Airbike is an air bike - a one-of-a-kind bike that is powered by air. Training with an airbike is not only exhausting interval effort, but also a way to maintain physical condition and mobility. Find out more about the airbike and learn about the characteristics of the Assault Airbike - the forerunner of this machine.

You just got back from the gym and wondering what the exercise bike was doing there with a fan instead of wheels and hand grips straight from the elliptical cross trainer? This is airbike! An innovative air bike that is widely used in almost any type of training. Airbike is mainly used in crossfit and can now be found in most crossfit boxes.

In Poland, it is gaining popularity mainly due to the Assault Airbike brand, which has significantly contributed to the spread of this machine to fitness rooms around the world. Airbike training is great fun, a decent physical exercise and an excellent training challenge. Get to know this interesting equipment better!

Airbike - what is it?

Airbike is in other words an air bike which is a combination of three machines - rowing machine, cross trainer and exercise bike. This movement is done using the arms and legs, which are the driving force of the fan. Airbike is used for crossfit training, during crossfit games or for everyday physical activity in order to improve endurance, lose kilograms or recover from an injury and recovery.

Airbike - how does it work?

The construction of the airbike is quite simple, and the whole device is a hybrid of a stationary bike, cross trainer and a rowing ergometer, the so-called the rowers. Airbike mainly consists of four parts - air circulator, traditional bicycle seat, pedals and hand grips.

The saddle is adjustable and adapted to the height of the exerciser. The resistance to be overcome while driving is nothing more than simple air resistance. Airbike is also equipped with a computer with a display on which the training parameters are shown.

The basic mechanism of the airbike is based on the fact that the faster we turn the pedals, the more resistance the bike gives us. Depending on the model you choose, the air bike will have either a chain or a belt. We usually meet in cheaper versionsstrap, and these bikes allow for less leg work, even when accelerating.

The basic rule is: the bigger the fan, the more resistance the airbike will put up, which in turn gives us better training stimuli. Users can set parameters in such variables as: time, distance, caloric efficiency, energy efficiency, 2: 1 interval, 1: 2 intervals and Tabata.

Another principle of airbike operation is as follows: the larger the fan, the greater the resistance of the equipment.

When accelerating, the fan runs at higher speed, which also causes increased air noise. The air bike mechanism is based on the fundamental laws of physics and we cannot regulate it in any way. How much work our muscles will do depends only on the speed we will achieve.

Assault airbike - the beginnings of airbike

The history of the airbike dates back to the 1980s, when the first prototypes of today's airbike began to be created. The first airbikes were the Assault Airbikes. In the United States, air bikes began making their way into fitness clubs and the gym, but were later replaced by other training equipment. In the 21st century, the Crossfit federation revived this equipment, which has been gaining popularity for several years.

The Assault Airbike hit the market again in late 2014. Assault Airbike is still the best known and most frequently chosen brand among air bikes, but other types of this machine are also available on the market, such as XEBEX Airbike, Raze and NPG Airbike.

Airbike - what does training look like

Most airbike models usually have eight types of interval training to choose from. Each of the trainings is written on the console, and among them we can find various endurance challenges, from longer intervals to tabata training or a few minutes of HIIT training, which we can compose ourselves.

As a rule, we burn a lot of calories during intervals, but the airbike is invaluable in this area.

This inconspicuous equipment can give you a hard time! During the accelerated movement, which lasts 20 seconds, we can burn up to 17 calories! This is a lot, considering the fact that airbike training lasts only from a few to several minutes and is usually divided into 8 sequences.

Airbike can be successfully recommended to anyone who just wants to try their hand at an air bike. It is suitable for beginners, elderly people and experienced athletes. On an air bike you can exercise bothinterval training and cardio training, and everything depends only on our will.

Disadvantages of airbike
  1. You need to take care of the chain regularly - it is an activity that must be performed systematically in order to prevent the wear of the equipment. What's more, you also need to take care of the correct tension of the chain, if it is too loose, it can get caught in the bike's blade and break.
  2. A disadvantage may also be the relatively high price - although the cheapest air bikes can be bought from 700 PLN, but for a good quality airbike you have to pay from 3,000,000 to even 4,500,000 PLN.

Airbike - advantages

Its main advantages are:

  1. Freedom in the training of individual parts - on the air bike you can exercise with your hands and rest your legs on metal protrusions, train only your legs or exercise the whole body at the same time. This means that we gain a lot of freedom in training, and airbike will be suitable for people with various training predispositions.
  2. Perfect for interval training - airbike is designed with intervals in mind. The console is programmed to guide us through the selected interval training, and thanks to it we can be sure that our training will be done correctly.
  3. It gives the possibility of cardio training - airbike is not only equipment for interval training. It is also perfect for the elderly or after injuries, because it gives the possibility of cardio training with a constant intensity of effort.
  4. The training is imposed from above - but it is chosen very accurately. Riding an airbike is all about intervals, and the console is programmed in such a way that it tells us when to slow down and when to accelerate. Thanks to this, you cannot make any training mistake. Some airbike models also have the option of arranging training yourself and adding it to the console.
  5. Airbike is an excellent equipment for rehabilitation - it allows for safe movement of limbs without the possibility of additional stressing them.

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