This is the one bike you’re not using – and the one that will net you the most fat melt and muscle sculpting to transform your body fast.
The air bike is in a calorie-burning league of its own, combining the arm-pumping action of a crosscountry ski machine with the leg-firming power of cycling against serious resistance.
Unlike its road or spinning counterparts, it uses a fan (which is why it’s also called a fan bike) to generate wind resistance, so the harder you pedal, the harder pedalling gets.
Your chest, back, arms, abs and obliques get sculpted double time as you aggressively push and pull the handles to generate more power and speed. “You waste no time ramping up or gearing down,” says Ian Armond, a programme manager at Basecamp Fitness in the US, known for its HIIT workouts featuring the Assault Airbike. “There’s no effort level you can hit that the bike can’t match, so the calorie-burn potential is nearly unlimited.” Sure, you could use it for endurance workouts, but it truly shines in short bursts of all-out pushes, Ian says, which is why he created this workout alternating 40-second intervals of air biking with body-weight strengtheners.
Strap your feet into the pedals and ride like mad, gripping the handles firmly as you push them out and pull them in with as much force as you can muster. The harder you go, the more resistance you create and the bigger burn you earn. “You’ll engage your entire body and push up to your cardio max for faster results,” Ian says.
You’ll likely feel on the brink of exhaustion throughout because you won’t get much of a breather. But that’s the point. “The bike won’t let you plateau because you can never fully acclimate to the resistance,” he says. “It’s the sweet spot for melting fat and building muscle because you’re constantly being pushed just outside your comfort zone.” Try his power ride: We think you’ll be a fan of what it does for your body.
