Home cardio machines are great for building your stamina in the comfort of your own home. Whilst road work/running is a great form of cardio, depending on where you live, you can’t always expect to be able to go for a run outside. There may be heavy rain or snow, dangerous winds, ice on the floor, and so on. It can literally be hazardous to your health to go running in such conditions. If the roads are icy, it may even be dangerous to drive to the gym.
This is why home cardio machines and other home workout gear are such a good investment. There’s less excuses as to why you didn’t exercise. It’s far easier to just jump on a bike or use a treadmill in your own home then it is to get ready, travel to the gym, exercise, shower, drive home, etc. It’s one long arduous task that can be avoided altogether by using a home gym.
Treadmills are great but they can be a bit bulky and take up a lot of space in your home. A good piece of kit would be to get an air resistance bike, or air assault bike.
Best Air Bikes Reviewed
These stationary air bikes operate very similar to ordinary stationary bikes that you may have seen, used or even already own. The main difference however, is that there aren’t any speed/resistance settings on air resistance bikes. You literally create your own resistance depending on how fast and hard you decide to cycle. Whatever your fitness level, you won’t find yourself out of your depth or struggling. You can go at your pace.
h3Assault Fitness Assault AirBike/h3
Amazon product
You have literally unlimited amounts of resistance built in to this bike. Not like other stationary bikes where you only have a certain amount of resistance options, you can just pedal harder and harder and achieve more and more resistance. Infinite resistance!
The seat is fully adjustable in that you can raise the height, bring the seat closer of further away from the main handle column, and even how you want the seat tilted. Unlimited resistance and almost unlimited amounts of seat control too.
Assault Fitness have included a built-in computer system which allows you to set different goals and ways of achieving them, including interval goals, watts goals, etc.
h3Stamina ATS Air Resistance Exercise Bike/h3
Amazon product
Like all air resistance bikes, and unlike other exercise bikes, this product from Stamina includes handlebars that move back and forth similar to that of an elliptical machine. One issue with normal bikes is that they work your legs hard but your upper body remains unstimulated. With air bikes, you can get a full body workout in, which allows you to burn more calories and increase your stamina faster and more efficiently.
You can adjust the height of the cushioned seat to varying extremes so you’re completely comfortable and ready to work the moment you set yourself in the machine. Though the seat can be moved quickly and painlessly if you do need to adjust it mid-workout.
h3Schwinn AD2 Airdyne Bike/h3
Amazon product
The pedals and the handlebars are connected and synchronised so that they move naturally in unison. No jerky movements; just a smooth and steady motion throughout both your upper and lower body. Though Schwinn have included stationary foot rest pegs on to the bike in case you just want to give your legs a break and just isolate your upper body.
You might have one location that you want to set your bike up and use it only there. But, if you would like to move your bike around and use it in different locations, you’ll be happy to know that the transport wheels on the base of the machine allow you to move it around effortlessly. If you wish to store it away out of sight and only get it out when you need to use it, then you can do so quite easily.
h3Marcy Fan Exercise Bike with Air Resistance System/h3
Amazon product
Many air resistance bikes do not feature the ability to manually adjust the resistance. I.e; no knobs or dials to turn up the toughness. This bike from Marcy, however, allows you adjust the resistance level via by just using it or by turning the knobs up/down. This is great if you want to dive straight into a tough workout or if you want to turn the knob right down and ease yourself into the exercise.
Marcy are also proud of their ergonomically-designed pedals that give your feet/lower body the ultimate in comfort. With this machine, you want to be working your muscles and lungs, not causing pain or discomfort to your feet and joints.
An easy-to-read computer display allows you to keep track of how far you’ve ridden, how many calories you’ve burned and many other metrics. However you like to track your workouts, you won’t find yourself disappointed with this bike and its LCD screen.
h3Schwinn AD6 Airdyne Bike/h3
Amazon product
Schwinn are one of the companies leading the way when it comes to air resistance bikes. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience on the subjects which has led them to release several bikes; for different price points, adding new, more advanced features, etc.
They have included a quieter, frictionless fan to the AD6. This is good for more than just the noise; a frictionless fan means less opportunity for the fan to be caught, worn down or flat-out broken. So the quieter fan will actually help the bike run better for longer.
As I’ve said, Schwinn have had a long time to really learn and fine-tune their bikes to make them as good as they possibly can be, and the AD6 is no different. You’d be hard-pressed to find a smoother, better designed bike on the market today.
Overall
Many people use these bikes solely for exercise purposes; to get a workout in and make progress. But they can be just as useful for soothing injury and recovery.
As the resistance matches itself to your own output, you never have to worry about being pushed harder than you can handle and the smooth motion can be great for blood flow and general recovery.