The Assault Bike is a simple but effective tool for working your full body.
…wait…did I actually write “simple” in the same sentence as “Assault Bike”?
My apologies to anyone and everyone who has spent more than 5 seconds on one of these beasts!
That being said, the Assault Bike is an excellent fitness machine for building both power and endurance. Let’s go over some of the Assault Bike benefits the machine provides for those brave enough to jump on!
Table of Contents
10 Great Assault Bike Benefits
Full-body Exercise
Unlike many cardio machines, the Assault Bike offers full-body exercise. It engages various muscle groups, such as:
- quads
- biceps
- triceps
- core
- hamstrings
- calves
Neither the pedals nor the handlebars are “fixed” and force needs to continuously be applied to both in order to get the full benefits of the bike.
Want to increase the intensity? Push and pedal faster and harder. The bike will be more than happy to oblige!
Overall, it’s a great tool for building muscle and strength.
Low-impact
Another great benefit of the Assault Bike is that it’s a low-impact workout.
The bike’s smooth, circular motion doesn’t put a lot of pressure on the joints. This means it’s a great fitness tool for those who are recovering from injuries or have joint pain.
That being said, if you’re working “starts” or more intense sprint workouts, there is a bit more impact, particularly at the start of each repetition. If a true low-impact bike is your goal, maintaining a more consistent pace (as opposed to interval work) is your best bet.
Melts Fat
One of the most significant Assault Air Bike benefits is its ability to burn fat. By engaging multiple muscle groups in high intensity, your body burns calories to fuel the activity.
Research showed that interval training on an Assault Bike could increase calorie burn by up to 36%, compared to steady-flow cardio.
For those with the capacity, and, more importantly, the willingness to go really hard, it is possible to burn a lot of calories on the Assault Bike, really quickly. Just check this guy out:
Just think; if you could hold that pace for an hour (hehe), you’d lose, like, 2-and-a-half pounds!
Good for Cardiovascular Health
In contrast to cardio machines that only target the legs, the Assault Bike benefits and engages more muscle groups. Subsequently, it puts more stress on the cardiovascular system.
A study showed that elliptical machines that include upper body components, such as the Assault Bike and other “fan bikes”, elicit a higher heart rate (163–170 bpm) than, for example, running on a treadmill.
This makes it beneficial for cardiovascular health as it can help lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Increases Lower Body Strength
While it is a full-body exercise, the Assault Bike works wonders on your legs. When pedaling, you activate muscles in your legs that are critical for lower body strength, including the quads, hamstring, and calves.
Just take a look at some of the best Assault Bike-rs out there…you’re more likely to see a guy with tree trunk legs than some dude who looks like Lance Armstrong (the guy in the picture above is probably not one of the best!)
The Assault Bike is excellent for both testing and developing enduring lower-body strength.
Builds Stamina
The Assault Bike benefits you by building your stamina and muscular endurance. This is absolutely beneficial for athletes who need to maintain high levels of performance for prolonged periods.
(like, ya know, anyone doing CrossFit!)
Cardiovascular changes from regular use of the Assault Bike can lead to improved endurance.
HIIT Tool
The Assault Bike is a great tool for HIIT. HIIT exercises have numerous benefits. They are great for developing cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance in sports.
Scientists say that high-intensity training with the Assault Bike has “shown significant improvement in back squat (8.25 %), pulling strength (7.07 %), aerobic endurance (18.74 %), and VO2peak (10.62 %).”
Yowzerz!
This means that the Assault Bike benefits you by effectively developing a multitude of different modalities and competencies related to fitness.
Lowers Stress
To be fair, you’ve probably not considered the Assault Bike to be a stress reducing device while you’ve been slogging away in some level of agony.
However, as a high-intensity workout, the Assault Bike can help release a lot of endorphins. The full-body engagement also helps you focus your mind on the present moment, which can help with reducing anxiety.
Adds Variety to Training
The Assault Bike is a great addition to your training routine. As someone who has spent too much time in gyms that only have rowers, I can assure you that an Assault Bike is a welcome addition!
Plus, the Assault Bike is versatile. It can be used for:
- HIIT training
- steady-state cardio session
- warm-up
- cool-down
Also, because you control the bike’s resistance, you can tailor your workouts to your specific fitness goals.
Good for beginners
The Assault Bike is quite easy to learn how to use.
As previously mentioned, it’s a low-impact exercise, so it’s suitable for beginners who still didn’t develop their fitness capabilities. It also poses a low injury risk, making it a great tool for those who worry about getting hurt when first starting a fitness regimen.
Muscles worked with the Assault Bike
The Assault Bike engages various muscle groups. It’s a full-body exercise that works:
- quadriceps: quads are muscle groups in the front of the thigh. These muscles are one of the strongest and largest muscles in your body. They are responsible for moves such as running, jumping, and walking.
- hamstrings: these muscles are located at the back of your thigh. They are responsible for bending the knee and extending the hip joint, allowing moves such as running and jumping.
- glutes: gluteal muscles are located in the buttocks. They allow hip rotation, abduction, and extension. Glutes are responsible for various moves such as running, jumping, squatting, and walking.
- calves: these muscles are located at the back of your lower leg. They allow plantar flexion (pointing the foot downward). They are responsible for moves of the lower body, such as walking, jumping, running, and cycling.
- biceps & triceps: these are two major muscle groups in the upper arm. The biceps is responsible for rotating the forearm and flexing the elbow. Triceps allows extension of the elbow. These muscle groups are responsible for various upper-body activities such as pushing, lifting, and pulling.
- core: core muscles are located in the abdomen, pelvis, and lower back. They support and stabilize the spine and torso. They are important for activities such as standing, walking, sitting, and lifting.
Frequently Asked Questions
A machine as polarizing as the Assault Bike is sure to draw a lot of interest…and questions. Here are some more items that might be on your mind:
How long should you spend on the Assault Bike?
This is entirely dependent on your personal goals and current capabilities. Long pieces (10 minutes or longer) are preferred by some while shorter, more intense sprint pieces may be suitable for others. “Tabata” intervals, comprised of 8 rounds of 20 seconds of heavy cycling followed by 10 seconds of rest are ideal for HIIT purposes. 3 rounds of Tabata is enough for even the most experienced bikers!
Why is the Assault Bike so hard?
The Assault Bike is so hard because it requires moving your lower and upper body simultaneously. While doing that, the large fan generates air resistance which makes it harder to pedal.
To expand on the second point, you make the Assault Bike so hard. The harder you work, the faster the fan spins, creating a stronger and tighter “wall” of resistance. This resistance makes the Assault Bike such a formidable machine and the Assault Bike benefits so numerous!
Is the Concept2 Rower or Assault Bike harder?
The Assault Bike is generally considered to be more intense and challenging than the Concept2 Rower. However, the fan mechanism in each machine ensures that the user largely determines how “hard” their workout will be.
If you row harder than you pedal or bike, the Concept2 Rower, you’ll probably find rowing to be “harder” than using the Assault Bike.
Conclusion
The Assault Bike can be an intimidating piece of gym equipment. Even a few seconds of all-out effort can leave you gasping for breath with a feeling of being completely spent.
However, the Assault Bike benefits definitely outweigh the short-term feelings of delightful agony that often manifest during a good Assault Bike WOD!
(if you’re thinking about following Mat Fraser’s HWPO programming, get ready for a lot of these Assault Bike workouts!)
If you want to get really fit while strengthening pretty much your entire body, the Assault Bike is the tool for you!
Think you’d prefer rowing for a bit over biking? Check out our article on the top rowing workouts. No water or oars necessary!