Is a cycling machine as good as a real bike for exercise?
More people abandon bicycling machines than they do bicycles. If you do not own either one right now, but it’s been a while since you experienced them, then you should go to a gym or recreation center and try one for a few hours. The same goes for a bicycle, but you will most likely have to borrow one from a friend or rent one. One clear advantage of having a bicycle is that you can go places on it and there are lots of bicycling clubs that sponsor rides, so it’s a great way to meet people and have more of an incentive to exercise. You can always buy a bicycle trainer to turn your bicycle into a cycling machine of sorts if you live in an area where it snows. But you can never take a cycling machine for a ride. Each has it’s advantages, but a bicycle is much more versatile. Of course, you’ll never have to wait for a red light on a cycling machine.
Most people find riding on a stationary bike to be really boring, plus you get super hot from not having wind blowing on you and then have to have a fan going. On a real bike, you have changes in terrain and wind speed that force you to ride differently to adapt – speeding up, turning, stopping, coasting down hills, etc. On a stationary bike, you have to pretty much peddle constantly, which is great, but tiring. If you can make yourself simulate real riding conditions by alternately increasing and decreasing the resistance to simulate going up and down hills, you’ll get a better work out. It’s also ok to stop peddling for 10 to 20 seconds once in awhile to give you muscles a chance to rest, like when you go down a nice hill. If you can, try even standing up to peddle once in awhile, anything to alleviate boredom and change things up. On a side note, I find that I tend to ride a lot slower when I put my bike on a trainer in the winter than when riding on the road, so you must be conscio
Cycling machines are good but not as good as actual cycling. Cycling machines are static which means they have no movements (except the pedals), whereas cycling uses far more muscles and has more natural movements. Cycling is also far more motivational especially if you live in the countryside or near a nice park, etc. And of course you can’t beat fresh air.
