Exercise Bike vs Spin Bike

Cycling is one of the prominent exercises to add to your daily life, as it aids you in many ways i.e. from weight loss, and toning of muscles to body-changing cardio. It might not be possible for common people to have an actual cycle and travel long distances merely for the sake of exercise getting done. That’s the main reason many commercial and home-friendly exercise bikes have been introduced and many more.

Now, what is the difference between an exercise bike and a spin bike, let us break down them one by one and let you know about the one that suits your needs.

Exercise Bikes

These are the kind of stationary bikes that are more preferably ridden inside the home. All type of indoor bikes is technically exercising bikes just because they fit in one place and allows you to pedal smoothly. Even so, many exercise bikes do have particular frame designs that look like outdoor bikes along with a flywheel in front, seats roughly line in with each other, the handlebars, and the pedals positioned just under the seat. This style is mostly called a “studio bike” because indoor cycling classes happen in a studio. More often exercise bikes have multi-position handlebars that allow the riders to lean forward or just sit up, along with the heavy flywheels of exercise bikes also allow the riders to stand up while riding an exercise bike. Generally, the exercise bike has a flywheel that approximately weighs a few kilos which helps in keeping softness. Also when you pedal on an exercise bike the flywheel will be turning continuously like how a normal bicycle would be coasting a few times after you have stopped pedaling. It is said, exercise bikes are on the lower side because they come with many fascinating attachments that depend on the model for sure.

However, these bikes are a better choice for those who want to have a casual exercise routine and a curious look over their progress. It’s as if you are a fun person who wants to enjoy riding fast and in competition or else you like riding a bike with rhythm where the instructor will teach you to do dance moves with the ride then an indoor exercise bike is a way to go.

Spin Bikes

Basically, a spin bike is a term that was used by a California company named Mad Dogg Athletics in the 1990s. A spinning brand was created by this company and titled their classes “spin” classes. These are the classes that are conducted indoors and in the dark music by the instructor.

Since then indoor classes have been generated by many gyms and companies. Spin bikes are designed after road bikes with the exact styling of exercise bikes. The flywheels of a spin bike are heavy and pedals are bolted with it.

This means if you stop pedaling, the flywheel will be turning continuously under its inertia. This means to completely stop running it you will have to slowly decelerate and the flywheel will slowly lose its momentum.

Also, due to spin bikes having heavy flywheels, it takes more effort for making it ideal gear for more amazing fitness sessions. Its handles are very inclined which will cause the user to lean forward more than one would do with a normal bike.

Spin bikes help to have more rigorous and intensive workout sessions. Those who are passionate about their training and are looking forward to getting more genuine results are likely to benefit from spin bikes in comparison with other bikes.

Exercise Bikes – Cons

Exercise bikes are much better at working out the lower body than the upper body. It also has a seating position only which will not be effective on hips, knees, spine, or ankles, and also is unable for hill climbs.

These kinds of bikes are not made for large people because they might not fit on an exercise bike. While the Intensity of the workout is restricted by limited resistance.

Spin Bikes – Cons

Spin Bikes are not meant for your lower body and it has to push too hard or too fast which will sometimes lead to injuries. It puts stress on your lower back and has less comfortable seating.

Related: Horizon GR7 Spin Bike Review

Stepping towards spin bikes would be hard for beginners. It is not so technologically advanced such as music playback and also you do not get an offer in-depth data that you’ll get with exercise bikes like body fat calculators and program charts.

Comparison of Weight Loss

Now we’ll touch on the comparison of the weight loss that a spin bike or exercise bike will do. Going through this comparison you will be able to make an informed decision about which machine to choose for your needs and goals.

Overweight people can benefit more by burning calories whether from the spin bike or exercise bike. Spin bikes have much more high-frequency and high-intensity workouts so heavy people can expect to burn more calories.

Calorie burn is only one factor in weight loss. When combined with your sleep schedule, diet, and areas of fat on your body spin bikes work much better than traditional exercise bikes. While exercise bikes burn fat along with toning muscles they are suitable enough for all levels of fitness.

By now, you might have got a better idea when selecting a spin bike or exercise bike. Spin bikes are good machines in almost many ways like calorie burning than exercise bikes despite of that many people go for exercise bikes.

The reason for it is they are much more comfortable and low in cost and also maintainable at home for workout use.

However when you have some kind of health issues, such as back pain, and joint pain then it is recommended for you opt for exercise bikes. Choose spin bikes when you are completely fit.

 

Photo by Andrew Valdivia on Unsplash

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