Working out on an exercise bike is a great way to lose weight, strengthen your legs, and get more energy throughout your body. But choosing between a recumbent or upright exercise bike can bring up some questions that need to be answered.
These questions will be addressed in this article, and by the time you're done you should know whether a recumbent or upright exercise bike is right for you.
One thing to take note of is the fact that an upright exercise bike is a more "natural" pedaling motion than the recumbent. It's good for those people with no lower back problems due to the way you have to sit on it. However, it's hard to sit on for a long time unless you buy a high quality bike. Upright bikes are notorious for making your butt hurt after prolonged periods due to low quality seats.
If you have back problems, I highly suggest trying out a recumbent exercise bike first. The way you lean back helps support your lower back so you don't have any pain while exercising - which is always a good thing!
One feature that's different between the 2 bikes is that the upright bike uses more muscles than the recumbent. Due to the position you're in while sitting on the bike, you're going to use more support muscles to keep good posture while simultaneously pedaling and getting a great leg workout.
However, I'm not saying that you won't get an incredible workout on a recumbent bike, because you will. This is only a slight difference - one you probably won't ever notice.
But one advantage of the upright bike is that you are able to stand up and get your butt off the chair - allowing you to pedal harder and faster. This simulates going up a hill and can give you a much more intense workout.
In the category of comfort, the award definitely goes to the recumbent bike. If comfort is a major reason for purchasing a recumbent or upright exercise bike, go with the recumbent bike. You can find a recumbent exercise bike review by simply typing "recumbent exercise bike review" in a search engine. This will show you the reasons people like recumbent exercise bikes over upright bikes.
The reason they are more comfortable is because upright because simply have a small seat to sit on and no back support. In a recumbent bike, you can lean back against a back support similar to a desk chair. The seat itself is also much wider, allowing for a very comfortable seat.
However, with this added comfort comes a price increase. On average, recumbent bike prices are slightly higher than upright bike prices. You need to ask yourself how much higher of a price you're willing to pay. To me, comfort is very important - but to others it might not matter as much.
Schwinn exercise bikes seem to have great prices, whether it's a recumbent or upright exercise bike. Just remember that a lower quality recumbent bike is probably just as comfortable as a high quality upright bike.
For both of the bikes, the more features it comes with the higher the price will be. Very basic models are only about 0 while models with dozens of different features can get as high as ,000. For the beginner, 0 is a great price that can give you a wonderful bike you'll use for years to come.
No matter which one you get, the recumbent or upright exercise bike is a great piece of exercise equipment to have. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but in my opinion the recumbent exercise bike is better for the majority of people. As I mentioned earlier, I believe Schwinn exercise bikes are one of the best brands and you can find recumbent exercise bike reviews online very easily - so make sure you do it!
