Schwinn Exercise Bike - Fitness Bikes

Biking is a fantastic activity for exercising.  You can get a decent cardio workout, with minimal impact to your joints and bones.  If you really want to simplify your workout, get your self a Schwinn exercise bike that is stationary.  This saves venturing out of the house, and having to brave the dangers of the outside world.  What with rain, lightning, potholes, rabid dogs, and motorists that are under the delusion, that bikes have no business on the roads. 

While it true that biking is pretty good physical activity, it's still not quite as good as running, or spending time on a treadmill or elliptical machine at home or your local health club.  Your mainly using your lower body, and your upper body is primarily at rest.  What this means is, your likely to have to spend more time biking than running, to get an equivalent calorie burn.  Schwinn makes some good exercise bikes, that attempt to maximize your workout a little more.  By including mechanisms to increase resistance, your workout becomes more intense.  Additionally, by including movable handlebars that provide more resistance, you do get a chance to work your upper and lower body at the same time.

Schwinn also makes, what they call recumbent exercise bikes.  While I have seen a few of these on the outdoors, most are meant as stationary bikes to be used indoors.  The nice thing about the recumbent bikes, is that you sit in a very comfortable position.  Typically, they have a back rest, and your feet are in front of you on the pedals.  Which is different than most bikes (stationary, or otherwise) where the pedals are underneath you.  Being in a more comfortable position, allows you to bike for longer periods of time.  This makes it easier to get the maximum cardio workout you can.  They're also nice, because they free up your hands for other activities.  Such as working on a laptop, playing video games, reading books, or just running the remote control for that fancy new LCD you just purchased.

The gadget geeks should be thrilled with these bikes, especially the Schwinn 213 model.  It comes with a mini computer built in, that keeps track of all kinds of statistics to keep you motivated and on track to meeting your goals.  I know when I workout, I like having a target to hit.  Whether it's a certain distance, speed, or RPMs.  It makes it more fun for sure.  Many bikes will also connect to a heart rate monitor you can wear.  The bike, then displays heart rate, calories burned, and whether your staying in your target zone or not.

I did see one bike, that could connect directly to your laptop, and take you on a virtual bike ride.  It's kind of cool, as it simulates a ride through the mountains, forests, or even the tour de France.  I can't remember if it was a Schwinn bike or not.

So, if your keen to do a little biking away from the hostile environment and weather of the great outdoors, then an indoor exercise bike can be a great solution.  They don't usually take up much room, and are pretty convenient 7/24 - 365 days a year.  All it takes is a little motivation. 

Most customers are pretty happy which Schwinn bikes, and also enjoy the extra accessories included.  Book holders, place for water bottles, and even MP3 holders make it just a bit more convenient.  While Schwinn 213 is not an industrial strength machine, it should be more than adequate for most home users.  For the price, you should be able to get a few years of exercise out of it at the very least.