X-Bikes amp up indoor cycling classes at He's Fit

Click here for the Lead Stories

X-Bikes amp up indoor cycling classes

Posted July 17, 2007 at 05:00 PM by Megan Hueter

Section: In The News, His Fitness, Cardio Training, Alt. Therapies, His Health, Physical Health

X Bike Picture 1 X-Bikes, stationary cycles with weighted handlebars and free-wheel gears, are filling gyms across the country. An hour-long class on one of these bikes not only tones your upper and lower body, but it could also burn up to 1,000 calories.

Invented in the U.K. and introduced to the U.S. in 2004, the bikes give a head-to-toe workout on par with swimming and cross-country skiing.

That’s because, unlike with Spinning, that other indoor cycling class, on an X-Bike, the front weel stops turning when your feet do, making it a bigger challenge to keep the bike going.

Though the fixed-gear front wheel on a Spin bike will keep rotating after a rider stops pedaling, the X-Bike’s free whell means it feels and works like the Bianchis and Specilized flashing by in the Tour de France. Cyclists keep tootsies stable and engaged via cages or, if they have bike shoes, clips.

Adding to the burn, the X-Bike has moveable, weighted handlebars. In both seated and climbing positions, instructors have riders “carve” by moving their upper bodies from side to side against bars’ resistance, adjustable via a tiny lever. By pedialing while moving arms and keeping torsos forward, X-Bikers firm up core muscles without hurting their backs.
X Bike Picture 2 Classes will typically take the rider through a series of sprints and different levels of leg resistance, which one adjusts by clicking a dial on the bars. Many say that pedalingng feels like trekking through sand instead of zipping along a road.

Intense X-Bike drills like these seem to produce dramatic results. While getting a six-pack and Lance Armstrong calves might not be as thrilling as wearing a yellow jersey and racing through the French alps, it comes close.

For resources and more information: [Barger, J. “Take a Wild Ride.” The Washington Post Express. July 17, 2007, page E4