Most people who go to a gym do this for two purposes. The first purpose is to gain muscle (muscle hypertrophy), the second is to lose weight.
Those who go to the gym to lose weight will know that to do so you have to undergo aerobic workouts, which involve a greater calorie expenditure. There are two types of aerobic training, which in jargon are called “new school” and “old school”. The new school relies above all on high intensity circuits (the so-called HIIT). Instead, the old school (still prevalent) uses cardio machines such as stationary bikes, elliptical machines, and treadmills.
Yet even those who prefer to train with cardio machines should try to keep up with the times. Yes, because almost everyone does an exercise bike, elliptical trainer or treadmill but this is the tool to burn the most calories in the gym. We are talking about the Air Bike, a cardio machine borrowed from CrossFit and now present in many gyms. Although the average gym user looks at the Air Bike with distrust, this machine allows us to burn calories like no other.
Almost everyone does an exercise bike, elliptical trainer or treadmill but this is the tool to burn the most calories in the gym
As anticipated, the Air Bike (also called Assault Air Bike) is a cardio machine borrowed from CrossFit and entered the world of fitness. This strange machine has a great advantage: it is a hybrid that allows you to activate both lower and upper body, at high intensity. The Air Bike looks like an exercise bike, with the only difference being that it has a movable handlebar. While the legs pedal, the hands grasp the handlebar and perform pushing and pulling movements, synergistic with the work of the legs. In this way, the upper body, which usually rests in the cardio machines, is also fully involved in the exercise. Consequently, the calories burned increase, also because the activation of the arms has a greater influence than that of the legs on the increase in pulse.
How to train better with this cardio machine that few use
The strength of the Air Bike is that it truly engages all the muscles in our body, like no other cardio machine. In addition to training our aerobic endurance, with the Air Bike we also train our muscular endurance.
Like many of the tools used in CrossFit, the Air Bike goes well with high intensity and interval workouts. We can make the most of the Air Bike within circuits such as the TABATA.
Let’s try a training circuit made up of 8 20-second sets of Air Bike (interspersed with 10-second recoveries). We repeat the circuit 4 times (recovering 1 minute at the end of each round). We will sweat like never before.
Deepening
Three workouts that pay off 100% fatigue