Recumbent Exercise Bicycles

Does a recumbent bike really help with weight loss?

I've been using an eliptical machine every other day. On the day between, I'm using a recumbent bike for 30 minutes. Although I work up a mild sweat, I still feel like it's just giving my legs a workout and not the rest of my body. Are recumbents good for cardio? PS- I should mention that the bike is stationary. Riding a bike in this NC humidity just isn't my bag, baby.

Public Comments

1. any exersize is good, don't matter "just do it"
2. It will help as far as keeping up your heartrate and working out your legs. It won't help with your upper body but something is better than nothing.
3. As one who has ridden thousands of miles on bicycles, I can tell you that I prefer other than recumbents, for the simple reason that, if you use toe clips or a similar device, and you truly ride for exercise, that way will seriously trim your stomach down from top to bottom, whereas I don't see that with a recumbent. I must admit I have hardly ever ridden a recumbent, and they're fun for their own sake, but if you're serious about exercise and trimming down your stomach, get off that recumbent and back on an "upright" bicycle, and RIDE!!! I've got twenty to twenty-five years, and thousands and thousands of miles of riding to be sure whereof I speak. God Bless you.
4. oh yes,.. They are especially good for your body because its less taxing on your back. You also get a better workout on your legs. Your leg muscles are the largest muscle groups in your body, they will be doing the work of burning up those *reserves/deposits, that you don't want to have. If you prefer to get a better sweat out of your bike routines, you should climb more hills. As for why you're getting a mild sweat - it could be that its evaporating as you go along. Thats what sweat is supposed to to in the first place, as well as purging toxins from your system. Good luck and take care,... and please try to not to hit and run over any little woodland creatures while you're working out on your bikes. thank you!! By the way a recumbent bike is preferable for another reason besides being good to your back,... If you ever spill (have an accident) you have the opportunity to use your legs more effectively or when you do lose control, you wont have excessive head injuries like with a normal sitting upright bicycle. Collisions are really really bad if you're on a regular bike, any bike rider will confess. The only reason recumbents aren't more popular is because of the cost of the darned things, they are more expensive to acquire. Given a choice I would rather have a recumbent than a regular street bicycle. But recumbents are no good off road (mountain biking) you have to be crazy to try it, even if you had one custom built for off road use, it might be safer to have it as a three wheeler, that is if you have the money to attempt making one for mountain biking, you may as well put in a roll bar and cargo racks for camping too.
5. Yeah they are. Think about your legs and the muscle mass they contain. There is a lot more there than in other parts of your body. I agree though that the recumbent isn't usually too strenuous generally unless you really crank it up with higher resistance. It's great that you are balancing out between the two machines. Do you have access to a stairmaster too? That will leave you feeling like you've had a really good workout. One frustrating thing for me is that the stairmaster has a calorie counter just like the elliptical and I know for certain that my 20 minutes or half hour on the stairmaster burns far more calories than the same time on the elliptical but the registers never reflect that fact. I just ignore it and take each on their own.