There is increasing variety on the market today for improving your cardio vascular fitness.

Upright and recumbent bikes are among the most familiar and widely used pieces of fitness equipment. They certainly have there place and can be a good option for most people depending on a number of factors.

Let’s first address the exercise cycle in general  and then we can go into a little about the differences between upright and recumbent bikes.

Firstly exercise cycles offer zero impact workouts. If you have knee, ankle or even back problems, there is generally less stress on the body than say walking or jogging.

If you are a heavier person you will be able to reach those longer duration workouts (which are necessary if you are gearing your workouts toward weight loss), in a shorter span of time than if you were to do weight bearing cardio exercise, i.e. treadmill or elliptical.

Even for dedicated joggers the bike offers a good alternative that will offset repetitive use injury. Instead of adding an extra run to your schedule. Try some cross training on the bike. Your cardio will improve but you have not significantly increased your chance of over use injuries.

Things to look for.

Most good quality bikes now have magnetic resistance. This means they are completely silent, very smooth and durable.

Most will have preset and user programs ths can very important feature, check my article on varying your heart rate during exercise.

So what are the differences between Upright and Recumbent cycles?

Venus return.

The major difference is better venus return when using a recumbent bike as opposed to an upright. If you are not familiar with the phase “ venus return” your probably thinking that the recumbent sounds better already. Well not necessarily.  Venus return refers to the ability and efficiency of blood to circulate in your body.Very simple, on an upright bike your feet much lower than your heart, virtually under your body. On a recumbent bike they are stretch out in front, not that much lower than the heart. The result of this slight difference in body position is your cardio vascular system has to work against gravity on an upright Cycle, causing your heart rate to rise somewhat faster than it would on a recumbent bike.

Because of your body position, (more hip flexion on  the recumbent). You will involve the hips and gluts slightly more. On an upright cycle you have more knee flexion and so involve the quadriceps little more.

Interestingly most recumbent exercise cycles you will encounter, are actually semi- recumbent. On a true recumbent bike your hips are lower than your feet.

Recumbent cycles obviously have in general much larger seat and a back rest. In the comfort area they generally win the contest. They are often the only option for seniors and people with less mobility, being generally safer, and more comfortable to sit on.

I will normally suggest a recumbent to individuals who are less fit or seniors who have not exercised very recently.  If you are already in reasonable condition the upright will give you a more intense workout a little faster. If weight loss is one of your goals and you are on the bike for longer periods, (40 minutes plus) then give the recumbent serious considerations. But don’t let this give you the impression that the upright will always give you the higher level of fitness. Increasing the level of resistance or the RPMs (revolutions per minute),on a recumbent will get your heart rate up their when you are a ready.