Assault Bike Benefits and Muscles Worked

When shopping to build your own garage gym, most people start small with dumbbells, kettlebells, a pull-up bar, and perhaps a squat rack. But you should consider trying out an assault bike. There are many benefits to training with it and you will have nearly all your muscles worked.

You probably have seen an assault bike before in your local gym. It looks like a stationary bicycle, but with a giant fan attached to the front wheel. The assault bike is commonly referred to as an air bike or assault air bike, mainly because of the air it blows on your face while you are using it.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

What are The Muscles Worked on an Assault Bike?

Practically your entire body will work out while you are on an assault bike. Nevertheless, here is a breakdown of the muscles worked during a workout on an assault bike.

• Triceps
• Biceps
• Latissimus
• Delts
• Glute max
• Quads
• Hamstrings
• Upper chest
• Middle chest
• Lower chest
• Obliques
• Lower back
• Pec minor
• Back extensors
• Calves
• Glutes
• Hip flexors

That is quite a list, don’t you think? We were not kidding when we said that the assault bike is a full-body workout.

Pretty much all the major muscle groups in your body will be engaged while you are on the bike cycling and moving your arms.

As a cycle exercise, your lower body will do a lot of the work. Quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes – it all works simultaneously to make the pedals cycle.

The handlebars are responsible for engaging your upper body muscles. While pushing the handle, your triceps and front deltoids work on that side. When you are pulling the handlebar, your biceps, back and rear deltoids do the work. And you will be doing both pulling and pushing at the same time.

Even your core muscles are activated during a proper exercise on the assault bike. You will work on your stability to stay seated on the machine while your arms and legs are moving. Your abs and lower back are getting some of the pump here.

What are the Benefits of the Assault Bike?

As a full-body exercise, the benefits are also vast when it comes to the assault bike.

1. Easy to Use

Even people who do not know how to cycle can use the assault bike. You just need to sit on it and start pedalling and waving your arms back and forth.

2. Relatively Small

How many machines can you think of that works out your entire body? Now think how big that machine is. Chances are, the assault bike is much smaller and can be stored away in most places around the house, or the garage.

Getting fit just became a bit easier and simpler.

3. Calorie Burner

This full-body exercise will get you sweating in no time. Arms and legs will be tired and you will be gasping for air as soon as you finish.

The assault bike is an excellent calorie burner exercise. An average person can burn 100 calories in about 6 minutes. If you are an advanced athlete, you may be able to burn 100 calories in 3 minutes or less.

4. Aerobic Conditioning Booster

The assault bike helps in metabolic conditioning and boosts your endurance. By increasing your endurance, you become a better athlete overall.

You will teach your body to deliver oxygen to your muscles faster. Your lung capacity will increase and you will also strengthen your heart.

5. Test Your Stamina Level

You can use the assault bike to know your weaknesses and strengths. Are you a powerful, balanced, or enduring athlete?

On the assault bike, you can check out who you are by performing a set of established tests.

That can be seen by doing a 15-second max calorie, 3-minute max calorie, and 10-minute max calorie. Check your average RPMs while doing these and see what type of athlete are you.

With that information at hand, you can work towards becoming a more powerful or enduring athlete. How? By jumping on the assault bike.

6. Low Impact Exercise

Not only is the assault bike a full-body exercise, but it also has a lower risk of injuring your body compared to other machines in the gym or even running or swimming.

That is because you are doing the exercise sitting down, which reduce the risk for hip, knee and ankle pain.

7. Build and Tone Muscles

The diversity of the assault bike helps to build and shape your muscles. At high resistance levels, you will feel the strength exercise the assault bike can be, compared to being a cardio workout.

8. Easy to Track Progress

You can easily track your progress using the assault bike. Try different tests, see how long it takes for you to get to 100 calories. Do the same test a month later to see how much you progressed.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

Now that you know its benefits and muscles worked, you probably are feeling the need to jump on an assault bike. Check out these 15 assault bike workouts. We separated them into workouts that use only an assault bike and bodyweight, workouts that incorporate minimum equipment (dumbbells or kettlebells for example), and workouts that you can do if you have a fully equipped gym available.