As reformed “cardio queens,” we have to admit, we never considered the recumbent bike a respectable piece of equipment.  It never seemed as hard-core as running or doing the stepmill or doing hour-long Tae Bo workouts.  However, after a weight-bearing injury left Jill flat on her butt, she found myself on the recumbent bike, using it as a low-impact alternative.  Forced to create her own intensity, she pushed through some seriously tough workouts, torching fat and sculpting her legs like she never dreamed.

In our My Gym Trainer books, we thought that including recumbent bike workouts for this very reason was a must.  Many people have injuries and arthritis that limit them to non-weight bearing exercise, and why shouldn’t those exercisers, too, can get a really great workout to burn fat and tone the lower body?

Why Pedal

The recumbent bike is a piece of cardiovascular equipment that places the user in the seated position with the feet forward and back against a pad, as opposed to the upright bike which is more similar in orientation to a regular bicycle.  For a biomechanical perspective, it is advantageous to use the recumbent bike to take pressure off the joints of the lower body.  The recumbent has traditionally been recommended by doctors and physical therapists to patients whose joint conditions require them to get activity through non-weight-bearing exercise.  My Gym Trainer found another use for it: leg-burning device to generate real leg-shaping, fat-torching results! J

My Gym Trainer’s Favorite Recumbent Bike Workouts for Fat Loss

Traditional fat-burning anaerobic exercise done via high-intensity interval training (HIIT) creates a hormonally and calorically favorable environment to lose inches.  Ninety-five percent of exercisers want fat loss.  And most females will point to various hip and thigh areas and want to get rid of localized fat in these places.  Luckily, since the recumbent bike only works the lower body, the trainee can channel all exertion to the legs and glutes to create powerful pedal strokes through the fat-burning protocol.  We know from recent studies that HIIT burns greater amounts of fat than low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise, as was shown via stationary bikes in an article published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism (Dec 2008).  Fat burning increased 60% from baseline with interval programs such as those contained in My Gym Trainer.  Even though the recumbent bike utilizes only the lower half of the body, the metabolic effect created by interval training on the bike generates a universal fat-burning ripple effect.

Workout #1 – 25 minutes: Traditional HIIT workout done on the bike. Pedal as hard as possible for the “working” segments and move the legs very slowly during the “resting” segment in order to recover and be able to generate the same force for the next working segment.  Go for intense, all-out peaks of exertion (to the point of breathlessness), followed by low valleys of rest and recovery. Remember, it is not about duration, but instead about intensity.

Use a recumbent bike whose highest level is 20.  Choose the Manual program and adjust the level throughout the workout according to the time and segment lengths listed here.

Workout #2 – 25 minutes: Add an upper body component!  Grab a set of lighter weights (perhaps 5-8 lb dumbbells for women and 12-15 lb dumbbells for men).  The protocol is similar to Workout #1 in that we are incorporating intervals, however, in addition to pushing the legs hard during the “working” segments, you are going to perform upper body movements at the same time.  Full-body movements like this can feel awkward, but will only exponentiate the fat-burning potential of the workout.  By recruiting more muscle groups, the workout challenges not only their aerobic capacity but their muscular endurance too. The result is breathlessness, burning and an overall feeling of exhaustion.

Begin on a Manual Setting and adjust the levels as you progress through the workout.  The upper body movements involved are also listed.  During your “resting” segments, place the dumbbells in your lap so you can recover.

Check back next week for a recumbent bike workout that builds muscular endurance and shapes the legs!

Tummy Trouble.  Muffin Top.  Love Handles.  Spare Tire.

For many women and especially the “apple” shapes, fat storage in the waistline can be a problem.  Whenever a client asks us how to “get the fat off her stomach,” we usually lead her to the treadmill for sprints.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Cardio is the best way to melt fat at the waist (along with proper fat-burning nutrition).  The waistline is considered a “cortisol point,” which means that an excessive amount of the stress hormone cortisol will encourage fat storage in this area.  Research shows that workouts longer than 40 minutes in duration elevate cortisol beyond beneficial levels, so keep your cardio short and intense. The good news is that you can get better results in less time by adding intensity.

HIIT or sprints can be performed on the treadmill, stairmill, elliptical trainer or stationary bike.  Use your My Gym Trainer workouts, all of which are interval training in nature, alternating intense periods of work with low, slow rest periods.  Not only is interval-training superior for fat loss, it helps the body hold onto hard-earned lean muscle mass so that the metabolism remains elevated and caloric furnace burns for hours afterward the workout is over.

You can find great exercises that target the abs on all of the My Gym Trainer “Core Days.”  They include:

• Crunches on the Swiss Ball
• Knee Pull-ins on the Swiss Ball
• Plank Holds and Side Planks
• Jackknives
• Russian Twists
• Hanging Leg Raises
• Decline Sit-ups
• Reverse Crunches

For many women the back of the arm or the triceps region is considered a trouble spot.  This is considered a “testosterone point” which means that the higher the levels of testosterone in the body, the less likely fat is to be stored here.  That means that exercises targeting this area must utilize a challengingly heavy weight, and work to the point of failure.  Some great exercises to include in your triceps arsenal include:

1. Triceps Dip: This is an exercise staple and should be performed at the beginning of a triceps workout. Advanced trainees should attempt to complete a few repetitions with no assistance, for a guaranteed failure.  Once you get there, add some assistance and rep them out until failure is reached again.
2. French Press:  Also commonly known as “Skull-Crushers”, if you have ever attempted a heavy set of these, you probably know the name of the exercise rings all too true, so be sure to use a weight you can manage on your own, starting lighter and working your way up if you’re not sure.  Check out My Gym Trainer for instructional photos on this technical exercise, which is one of the best for isolation of the triceps and will guarantee soreness for days.
3. Heavy Squats: Squats for triceps?! Believe it or not, incorporating other exercises that use multiple muscle groups across several joints are huge generators of testosterone release which can also benefit the triceps.  Though it sounds counter-intuitive, getting to failure using a heavy weight on squats is a great way to prevent fat storage in the triceps!  Other exercises include Cleans and Presses, Push Presses and Deadlift Rows.

Part 1:  Hips, Thighs, Glutes
My Gym Trainer specializes in designing great workouts to target the whole body for lean tissue building and fat burning.  Though, we do always get asked, “What are the best exercises for getting lean legs or for the back of the arms or for the midsection?”  For many women, these are some of the hardest areas to tone up because genetically and hormonally, our body wants to store fat there.  In addition to lowering overall body fat via full-body weight training, intense cardiovascular exercise and proper fat-loss nutrition, there are specific exercises that target these areas better than others.

Saddlebags.  Thunder Thighs.  Junk in the Trunk.
Many women see a couple extra pounds immediately in their thighs, hips and glutes.  They can feel the difference when they try to zip up their jeans.  So how do we get beautifully sculpted legs and glutes, while burning the fat on top?  From an evolutionary perspective, the fat that sticks to thighs and glutes is fat that the body wants to be there.  For childbearing purposes and because estrogen receptor densities are highly active in this area, women’s bodies hold onto fat in these places stubbornly.  Thus, you can imagine just how hard it is going to be to break through this evolutionary barrier to reduce fat and sculpt the underlying muscles there.

Train Heavy and Induce Failure. If you are new to weight training, be sure to practice your form specifically on squats and lunges for a few weeks with light weights.  Once you perfect your form, begin adding weight.  If you want to convince the body to give up these fat stores and coax the muscles out of hibernation, challenge legs and glutes from several angles with challenging weight and with various exercises.  To optimize the hormonal imbalance in the hips and thighs, induce testosterone and growth hormone release by training to the point of failure throughout each workout (both of these hormones have incredible fat burning potential in women—yes, natural release of testosterone in women is a good thing!).   Here are some great exercises to incorporate:

1) Heavy lunge: Within a few weeks of incorporating heavy lunges into a leg routine, inches will start coming off and definition appearing.  There exists a common notion among women that lifting heavy weights will make you “bulk up” or just grow the glutes outward.  Unfortunately what many don’t know is that as long as attention is paid to fat-burning, inches will be lost and sculpted muscle will appear.  For example, take someone who performs a lot of cardiovascular activity and never weight trains.  This person is probably slim, but with zero definition or curves.  Try fat-burning cardio mixed with intense weight-training to failure and you have the recipe for overall lean limbs.

2) Stiff-legged Deadlifts:  These exercises isolate the hamstrings (back of the leg) and target the area below the glutes called the “glute-hamstring tie-in.” If attempting deadlifts for the first time, be sure to check out the photos contained in your My Gym Trainer books.  This movement is technical, but if executed correctly, it is one of the most effective exercises to shape the entire back of the leg.  Just be sure to keep your back straight while you hinge at the hips and engage your abs, which helps to protect from injury.

3) Plyometric movements can be a miracle on the path to coaxing your leg muscles out of hiding.  Plyometric movements are jumping movements and they are vital in breaching the intensity threshold needed to lean out the legs.  Many people shy away from these exercises because they are scared of injury or they have bad knees.  If you do have bad knees, these exercises are probably not for you.  However, with a clean bill of knee health, begin incorporating these movements into your leg routine and watch the muscles appear.  Some examples that you can also find in your My Gym Trainer books include:

• Squat Jumps
• Switch Jumps (jumping junges)
• Squat Thrusts
• Bench Jumps