Are you looking to add a stationary bike to your home gym for low-impact cardio workouts? Do your clients have back or joint pain and need help navigating which bike to use for a low-impact workout? Are you working with athletes who are training for their next triathlon or bike race, or looking to cross train? Are your senior clients looking for a suitable cardiovascular exercise option? Stationary bikes are a safe and effective way to accomplish low-impact cardio.
With a variety of options available, including spin bikes, upright bikes, recumbent bikes, and air bikes, it's essential to understand the differences to make the best choice for your fitness goals. This article will compare recumbent bikes and upright bikes to help you determine which is more suitable for weight loss.
Why Understanding the Difference Matters
Stationary bikes are an excellent low-impact exercise and can be suitable for most fitness levels. Different bikes have different levels of comfort, engage different muscles, require different levels of balance and stability, and can play a part in the number of calories burned.
Each client has different limitations and goals. As a trainer, it is important that you have a grasp on these for each client. This information, along with understanding how the two most common stationary bikes are different, will help you provide your clients with the guidance on which stationary bicycle is best for their fitness goals!
Recumbent vs. Upright Bike: Key Comparisons
Each bike has different strengths, so they may serve different roles in your client's training. Consider the following points when deciding which stationary bike to use. Here are the top three comparisons between recumbent and upright bikes:
Read also: Optimize your stationary bike routine
1. Comfort
Recumbent Bikes: The seat of the bike puts the body in a more natural position and is typically easier on your client's joints and back during exercise. The body position is like sitting on a piece of furniture with adequate seat coverage and a back rest. And, in many cases, the back rest is slightly reclined. The seats are typically larger, provide more lumbar back support, and have pedals positioned out in front of the body, making this a much more comfortable and stable ride. One of the most enticing features of the recumbent bike is the larger seat.
Recumbent bikes are easier on the lower back because of the reclined seat. Both recumbent and upright bikes offer low-impact cardio. However, recumbent bikes may be a bit gentler on all your joints. Recumbent bikes are generally safer because you are almost in a reclined position. Recumbent bikes are better for beginners because you don’t have to hold yourself up while you pedal.
Upright Bikes: An upright bicycle is similar to a regular outdoor road bicycle. The seats are smaller with no back support and the pedals are positioned underneath the body. Because of the seat position and seat size, as well as the slight forward lean required to reach the handlebars, riding the bike can be uncomfortable on certain areas of the body:
- Tailbone region
- Shoulders
- Neck
- Arms
- Wrists
An upright bike looks similar to a traditional bicycle, with the pedals positioned under the body. You have to engage your core, back, and arm muscles to maintain the correct position on an upright bike.
2. Muscle Engagement
Recumbent Bikes: Recumbent bikes keep the client in a seated position without the option to stand and engage different muscles. Because of the seat position and slight recline, many clients do not engage their core/abdominal muscles using this bike.
Read also: The Benefits of Bike Riding
Using this bike typically only engages the lower body. However, because it provides a stable environment that does not require your client to hold on to the handle bars, clients can be a bit more versatile with what they do with their hands during exercise (utilize weights, read a book, etc.). On a recumbent bike, you are mainly using your quadriceps, hamstrings, tibialis anterior, calf muscles, and glutes. With your glutes, core, and back fully supported, you’re left with an efficient way to target the leg muscles.
Upright Bikes: The upright bike allows your clients to stand, just like a road bike. This will allow them to engage more muscles and use different muscles than just a seated pedaling position. Because the seat requires the client to hold themselves up during exercise, sitting and standing on an upright bike will engage your client's core/abdominal muscles. However, this does require a bit more balance and stability than the recumbent bike.
The lower body is engaged in both seated and standing positions. Shifting to a standing position will also engage their glute muscles and arms. Alternating from seated to standing positions offers more of a full body workout. In addition to your lower body muscles, an upright bike engages:
- Core muscles including abdominals and erector spinae which work as stabilizers.
- Back muscles, the quadratus lumborum muscle and iliopsoas, which maintain your position and support the spine.
- Biceps and triceps which are used when you hold the handlebars.
With an upright bike, you are using those same muscles plus your abdominal and arm muscles to hold yourself upright.
3. Calorie Burn
Recumbent Bikes: Recumbent bicycles have a stigma of not being as effective as the upright exercise bike in regard to calorie burn. However, calorie burn is heavily determined by the intensity and duration of the workout. And, the recumbent bicycle can be just as effective as the upright bicycle.
Read also: Comprehensive Guide: Exercise Bike Weight Loss
Because of the comfort of the bike, in comparison to the upright exercise bike, many clients may find it easier to spend more time on the recumbent bike. Also, they're able to push themselves harder and pedal faster, which will result in more calories burned. This is a great option for clients aiming for weight loss.
Upright Bikes: Because upright bicycles can engage more muscles, most people assume clients will burn more calories. This can be true. But there are other factors to consider. These bikes tend to be less comfortable, which could mean the duration and intensity of your client's workout is much shorter. This may also impact their enjoyment of the exercise which can heavily affect calorie burn over time. However, for clients that don't mind the slight discomfort and are looking to work hard, this can be a very effective way to burn calories.
Because it engages more muscles, an upright bike burns more calories. On average, 1 hour of cycling on a recumbent bike burns 20% fewer calories than the same training on an upright bike (320 calories vs 400 calories for a low-intensity training). Adding several HIIT sessions per week will make this difference even larger.
Additional Considerations
Intensity and Workout Types
An upright bike is more universal and usually offers more types of workouts, including both HIIT and steady-state cardio. In contrast, a recumbent bike is suitable mostly for low-intensity steady-state training due to its reclined position, making it harder to push the pedals when intensity is increased.
Recumbent bikes do still offer low-intensity steady-state workouts, which done in your fat-burning zone (60%-70% of your maximum heart rate), are still effective for losing weight. Most recumbent bikes offer 8 to 24 levels of resistance so you can adjust workout intensity to increase the calorie burn.
Time Efficiency
Recumbent bike training can be quite time-consuming compared with an upright bike due to its low-intensity steady-state nature. On the other hand, an upright bike lets you effectively cut your training time with HIIT sessions, making a 20-minute HIIT workout as effective as a 45-minute steady-state cardio workout.
Cardiovascular Fitness
Both types of exercise bikes are effective for improving your cardiovascular fitness - strengthening your heart muscle, regulating blood pressure and glucose levels, reducing unhealthy cholesterol levels, and increasing capillary density.
A study of young healthy adults during moderate-intensity exercise on a recumbent and upright bike showed that a reclined position puts less strain on the cardiovascular system and allows participants to recover faster to their resting heart rate.
Space
Recumbent bikes tend to take up more space than upright bikes do.
Choosing the Right Bike for Your Needs
It is important to understand your client's goals and limitations to help them determine the best bike to fit their needs. Both stationary exercise bikes can be effective, but each has their own purpose.
Clients with knee, ankle, back and shoulder pain may find that the recumbent bike is more suitable for exercise. Keep in mind the recumbent bike is suitable for almost all fitness levels. The good news is that both the upright bike and the recumbent bike offer low-impact solutions for the knee joint. As far as cardiovascular exercise equipment is concerned, either option will be a safe solution if you need a piece of cardio equipment for bad knees.
For those looking for a little more versatility, wanting to engage their full body, and seeking a ride that mimics an outdoor bike, the upright bike is a good choice.
Ultimately, it’s up to you on which riding position you prefer-for comfort, needs, and performance goals. Also, we recommend talking to your physician before purchasing or using an exercise bike to gauge the best course of action for you as an individual.