learning2ride

I workout at lifetime fitness and use the stationary bike(that has wattage meter) to do some indoor training due to the weather. I was told that I'm wasting time on that bike and wont see any benefits. I was told rollers and trainers offer waaaaay more benefit.

Here are my benefits:
anytime you can spin your legs is a positive
I can crank up the tension and work on power
I can do intervals


Disadvantages
you are not fitted for the stationary bike
the trainer or rollers allow u to use your bike which is fitted for you.
you are not in the wind
you don't use your core since bike is stationary

My main focus is overall cardio and increasing leg strength and power with the weights and stationary bike.

what are your thoughts?

exime

I go to the club 6 nights a week in the winter and my legs are undoubtedly getting stronger and stronger every day and my body overall in better shape. Am I perfecting my "cycling technique"? No, but who gives a ****. At least you can bring your cycling shoes and clip-in. You can also do the basics like sprint or stand up and churn out a leg-burning mountain climb on a high gear. Plus, I get to jump in the Sauna/Steam Room/Hot Tub after my workout

To get the best indoor cycling experience just make sure you're using something like this:

mprelaw

Rollers>trainers>stationary bikes. Most stationary bikes don't offer the same range of rear wheel resistance as even a basic magnetic trainer does. Rollers most closely imitate the actual riding experience.

That's just my two cents, though.

TrojanHorse

Riding outside > Rollers > trainers > stationary >>> sitting on the couch.

It is what it is.

TheRef

Go ahead, use the stationary as much as you can. Ride outside when the weather or your schedule allows. Have fun.

exmechanic89

I ride a recumbent at the gym during the winter, using pretty high resistance. Then yesterday I did a 20 mile actual bike ride - first time in around 2.5 months - through some pretty hilly areas and I rode pretty quickly and efficiently. Felt very strong, in fact.

So my thoughts are that indoor bikes can certainly keep you in shape. The thing is most people who use them at gyms just waste their time because they use little or no resistance, and then top it off with a very low cadence. But if you're willing to sweat a bit I think they're a great workout.

Bah Humbug

Let me just edit that...

running > trainer > sitting on couch > stationary bike > riding outside >>>>>> falling off rollers

TrojanHorse

No. No, no, no, no, no. Huh uh, nope, bzzt.

Besides, running is for criminals.

I shoulda put more little >>>>> between riding outside and the rest of it though. I can't stand going nowhere.

janejskelton

Hello guys! An exercise bike is not so good if you want to burn your belly fat. But it can fix or improve Knee, hip joint problems. And it can also increase your cardio fitness. To get the best benefit you should pedal faster with a medium to the high resistance level.

dabac

The only activity that will let you do targeted fat loss is a visit to a liposuction clinic.
Bicycling - ANY kind of bicycling - only very rarely ”fixes” joint problems.
About the only time bicycling would reliably be expected to improve a joint problem is when it replaces a high-impact activity like running, or some other activity causing overexertion issues.

Agreed.
”Pedal faster” and ”medium to high resistance” isn’t particularly helpful when you don’t know what cadence or resistance a person is currently using.
Resistance recommendations are near pointless since exercise bikes generally aren’t calibrated. Watt bikes can be quite OK though.
Many new riders tend to ride at a (too) low cadence, but it’s not guaranteed. Give a number instead.
IME, rookie riders are more likely to use (too) low cadence and (too) high resistance.
So recommending to ”pedal faster” is fairly likely to be useful, ”high resistance” not so much.

Recommending an effort level, ”ride where talking begins to get difficult” or something along that line is more helpful than ”high resistance”.

dabac

For general fitness purposes, how LONG and how HARD you go at it is MORE important than WHAT you do.
As long as you’re working up a sweat and getting winded there’ll be benefits.
And with a watt meter you have decent proof that you’re actually giving it some effort.
The biggest issues with stationary bikes IMO are:
- boredom
- overheating
- your performance on a stationary bike is a poor indicator of how you’d do during real riding. It can still be good exercise, but don’t use it as sole evidence of being able to do a century ride etc
- they don’t let you practice bike handling or group riding skills, which are also important.

I dunno about ”not working your core”.

I’ve always felt that not having to push through the air forces me to work My back harder, or run the bars higher/closer.
But sure, riding standing, tilting the bike side-to-side doesn’t feel the same on a stationary bike.

Duo

we just bought an old metal airdyne.

reason? upper and lower body workout.

value? better, much better than sitting on couch. thought about getting a fluid trainer but still no upper workout. these are classic machines and very affordable.

ok, downside is noise. but so is riding a bike.

Riding outside >stationary > Rollers > trainers > >> sitting on the couch.

fixed it. why? the stationary gives upper body work out.

Racing Dan

Why would it be any "worse" than Zwifting? The stationary bikes in my gym has adjustable seat and handlebar, power meter and and many different "programs" for intervals, steady power and many more. If it wasnt so boring I would rate them higher than a basic Zwift, fluid trainer setup.

chaadster

A good stationary bike is an excellent training device. And by good, I'm talking about a different class of stationary bike than what has been referenced above. I'm talking about true power meter equipped devices like the CycleOps Phantom bikes and the Stages SC bikes.

Offering infinite resistance adjustment and precise power readings, you can hit specific targets and maximize your workout time.

There would be no reason to have a trainer if you had one of those two stationary bikes; they can be set up exactly like your bike (the exception being exact handlebar shape, but they are compact drop bars) to duplicate your riding position.

I use an older CycleOps PT300, and do workouts year 'round, even during the outdoor riding season, because they are incredibly time efficient when using power based training regimens.

Duo

sure Chad.

depends what your goals are for the work out. i don't need power meters, smart electronics, precise training regimens, or duplicating my riding position.

others do.

what i need is basic daily exercise and fun; basically what i bought my bicycle for. the Old Used Schwinn Air Dyne machines are cheap, sometimes free, and available everywhere. they give me upper/lower body exercise, no precision needed...for me or the millions of Couch Potatoes out there.

when it comes down to it, it still is the same Old Question: do you use it?

that's it.

chaadster

“Do you use it” is the lowest bar imaginable, whereas the OP was thinking of relative advantages and disadvantages of using a stationary over a trainer, a level of consideration which presumes usage. I don’t understand the point of your comments.

Duo

well Chaadster, he asked this question: I was told that I'm wasting time on that bike and wont see any benefits.

to answer that is easy: any exercise will give you benefits. very simple.

is one better than the other? perhaps, but i prefer a stationary over rollers, and i feel most other riders would too.

chaadster

Irrelevant to OP, but if that’s all you can manage as a contribution, what the hell, it’s Christmas.

Duo

sure Chaadster

well i edited what i said, and now it is 'relevant' (you picked up an early reply that i wasn't done editing, yeah thanks). the first reply was just more on the chat side, but still relevant.

but yeah have a great weekend your self and a 'relevant' new years LOL.

exime, you hit it. get some kind of machine and use it. my preference is the stationary bike with the upper body workout included.




.

Athens80

Are human mitochondria, capillaries, muscle fibers, blood plasma, etc. aware of whether the bike shaped object is indoors or outdoors? How much do they care?

Do naysayers have peer-reviewed evidence that pedaling inside does not build fitness relevant to riding outside?

To bring up one anecdote -- not peer-reviewed unless Tommeke, Ian and Sep count -- did Mat Hayman not win Paris-Roubaix after riding inside for six weeks?

Inside is not the same as outside. It's better, in some ways. But definitely not the same, and as has been said, there are skills that you can't build on a stationary bike or trainer.

Duo

Athen, perfect hit, best reply so far.

i just got off my Schwinn Air Dyne and saw your reply. it's dark and in the 20 something degrees outside, yep i was a former winter couch potatoe, vegging in the winter and too dark to ride...

no more.

even my upper body got worked out better than the lower. did i mention that Boxing Gymns use this Schwinn Air Dyne or other types for the same purpose?

and what boxer gets technique from a Bike Exerciser?

most of us prolly not trying to win races, so technique on a trainer is Totally Irrelevant anyway. But if it is then get a set of Rollers, almost painfully obvious if technique is what you are after.

in the winter i could care less about 'technique' just gimme exercise and some fun.

janejskelton

Hello dabac, thanks for the reply in my comment. I don’t underrate your words but it's not possible to know every person’s cadence or resistance. And also I don’t measure mine. You know better than me that what is your resistance level or cadence. That’s why I’m talking pedal faster with a medium to the high resistance level.

chaadster

This discussion underscores why having accurate language, specifically watts as provided by a power meter, is such a powerful tool for training. Perceived effort is subject to very high variability, and is dependent on factors one cannot control for, notably how you’re feeling, but also heart rate, which can be elevated or depressed based on things other than your effort level.

Of course one doesn’t need power data for training or getting fit, but when specificity matters, there is no good substitute.

Duo

excellent Chaadster.

wish my old Schwinn Air Dyne had all the electronic toys hooked up to it. but i do have RPM and time, with those we can watch our progress or lack there of. the winter has defeated me every year all my life, but now i am taking it back and getting ready for a great spring.

for many of us this is about recreation, exercise and fun. our competition is ourselves and wanna beat my old self real bad.

Carbonfiberboy 

It's all good. As long as you're sweating and your legs are hurting or at least a little swollen when you're done, you got fitter. The main thing is to do it.

I used to do a spin bike class at my gym and then lift weights after. That was convenient. After a couple years of that, I decided I really needed more focused workouts, so started riding rollers at home and driving 7 minutes to the gym for weights. That was more convenient in a way in that I could change clothes at home between workouts and not have to carry that stuff back and forth.

My main objection to spin class was that all the intervals were only 1 song long and all we did was intervals. I wanted intervals of between 30 seconds and an hour, and a lot of time just steady state zone 2. OTOH if you're just on an exercise bike by yourself, your big worry will be blowing your brains out from boredom after a couple years of that. At least at home I can ride with my own music or talk and my wife on her bike to look at. And rollers are never boring or at least have kept my interest for the past 20 years. Maybe I'm easily amused.

Rollers>trainer>riding outside in the dark in the pouring rain. It's not the discomfort, it's the danger, laundry, and bike maintenance. That said, I do the rain thing once a week, and rollers as many days as I want. Riding outside in the light and dry is of course the best, though not always. Sometimes I want to do particular workouts on my rollers which are impossible to do outside.