exercise scheduling.
What are the advantages of utilizing a recumbent train bike, in comparison with biking on a conventional train bike?
As SELF has beforehand reported, low-impact cardio is a superb different to operating or plyometrics if you happen to take care of joint ache. And in case your ache is concentrated in your knees and again, a recumbent bike is an particularly good possibility—even in comparison with an ordinary train bike, Dr. Fata-Chan says. “The recumbent bike has much less calls for on the knees and again, so it may be used as a regression,” he explains. He provides that recumbent bikes additionally put much less stress in your core and trunk, attributable to their reclined seats.
Plus, recumbent bikes are the higher alternative for folk recovering from an damage. “Whereas each [recumbent and upright bikes] are low impression, the recumbent is even much less impression, making it a fantastic possibility for rehab,” Dr. Fata-Chan says.
What must you search for when searching for a recumbent bike?
Possibly you need an enormous show display screen, Bluetooth connectivity, or membership-only courses. You could find these techy options in plenty of high-end fashions. However there are additionally recumbent bikes for individuals who desire a extra streamlined person expertise—say, a easy LCD display screen and straightforward changes. Dr. Fata-Chan says these options are completely a matter of non-public choice, however it may be useful to notice which of them really feel key to your exercises earlier than you begin purchasing.
Dr. Fata-Chan recommends contemplating the bike’s seat adjustability, whether or not it has added help within the again relaxation, and the way simply you may get onto and off the bike. It’s best to be capable of attain the pedals comfortably and really feel supported by means of your decrease again. Most recumbent bikes have a step-through design that makes it comparatively simple to get seated and begin pedaling. However the placement of the bike’s handlebars and show console can have an effect on this, so see if you happen to can take a look at a pair fashions out in individual.
Recumbent bikes are likely to have bigger footprints than conventional train bikes, so ensure you have sufficient room in your house gymnasium earlier than bringing one dwelling. Measure your house, then take note of the mannequin’s dimensions. Dr. Fata-Chan additionally notes that heavier bikes are usually sturdier and extra sturdy. If you happen to plan to make use of your machine loads, the additional weight could possibly be properly value it.
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