Out of all the home exercise equipment available for losing weight the exercise bike seems to be the most popular, they are light, easy-to-use and many modern exercise bikes can be folded away easily.

The Exercise bike is a great way to exercise conveniently and comfortably, especially in the comfort of own home. They are easy to use and a fairly good fat burning exercise but you have to workout at a range of intensities.

However because the exercise only tends to involve the leg and buttock muscles over a short range of motion and you are sitting down they cannot burn lots of calories so in order to make the Exercise bike more effective for losing weight it may be best to exercise on the stationary bike for longer periods to obtain the best fat burning benefits.

Choosing an Exercise bike

With so many Exercise bikes available on the market it can be a challenging task finding the best bike for burning off fat.

Some Exercise bikes on the market come with various level settings allowing you to train that little harder to develop fitness. Many modern exercise bikes also have digital displays that show your current heart rate, calories burned and the distance travelled. Although remember the amount of calories burned really depends on how a person exercises (the intensity) as well as their metabolism and body type.

There are different types of Exercise bikes available and some have different features which can help burn more calories, for example exercise bikes with arm movement attachments allow you to work the arms to help tone them and burn extra calories.

What are the positive and negative aspects when trying to lose weight using an exercise bike.

Benefits of riding a Exercise bike to help lose weight

  • easy to use

  • convenient

  • home use

  • ideal for people not used to exercising or very overweight people

  • ideal if bad weather means no other activities available

  • watch TV during a workout

  • no load and low injury risk to knees and ankle

  • Helps develop a little leg strength

Negative side to using exercise bikes for losing weight

  • only works leg mainly

  • not a great overall calorie burner

  • may become boring after a few workouts

  • aerobic type of exercise so less chance of boosting overall metabolism rate

  • Some are noisy

  • walking would be just as good without expense

  • The cheaper models are not as smooth to pedal