Physical preparation, rehabilitation, muscular strengthening, the exercise bike is a versatile piece of fitness equipment suitable for all objectives. How do you use it to strengthen your lower body and what additional equipment should you choose to optimise your fitness routine? With a biking programme for each goal, you will never be short of ideas for training at home.

Exercise Bikes: Rehabilitation or Physical Preparation?

Often popular for rehabilitation following a sports injury or for getting back into shape after a period of inactivity, the exercise bike is also an effective piece of fitness equipment for physical preparation. This versatile device is suitable for athletes of all levels and for all purposes: it all depends on the use you wish to make of it.

Above all, like all home fitness equipment, the exercise bike is ideal for training at home, at your own pace, in the best conditions, without depending on the weather or the constraints of gym opening hours. Always available, it is designed to offer an optimal experience in complete safety.

Among its specific features, it allows you to preserve your joints thanks to a fluid, impact-free movement. This is one of the reasons why it is often used in the context of rehabilitation or fitness training, but also for the physical preparation of great athletes, whose bodies are already under great strain elsewhere.

Outdoor cyclists are also keen to use the exercise bike to complete their training and work on technical points in the comfort of their living room before organising sessions on the track or to prepare for a competition, for example.

Indoor Bikes: A Tool for Muscle Strengthening

An exercise bike is particularly interesting for strengthening the muscles of the lower limbs. For example:

• Quadriceps, located at the front of the thighs, are activated when the knee is bent or the leg is extended forward.
• Hamstrings, at the back of the thighs, which allow the leg to be stretched backwards or the knees to be bent.
• Gluteal Muscles (large, medium and small gluteal muscles), which are mobilised during lateral movements of the hips and to carry the legs backwards.
• Supine Triceps, the muscle group of the calves, which are activated when the ankle is flexed at each pedal stroke.

Certain muscles of the upper body also work when riding a stationary bike:

• The abdominal muscles are reinforced to help maintain proper posture and keep the back straight.
• The arms also work, to a lesser extent, as do the shoulders, to keep the hands on the handlebars.

If you are looking for a fitness machine or additional exercises to mobilise the muscle groups of the upper body, you can opt for the rowing machine or bench exercises such as the bench press. Incorporating push-ups and a core exercise such as a plank is also an excellent way to complete an indoor cycling training routine.

A Personalised Biking Programme For Every Goal

To fine-tune your home bike training programme and quickly reap the benefits, adapt the settings of your fitness equipment and create personalised sessions according to your goals:

• If you are aiming to strengthen your lower limbs, favour high resistance sessions.
• If you are looking to get back into shape, whether you want to lose weight or sculpt your figure, opt for a 30-minute session every 2 days rather than a shorter session every day: long efforts are more effective in forcing the body to draw on fat to produce energy. In addition, your cardio capacities will improve very quickly with endurance work.
• If you are new to indoor cycling, start with 20-minute sessions and gradually increase the duration of the training.

Find interactive sports sessions specifically designed for your NordicTrack exercise bike and suitable for all purposes in the iFit® library! The resistance of your bike and its inclination are automatically adjusted during the session. Whether you want to pedal to the rhythm of the stages of the Tour de France or ride through the most beautiful places in the world, there is an iFit® programme to suit your current mood! Sessions focusing on technique, cardio, weight training, endurance or speed will also help you to surpass yourself with each workout and improve your performance, whatever activity you do!

Check out our Fitness & Training page for more advice.