My Heart Revolution

Have you ever wondered if you should bother using an exercise bike? If you have, you’re not alone. In this age of iPod-compatible treadmills, elliptical trainers outfitted with Internet access, and other space age fitness equipment, the ordinary stationary bike seems to have been all but forgotten.

It shouldn’t be. An indoor bicycle is one of the most effective pieces of aerobic equipment that you can use. These machines offer a proven way to improve your cardiovascular health and strengthen and tone your calves, thighs, hips, and other important muscles, all while minimizing the impact on your knees, ankles, and lower back.

Stationary bikes come in two basic types: upright, and recumbent. The model you’ll choose depends upon your specific needs and goals.

The Upright Bike

An upright bike resembles a typical outdoor bicycle. It includes a saddle (the more comfortable, the better) and pedals placed directly beneath your legs.

Since this style of bike doesn’t include any back support, maintaining proper form during use is especially important. If you don’t suffer from lower-back issues, using an upright bike is a great way to put in an intense cardiovascular workout and thoroughly exercise your legs.

The Recumbent Bike

A recumbent, on the other hand, includes a bucket-style seat. It’s a bit like sitting in your favorite recliner. The pedals are positioned in front of you. Maintaining proper form is a no-brainer.

For these reasons, a recumbent is an excellent choice if you experience chronic lower-back pain, or are overweight and find sitting upright for an extended period to be too difficult.

As an added bonus, recumbent bicycles exercise your hamstrings and hips at a different angle than the upright models. It also can be a good cardio machine to use for a change of pace in your routine, and to enjoy a new style of muscle stimulation.

Common Features in Both Types of Indoor Cycles

Both types of exercise bikes usually include consoles designed to make it easy to read a book or magazine while you’re burning those calories. This is a clear advantage over treadmills and elliptical trainers. With those machines, you’re bouncing up and down so much that it’s virtually impossible to read words on a page.

Want to exercise your arms, too? Check out the dual-action bikes. These models feature movable handlebars, helping you to tone your upper body and boosting your calorie-burning efforts to the next level.

Think these machines are short on technology? Think again. Today’s exercise bikes offer electronic features that rival anything you can find on a treadmill. You can track your calories burned and distance traveled, monitor your heart rate, adjust the resistance and speed, follow pre-programmed workouts, and on some models, even surf the Internet and play video games.

There are dozens of manufacturers that offer quality exercise bicycle models. Some of the best known brands are Schwinn, Stamina, Reebok, Lifecycle, and Proform.

The next time you’re searching for exercise equipment for your home gym, give an exercise bike a try. The results might surprise you.

B. Massey is editor of an exercise equipment reviews web site. For exercise bike reviews and consumer reports on other fitness equipment, visit his site today.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-are-the-benefits-of-an-exercise-bike-1546388.html

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When you hear people talk about training arms, they almost always focus on the biceps. While biceps are important, it is the triceps that take up nearly two thirds of your upper arm mass and that give your arms that full, thick look. If you are looking to build a truly impressive set of arms, you must focus just as much, if not more effort on your triceps as you do your biceps. Here are three excellent movements that will allow you to add an enormous amount of muscle mass and strength to this important body part.

1. Close-grip Bench Press

If your triceps are lagging behind the rest of your physique, you should make this your priority pressing exercise. When building the majority of your muscle mass, heavy weights are the key element to your success, and no triceps movement will allow you to use more weight than the close-grip bench press. To perform this exercise, take a shoulder-width or slightly narrower grip on the bar. Make sure you are employing good bench press technique – arch your lower back, keep your shoulder blades together, and place your feet solidly on the floor. If you can, have a spotter hand off the weight to you, so you don’t have to waste energy with a lift-off. Lower the weight to your lower pecs, and then drive it back to the top, all the while keeping your elbows tucked in at about a 45-degree angle.

If you have already been working on good form and technique on the regular bench press, this exercise should be a relative no-brainer to make work for you. Do one or two very heavy sets of 4-6 reps, and follow them with one or two down sets of 8-10 reps. Like any major exercise, you must constantly strive to add more weight to the bar.

2. Triceps Dips

Though some people choose to use dips to work their chests, dips are most often used as a triceps exercise. Personally, this has always been my favorite movement for triceps and has probably given me the most muscular gains in that area. To properly perform dips for the triceps, take a narrow, less than shoulder-width grip on the dip bars. Lower yourself to a point where your upper arms are about parallel with the floor. If you want, you can use a slightly smaller range of motion in favor of more weight or reps. While this wouldn’t work so well for stimulating the chest, the triceps are most stressed at the top end of most pressing movements.

If you want to see the most growth possible from your triceps, you must add weight to your body when doing dips. Like with the close-grip bench press, you should aim to make constant progress on a set of 4-6 reps and on a set of 8-10. You can also do “pump” set of maximum reps at bodyweight if you wish.

3. Decline EZ bar extensions

There are many different ways of doing extensions, but I have found this one to be the most beneficial for triceps growth. To put your body in a decline, use a decline sit-up bench. You can either have a spotter hand you the weight once you get into position, or you can clean it to your shoulders before you step back into the sit-up bench. Lower the bar towards your eyes, but do not go all the way down. Instead, come to a point where your forearms are slightly lower than parallel to the floor and drive the weight back up to lockout. Keep your form as strict as possible during most of the set, but don’t be afraid to loosen it up a bit to squeeze out another rep or two. The best protocol for this exercise is 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps.

David LaMartina is a competitive powerlifter who currently sits at a solid 250 pounds and has achieved a 590 squat, 315 bench, and 635 deadlift. If you found his muscle-building tips helpful, visit this site. If you would like to learn more about how to gain muscle through smart, intense training and quality nutrition, click here.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-to-build-your-triceps-3-exercises-that-will-help-you-build-titanic-triceps-1031385.html

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