Assault Bike Workouts – Benefits, Muscles Worked and How to Do Them

The popularity of assault bike workouts has steadily grown over the last few years, and nowadays, more and more people look to doing them for various training goals. Essentially, air bike exercises are an incredibly effective form of cardio that enables you to train your muscles while working on your cardiovascular health. But those are not the only benefits you get.

In this article, we’re going to take an in-depth look at assault air bike workouts – all their benefits, which muscle groups they work with, and how you can easily incorporate them into your current training program. Along with that, we will show you example assault bike exercises so that you can do them in your sessions.

Let’s get started.

What Muscles Does the Assault Bike Work?

The assault bike is considered to be a cardio machine, and most people consider it to be one of the best ones on the market. However, an air bike workout challenges not only your cardiovascular system but many of your muscle groups as well. Let’s take a look at which ones are primarily used during your so-called “assault bike wod.”

1. Glutes

The assault bike can be an excellent way to challenge your glutes. When your glutes are strong and activated, they support the pelvis and the spine, thus helping you retain stability and balance. Along with that, having strong glutes is key for protecting your knees from injuries.

We all know that traditionally glutes are trained through squats, lunges, and deadlifts. However, the assault bike is another great way to target them without putting so much pressure on the joints. It’s a specifically effective workout for those that are new to strength training and also for people that have previous injuries in the lower body or the spine.

To get the most out of a “fan bike workout” for your glutes, you should focus on the following:

• Standing up from the seat as often as you can.
• Pedaling with power.
• Maintaining a steady pace throughout.

You could also use a resistance band on your hamstrings to create extra resistance.

2. Hip Flexors

Everyone that works a 9-5 job at a desk suffers from some form of hip flexor issues. All that sitting without any active moment and without proper stretching typically makes our hip flexors weak and tight. For those who don’t know, the hip flexors are a muscle group in the upper thighs and lower abs.

They connect your legs and torso and are engaged when you lift your knees towards your chest and bend at the waist. Having strong hip flexors will reduce the pain in that area, minimize the risk of injuries, help you maintain a better posture, and reduce back pain.

How are the hip flexors used during an assault bike workout? Well, when you pedal an assault bike, your hip flexors work to lift your legs up and down, which activates them. Doing this movement for a prolonged period of time leads to their strengthening.

It’s important to remember that when you increase the resistance, you’re making the workout more challenging, thus giving your muscles even more work.

Over time, as you grow stronger, you’ll find that riding the bike gets easier. The reason for that is increased strength in your hip flexors and improve cardiovascular capacity.

3. Quadriceps

When you’re trying hard to pedal fast, you create a resistance that naturally forces your quadriceps to work harder. You can vary that resistance according to your current fitness levels. The cool thing is that riding the assault bike is considered to be a low-impact workout – meaning that although it challenges the muscles, it’s easy on the joints. It’s incredibly beneficial for people that are recovering from an injury or not wanting to put excess pressure on their knees and ankles.

By riding the air bike frequently, you will notice a significant growth in the size and strength of your quadriceps. Just think about the way professional cyclists look. And if you want to create even more of a challenge for your quads, you can do the following during your workout:

• Push through the toes.
• Stand up every few minutes.
• Use ankle weights for even more resistance.
• Pedal as fast as you can at intervals (sort of like an assault bike interval workout).

4. Deltoids (Front & Rear)

The front and rear deltoids are the muscles found in your shoulders. Their function is to help you lift your arms – the front deltoids raise your arms in front of your body and the rear ones to the same, but to the side.

Now the fact that a bike challenges your lower body muscles is obvious, but how does it affect your shoulders? Well, when you push the handlebars, that motion requires strength from your deltoids, and the more resistance you add, the harder it becomes for them. Over time that resistance will help strengthen your deltoids and add definition.

If you want to put even more pressure on your shoulders, you can do so by:

• Increasing the bike’s resistance.
• Biking more slowly and looking to contract the deltoid muscles.
• Placing your elbows a bit further away from your torso.
• Wear wrist weights.

5. Chest

The chest area has three main muscles. Those are – the serratus anterior, the pectoralis major, and the pectoralis minor. They have many functions and are responsible for helping us do a number of movements, most specifically ones related to pushing and pulling. Typically, when you have to push, those movements engage the chest and the deltoids and that’s exactly what happens when you do an assault bike workout.

For people that are just starting to work out and don’t have a lot of upper body strength, an air bike training session might be quite the challenge for the chest muscles. Because of the seated position, your pectoral muscles will have to work against resistance, and the entire movement that you’re required to do engages the muscles in their full range of motion.

Along with that, as your fitness level increases and you get stronger, you can keep increasing the resistance by:

• Wear a resistance band around your upper arms.
• Keeping the elbows closer to the torso.
• Doing the movement slowly and contracting the pecks at the top for a few seconds.

6. Abdominal Muscles

Your core is engaged whenever you’re on the assault bike, as the abs have to work hard to keep your body upright as you pedal. This non-stop engagement for several minutes at a time helps strengthen your abdominals.

Furthermore, the circular motion that pedaling requires forces your core muscles to contract and release every few seconds as quickly as possible – this is extremely effective for building both strength and endurance.

Additionally, as the air bike workout is primarily a cardio session, it helps you lose body fat and thus enables you to see more definition in your abs – an almost always desired effect.

Assault Bike Workouts

Now that you know about all the muscles that are used during assault bike training sessions, let’s talk more about the different types of workouts you can do. On the Internet, you will mainly see this piece of equipment being used in the so-called assault bike fitness workouts or fitness WODs (workout of the day); however, you don’t have to be someone that does fitness in order to appreciate the benefits of the air bike.

In fact, there are assault bike workouts for everyone – people that are just starting out and advanced athletes. For those who just want to lose weight and those looking to increase their VO2 max. In the paragraphs below, we will introduce you to several different workouts, and you can determine which one is the right one for you.

1. Assault Bike Workouts for Beginners

For beginners, assault bike workouts are both incredibly effective and also exhausting. That’s because they’re essentially a cardio workout that also requires decent strength levels – both things that beginners usually lack. With that said, there are ways to scale down the intensity of air bike workouts so that they’re a decent fit, even for people without prior training experience.

Some of the recommended beginner workouts are:

20-minute interval workout (1 minute on; 30 seconds rest) – the one minute of work should be done at a medium pace. As your fitness level increases, you can try going faster in that one minute, but keeping the pulse between 130 and 150 bpm is recommended.

5-10 minutes of biking, then 5 minutes rest. Then that’s repeated for as long as you can withstand. Here the goal is to learn to bike uninterrupted for a period of a certain period of time. Over time, the minutes you will be able to last will keep increasing, which is the desired effect.

2. Assault Bike Workouts for Weight Loss

When it comes to burning fat and losing weight, there’s likely no better piece of equipment than the air bike. It challenges both your cardiovascular system and your muscles, so even a short 20-minute session will leave you sweaty and burning calories, even long after you’ve left the gym.

A typical weight loss assault bike workout can be:

• Spring for 10 seconds;
• Rest for 20 seconds;
• Repeat for 20 minutes.

Another variation is the so-called assault bike pyramid interval training. It goes like this:

• Minute 1: Sprint on the air bike for 10 seconds; rest for 50.
• Minute 2: Sprint for 20 seconds; rest for 40.
• Minute 3: Sprint for 30 seconds; rest for 30.
• Minute 4: Sprint for 40 seconds; rest for 20.
• Minute 5: Sprint for 50 seconds; rest for 10.
• Minute 6: Sprint for 55 seconds; rest for 5.
• Minute 7: Sprint for 50 seconds; rest for 10.
• Minute 8: Sprint for 40 seconds; rest for 20.
• Minute 9: Sprint for 30 seconds; rest for 30.
• Minute 10: Sprint for 20 seconds; rest for 40.
• Minute 11: Sprint for 10 seconds; rest for 50.

And if you want to get genuinely exhausted, you can do this pyramid workout for several rounds.

3. Assault Bike Fitness Workouts

The recent rise in popularity that the assault bike has seen is mainly due to its use in fitness. Many fitness athletes will tell you that the air bike is one of the best ways to improve your endurance, and that’s what makes it one of the most challenging machines, even for them. Some fitness-style assault bike workouts are strictly cardio-focused, such as this one: 

• 10 calories on the AirBike
• 10 burpees

For as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. Other fitness WODs incorporate weightlifting, gymnastics, and the assault bike. An excellent example to look at is this one:

• 20 calories on the AirBike
• 15 Deadlifts
• 10 Push-ups
• 15 Pull-ups

All that for five rounds.

Fitness WODs are typically workouts that should be done only by people who have already been to a box and know how to perform the basic exercises correctly. Along with that, it’s vital to note that these sessions are not beginner-friendly at all.

They require a decent level of endurance and also strength, and if you lack either (and proper technique), that can quickly lead to injuries.

There are many reasons why you should consider getting an assault bike. It’s one of the most effective workouts you can do, and it’s one that you can do from the comfort of your home. The only thing you need to be able to do is to buy a bike for your home.

Now that we’ve already convinced you that getting an assault bike is worth it let’s take a look at our pick for the best one on the market.

Assault Bike Review: Assault AirBike 

As with any type of fitness equipment, in the last few years, we’ve seen many new brands emerge and offer all that you need for a good workout. However, when it comes to assault bikes, there’s no better brand than Rogue Fitness.

Their assault bike is made of a thick-gauge chro-moly steel frame, with 1-2 sealed cartridge bearings in every pivot. With over 20 bearings in all, this is one of the most reliable, stable, and durable bikes on the market.

Along with that, it’s easily customizable, so it fits athletes of all sizes, and an advanced tech display that shows you all the vital stats for your workout. It comes with a step-by-step guide so you can easily assemble it at home.

Another added bonus is that it doesn’t take up a lot of space, and you can use it for a home workout – its length is 50.9″, the width is 23.3.”, and it only weighs around 100 LBs which is not a lot for a cardio machine.

When it comes to price, it’s definitely on the higher end, but it’s completely worth it as it’s a machine that will serve you for years to come.

FAQ

Is the Assault Bike a Good Workout?

The assault bike provides not just a good but a great workout. It challenges your endurance and the muscles of your upper and lower body. Depending on the pace and resistance, it can be effective for both complete newbies and seasoned athletes. Along with that, it’s incredibly versatile and has many use cases, making it a worthy investment for both commercial and home gyms.

Do Assault Bikes Burn Belly Fat?

Assault bike workouts are typically super intense and burn a lot of calories. Because of that, they’re extremely effective at burning fat on the belly and overall. Additionally, the movement you’re required to perform during the workout actively engages your core by making you contract the abs quickly, which further helps build strength and will allow you to see some definition in no time.

Conclusion

Assault bike workouts should be sessions that every athlete incorporates into their training plan. For powerlifters and weightlifters, these are great cardio sessions that allow you to work on endurance without sacrificing that much muscle mass.

On the other hand, for endurance athletes, the assault bike is a way to challenge your muscles while also working to increase your VO2 max. To top it all off, air bike workouts are terrific for beginners, who are just starting their fitness journey, as it helps them work on all aspects of their training – cardio & strength.

Finally, before we part ways, let us know – have you ever tried doing assault bike workouts? And if yes, what effects did you see from them

  Also read:

• Rogue Echo Bike Review
• Assault Bike Vs Echo Bike
• Air Bike vs Spin Bike
• Benefits of Assault Bike
• Schwinn Airdyne AD6 Review
• CONCEPT2 Skierg Review
• Best Air Bike
• Best Air Bike For Functional Fitness
• Best Professional Spin Bikes
• Best Folding Exercise Bike

  References:

1. Everything to Know About vo₂ Max // HealthLine: https://www.healthline.com/health/vo2-max
2. Physical Fitness Improvement After 8 Weeks of High-Intensity Interval Training With Air Bike // Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359878922