Rehabilitation is an inherently challenging process. If your physical abilities have been diminished due to illness, injury, surgery or other issues, recovering them can involve an often uncomfortable series of exercises and physical therapies.
Access to the right exercise equipment can make regaining your physical health and bodily functionality a far easier and more comfortable process. Exercise bikes are a great example of such equipment.
But with a number of different machines available, which is the best exercise bike for rehabilitation? In this guide we’ll look at each type of bike, and how it might help you during rehab.
Why are exercise bikes good for rehabilitation?
Exercise bike rehabilitation is a go-to tool for therapists looking to help people recover their physical abilities. Why? Two main reasons:
It’s low impact exercise
Cycling is a perfectly smooth and fluid motion – your legs work in circles, and engage most of your lower body muscles in the process. Compare this to an exercise like running, where jarring impacts are felt with every step. And unlike a traditional bike, an exercise bike avoids the bumps and lumps of paths and roads that can send impacts through the rider.
This makes exercise bikes ideal for people who may be feeling tenderness and discomfort after an injury, illness or surgery. The experience is a (relatively) comfortable one which can also be enjoyed in a seated position.
You can choose your own intensity
Exercise bikes allow you to choose the intensity of your workout – the impacts might be low, but the cardio levels can be as high as you like (or perhaps more accurately, as high as your physical therapist recommends).
If you’re just beginning rehabilitation after a major incident, you can take things as slow and steady as you like. If you are nearing the end of your rehab journey, you push your levels of performance closer to your pre-injury peak.
Exercise bikes have other rehab benefits too. If you have an upper-body issue, they can help you maintain your current levels of fitness by offering a lower body-focused, full intensity workout that won’t aggravate your issue. They’re also perfectly accessible, as useful for an elderly patient recovering from surgery as an Olympian recovering from an on-field injury.
The best exercise bikes for rehabilitation
Exercise bikes come in a number of different forms. The best bike for you will depend on the circumstances of your rehabilitation, the advice of health professionals, and your personal preferences.
Exercise bikes come in five main forms: recumbent, upright, spin, air/assault and pedal exercisers. Here’s how they compare, and how each might be able to help you achieve your rehab goals.
1. Recumbent bike
Recumbent bikes are perhaps the most comfortable exercise machine of them all. Rather than a traditional bike saddle, recumbent bikes feature a bucket seat that places you in an almost reclined position, and that offers amazing back and upper body support. Your task is to simply sit back and pedal.
The support and comfort offered by recumbent bikes makes them an ideal option for almost anyone undergoing physical rehabilitation. You can gradually build strength in your legs while guarding the rest of your body against discomfort and potential damage.
2. Upright bike
As the name suggests, upright bikes place you in an upright posture. The handlebars sit high in relation to the seat, which is wider, more cushioned and more comfortable than the saddles on spin bikes and road bikes. And unlike spin and road bikes, upright bikes should only ever be used in a seated position, which is fine for people undertaking rehab.
Like a recumbent bike, an upright bike offers a comfortable way to engage your legs during rehab. These bikes are designed for good posture – they keep your spine straight, so can be more comfortable for people with back and upper body issues, and who are looking to retain cardio fitness and strength in their legs while they recover.
3. Pedal exercisers
A cardio machine you can take with you: that’s the idea behind pedal exercisers, which remove all that unnecessary exercise bike noise – the digital display, the handlebars, the seat, the frame – and boil the machine down to its most important parts: the pedals and gearbox.
A pedal exerciser is a small, simple cardio machine that takes the form of a box with pedals sticking out the sides. You can place it in front of your chair or under your desk, pick your level of resistance, then get pedalling. Pedal exercisers are convenient for rehab for two reasons: they let you rehabilitate from the comfort of your preferred seat, and they are perfectly transportable – you can take one with you to work, on holiday, wherever!
4. Spin bikes and air bikes
It’s perhaps a stretch to describe spin bikes and air/assault bikes as rehabilitation machines. Sure, they offer the low impact cardio that all exercise bikes do, but they are more focused on delivering an intense workout, and don’t put as much emphasis on comfort and support.
Nevertheless, these two machines can be useful as you near the end of your rehabilitation journey, when you’re looking to regain that final bit of function, fitness or strength, and are ready to push your body a little harder.
GymQuip: exercise bike specialists
At Gymquip we have been helping happy customers find their perfect exercise equipment for over 30 years. Our knowledgeable and experienced team can do it all, from guiding people to the machines that will help them reach their fitness and rehabilitation goals, to undertaking complete commercial gym fit-outs.
As the home of Australia’s largest fitness showroom, and with an even more sprawling online store, at GymQuip you’re sure to find the exercise bike that perfectly aligns with your needs and goals.
We deliver Australia-wide, we dispatch orders within 24 hours, and you’ll enjoy our price match guarantee: if you find one of our products cheaper elsewhere, we’ll beat that price.
