Home exercise bikes and treadmills are just one of those things no one should ever pay full price for, so we recommend waiting for the Black Friday sales to find a good deal. We will showcase the best deals we find in our research when it comes to home gym equipment. We also explain the benefits to each in our buying guide below if you are torn between which one to purchase. Also, if you are short on space, there are some really great foldable options for each where you can easily store the kit underneath your bed or against a wall.
See Also: Trainers & Running Shoes | Bicycles
Shops With Treadmill & Exercise Bike Offers
Treadmills & Exercise Bikes Buying Guide
In the modern age, fitness is all-important. We know that keeping your weight down is crucial to better health, whilst having a base level of fitness can be important to remaining safe and healthy when times get tough. For some, the ability to get out and about isn’t always there, whilst joining a gym can border on unaffordable. As a result, being able to buy an exercise bike or a treadmill can allow people to get their fitness up in the confines of their own home. Whilst they require an initial outlay, once you’ve bought them, you only need to pay for their maintenance.
Of course, not all treadmills and exercise bikes are made equal. What they offer will differ depending on the model and version that you get, to say nothing of the technology involved in them. Buying one might seem simple, but in reality you should put as much thought into which one is right for you as you should the trainers that you are going to wear when you use them. Ultimately, the aim of these machines is to get your heart rate up and burn some calories, but if you buy the wrong machine then you might find that you don’t end up doing what is needed.
Which One Is Right for You?
The first thing you’ll want to consider is which type of machine is right for you. At most gyms around the world, exercise bikes and treadmills will out-number most of the other machines on offer, such is their popularity. That is because they are both excellent at getting your heart pumping, which makes them great not only for weight-loss but also improving your general fitness. You might be tempted to think that you need both of them for your home gym, but the reality is that only one of them will do for most people. The question is, which one is right for you?
Most people will have a preference towards one exercise tool over the other, which will obviously influence which one you’re likely to buy. That being said, they both offer different things, so even if you do prefer one over the other you might well end up thinking that the best thing to do might be to re-think your home exercise strategy. The key things that you’ll want to think about initially are the cost of the machines, how much space they take up and what you’re hoping to achieve by using them. Budget-wise, there are versions of both that will meet most budget requirements.
When it comes to taking up space, it is fair to say that exercise bikes tend to be a little bit better than treadmills, but there is often not much in it on account of the fact that exercise bikes are stationary and therefore have a wider footprint than a normal bike. Regardless, they are both excellent for your cardio work, but they obviously offer different functions. Treadmills allow you to both walk and run, whereas exercise bikes are much more low-impact, which makes them ideal for people looking to protect their joints or not ask too much of their bodies if they can avoid it.
Weight Loss
One of the main reasons a lot of people take to either the treadmill or the exercise bike is in order to lose weight. If that is the bracket that you find yourself in them you might not care much about anything other than which of the machines is most likely to let you hit your weight-loss goal the quickest. The most obvious thing to bear in mind is that neither of them will do you much good in your desire to shed the pounds if you don’t use them regularly. If you hate cycling, therefore, then there is zero point getting an exercise bike that you’re never going to use.
When it comes to the statistics, the evidence suggests that you’re more like to burn calories using a running machine than you are spending the same amount of time on an exercise bike. The likelihood is that that is because you will be using your entire body when you run, not just your legs. That being said, people who like to walk and don’t tend to run might find that they’re able to push themselves more on a bike. You can’t use either machine to target an area for weight-loss, but if you want to lose, say, belly fat, then the best thing to do is to combine cardio work with a calorie deficit.
Which One Works the Most Muscles?
For the gym bunnies amongst you, the key thing you’ll want to know about is which of the two machines is most likely to work the most muscles. It is fairly obviously, but the only really muscles that exercise bikes will ask questions of are your leg muscles. They are aimed at working the calves, glutes, quads and thigh muscles, although you can target certain areas by doing things such as changing the intensity of your ride or standing up rather than remaining seated. Even so, you’ll still be mostly working our your lower body rather than any of the other muscle groups.
Of course, a treadmill is also likely to work the lower body more than any other region too. That being said, walking and running tend to work all of the muscles in the lower body more readily. Not only that , but as long as you don’t hold onto the handrails of the running machine then you’ll also end up exercising your arms on a treadmill. Add into that the fact that your core will be exercised more readily on a treadmill and you can see why it is that some will lean that war. If you’ve got one with the ability to add in incline, you can also work your glutes and hamstrings a bit more.
Risk of Injury
It is entirely reasonable to worry about the potential risk of injury that comes with using exercise equipment at home. Obviously the risk of getting any sort of injury increases if you use the equipment incorrectly, but we’re talking about the sort of injuries that are likely to come about even when you’re using the machines exactly as intended. The high-impact nature of treadmills means that they are always a little bit more likely to result in injuries than exercise bikes. Stress injuries and joint pain are both common for treadmill users, whilst you also need to think about how you run.
The nature of running machines, with their moving belts, means that people tend to run slightly differently to how they would in the real world. This might result in knee issues being exaggerated for those that already have them, or for them to start to flare up if you tend to be a heel-striker in your running style. There is also the fact that a slight misstep can result in you falling off the belt. Whilst such machines do have emergency stop buttons for just such an instance, it is something that you’ll want to think about if you’re the sort of person prone to clumsiness.
There is no question that exercise bikes are much safer, but that doesn’t mean that they’re without any risk of injury. If you get the height that you’re sitting on the bike at wrong, for example, then that can also all sorts of questions of your body. Similarly, you need to protect your back and hips by ensuring the handlebars are set correctly and so on. Regardless of the machine you use, failing to warm up properly or over-doing it can result in any number of different issues arising, so making sure that you have a good routine in place and the right clothes can be crucial to avoiding injury.
Toughest Workout
Ultimately, the entire reason you’re looking at getting either an exercise bike or a treadmill is that you want to use the machine to work out. They both offer different levels of difficulty, meaning that you can push yourself more or less depending on your mood and what you’re looking for form your workout routine. Exercise bikes allow you to set the resistance lower or higher, meaning that it will become more difficult to turn the wheels. This obviously burns your leg muscles more, asking questions of your ability to push the pain and keep going to reach your goals.
Treadmills also present you with the chance to adjust how easy or difficult your workout is. Should you be on a cool down day, for example, then you can just walk rather than run. You can adjust the speed in different ways, whilst also being able to add an incline to some running machines. That obviously makes your workout even more challenging, adding an intensity to an exercise that is already more difficult than using an exercise bike. Treadmills promise the tougher overall workout, but exercise bikes offer a good compromise of challenge with low-impact.
Thinking About Exercise Bikes
The key thing when it comes to exercise bikes is that they keep your impact to a minimum, which can be vital if you’ve got bad joints. They still allow you to work up a sweat and are great for your cardio, but you won’t be slamming your feet onto them or putting pressure on your knees every time you use them. Their slimmer profile is also important if you’re looking to limit the amount of space being taken up by your exercise machine of choice. Another key aspect of them is that they have different levels of resistance, which means you can alter how intense your workout is.
The one thing that you’ll want to think about when it comes to exercise bikes is that they don’t offer a huge amount of versatility. You’ll only get one motion, so if you’re ok with just practicing your cycling then you’ll be golden. Whilst there are some that offer screens making it look like you’re riding in the Alps or taking on the circuit of the Tour de France, the reality is that they’re still only asking you to cycle. The fact that they’re so low impact might mean that you can forgive their lack of versatility, but if you’re after a machine that can do a wealth of different things then the exercise bike isn’t it.
Different Bike Types
As you might imagine, there are different types of exercise bike and making sure that you choose the right one can be crucial in ensuring that you get the most out of your home workout regime. Upright bikes, also known as static bikes, are the most common, largely because they are small and offer some comfort. It is also not outrageous to suggest that such exercise bikes are amongst the cheapest that you can buy. They are idea for beginners, but do bear in mind that they often aren’t the sort offered in gyms and tend to offer a different ride to a normal bike, should you be training for something.
Indoor cycling bikes, also known as indoor racers, are the sorts that you’re more likely to find at a gym. If you’ve ever done a spin class, for example, then the likelihood is that it was on an indoor cycling bike. The are likely to be more similar to the bike that you’d use in the real world, which is great for training but not for comfort. If it’s comfort that you’re after then a recumbent bike might be what you’re after. They are more ergonomically designed and allow you to sit as you ride, but this obviously means that your workout will be less intensive and the bike will take up more space.
If you’re really looking to test yourself and take your exercise regime to the next level then an air bike might be worth considering. These work by asking you push against a fan, making it ideal for those that want a full-body workout. These offer intense workouts, so they aren’t for the feint-hearted. The downside is that they can be very loud, given that the harder your exercise the louder the fan becomes. One of the most futuristic exercise bike types is the interactive one, which matches a bike with a screen and gets you to ride alongside computerised images, but these are also the priciest.
Thinking About Treadmills
Treadmills are an excellent way of getting you moving, regardless of the level that you operate at. If you have no fitness whatsoever, you can put them on their lowest speed setting and you’ll soon be walking further than you would if you were outdoors. If, on the other hand, you already have a good level of fitness then a treadmill can be used to push yourself to the very limit. After all, the belt never ends and just keeps on turning, so you can keep running and running with the knowledge that you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to get home afterwards.
Not only do most treadmills allow you to change the speed that you use them at, some of them also allow you to add an incline to your run. This means that you’ll be feeling as though you’re running uphill if you crank the incline up enough, adding a real challenge to your treadmill-using experience. Combine an uphill incline with a faster speed and you’ve immediately taken your workout regime to another level. Yes, exercise bikes are probably better for High Intensity Interval Training, but you can also do that on a treadmill whilst giving yourself an all over workout.
What You Need to Think About
Probably the most important consideration when it comes to treadmills is the amount of space that they take up. Not only are they long, they also tend to be wide and tall. It is the length that might be the biggest problem, with the rule of thumb being that you’ll want a belt of at least 50 inches if you’re going to use it for walking, adding another five inches if you’re planning to use it for running and an additional five inches on top of that if you’re taller than six foot. Add in the eight foot clearance you should have off the back of it for safety and you can see why space could be a problem.
The sort of exercise you’re planning on doing will dictate one important aspect of your treadmill buying experience: the motor power. If you’re planning on using it for nothing more than walking or an occasional jog, you’ll be able to get away with a lower motor power on your machine. If, on the other hand, you’re a big running planning on pushing yourself to your limit then you’ll obviously need to make sure that you go for a running machine that has a high-powered motor. This will especially be the case if you’re looking to engage the incline and run ‘uphill’.
Size & Storability
Those that are taller will need a better machine in terms of length, whilst anyone who is on the heavier side will obviously need to look into the likes of the manufacturer’s weight limit. You might be planning on buying the treadmill in order to lose weight, but if it can’t take the weight that you’re currently at then you’re obviously not going to be able to use it safely. Even if you’re just on the border, do bear in mind that you’re likely to cause much more wear and tear to the machine by using it and the likelihood is that there will be mechanical issues happing on a regular basis.
If you want to use a treadmill that you can move in different places then you might want to think about a foldable one. These allow you to collapse the upper part of the machine in order to store it somewhere that wouldn’t otherwise be able to take it. Some of them even have in-built power-assisted technology to make it easier. These are often smaller and lighter treadmills, which is worth bearing in mind if you are taller or heavier than average, considering the fact that their portability might be handy but won’t be all that useful if you can’t actually use them.
High Tech Machines
Regardless of whether you’re looking at getting a treadmill or an exercise bike, there are numerous companies out there that combine them with technology to make the experience of using them much more fun. There are treadmills with touchscreens incorporated into them, allowing you to do the likes of show your progress, adjust the difficult levels or even put in specific courses, with the speed and incline of the machine changing as you run. You can also tune-in to exercise classes, should you find yourself more likely to be pushed with someone telling you what to do.
The same sort of thing can be found on some exercise bikes, with the interactive nature of the machines ensuring that you can do more than just sit and enjoy a gentle cycle. Obviously these are a lot more expensive and will often require subscriptions to the services offered in order to use them, but if they help you to reach your exercise goal more quickly then it might be worth considering. For a lot of people, being able to look at something like a road or a mountain track is a lot more appealing than sitting on the bike or running on the treadmill staring at the wall.