If you’ve never heard of an Air Walker in your life before, this article will get into details about what it is, what it does and how different or better it is compared to an exercise bike.
My aunt recently got orders from her doctor to get into a workout routine as a solution for her osteoporosis condition. Being the fitness guru at home, I got to pick out her new home gym equipment. So, I went out hunting.
I came across this A-shaped frame unit that looked much like a little elliptical. Like a mini version. When I enquired further, my interest got piqued immediately and I wanted to know all there was about the Air Walker. It seemed like the training unit my aunt needed.
Whatever your fitness training needs might be, the market today has something exactly for you. As many people have varied preferences with slight differences, so are the type of equipment available.
What are the key differences between Air Walker and Exercise Bikes?
Air Walker |
Exercise Bike |
|
Primary Use |
Walking, Stepping |
Regular cycling |
Ease of Use |
Good |
Good |
Risk of Injury |
Low |
Moderate |
Calories Burned |
Low |
Moderate |
Muscles Worked |
Quads, glutes, hamstrings, |
Quads, glutes, claves, hamstrings, calves, triceps, core, biceps |
Increased Challenge |
Increase Speed or resistance |
Increase speed or resistance |
Console |
No |
Yes |
Air Walker Vs Exercise Bike– How do they differ?
Primary Use
Air walkers were built with the sole aim to provide low impact exercises to the world. They have a limited range of motion as well as very low intensity workouts. They are best for anyone with injuries or for people who prefer briskly walking on the spot.
Options such as jogging, skipping, stepping and some form of cycling can be made possible with the air walker. You may also go in a forward or backward motion for variety.
The exercise bike comes in handy for the cardiovascular exercises and the VO2 capacity development. You can count on this bike to deliver a breathtaking training session that will have you shedding some calories which will compound into a loss of weight overall.
Anyone can try either of these training equipment, it all depends on what your long term fitness goals are and how you best see yourself attaining them.
The Air Walker is best suited for individuals who like some light training especially in family homes while the exercise bike is more intense and demanding.
Ease of Use in Training
Riding the exercise bike as well as walking in the air walker are both very easy techniques to perform effortlessly.
For the exercise bike, the design and build of the pedals provides features adjustable straps meant to secure your footing and help you maximize your pedal motion and the power transfer along the crank. To ride the bike, put on some comfortable trainers and get on the saddle to begin.
You may feel the need to adjust the bike’s parts and this is possible in terms of the adjustable seat. While a lot of trainees imagine that cycling is just a warm-up routine, the right trainer or workout program could have you doing the most intense cycling exercises possible.
Mixing up your intervals with fast and then slow-paced revolutions per minute will activate the fat reserves and have them shedding even long after your training.
The air walker has the easiest time and though it doesn’t have strapped pedals, the foot platforms are textured and large in size for a more comfortable foot placement. The handlebars are anti-grip for firmer support as you glide effortlessly above the ground.
These two equipment have ease in use and no problems are fore-seeable in their simple set up and operation.
Injury Risk
Although the exercise bike has an integrated system built in designed to stop the pedaling motion once you stop pedaling, this poses benefits and drawbacks to the bike.
While positively, this system of integration emphasizes the user’s health and protects them from any unintended consequences in training, the flip side is that this mechanism limits the user’s capacity. With this limited capacity, you never feel motivated to dare or do more.
The air bike poses the perfect alternative exercise for all suffering from any joint pain or muscle ache regardless of their age. The air walker provides users with the perfect low impact cross training alternative available in the world today.
Injured persons who want to cycle instead of walk can do so only at the lowest resistance levels and they should stop at the sign of any pain to protect their limbs from any further damage.
Walking on the air walker is about as low impact as you can get compared to the exercise bike.
Resistance
Not much resistance is offered by Air walker units which is ideal for newbies and older generation trainees. However much of your training is predetermined by the level of your energy and effort in performing exercise routines.
At the highest resistance levels on the Air Walker you probably will be out of breath and could not sing but talk. Even as the handlebars on the Air Walker are movable, they do not come close to providing you with a full body workout.
Resistance adjustment on the exercise bike is done by use of a lever or knob. Once these adjustments click in, the bike will get harder to pedal and it will require you to push even harder to move a revolution.
The bike is versatile as it allows you to switch up the training position form the seated to the hunched back on pedals. The faster you go, the more adrenaline rush you get and the more your heart pounds and your lungs expand and contract dramatically.
Exercise bikes offer more variety in body positioning from sitting to standing which allows for more muscle groups to be engaged as compared to the standing position available withAir Walker.
Calories burned
As an ardent trainee, you must understand that the heavier you are, the more calories will you burn. This is because it takes more energy for a heavier person to move their body than for a lighter weight person.
While cycling on the exercise bike, if you weight abut 155-pounds and you cycle at moderate intensity for an hour, you might lose anywhere around 500 calories.
The Air Walker, though providing very little resistance will still burn a few calories off of you. For the same 155-pound individual, an hour on the Air Walker will lead to about 360 calories burned.
The biggest advantage of the Air Walker is that based on your training intensity, the results in weight loss and toning will be visible. It also builds and develops muscles without creating bulkiness.
The Exercise bike will help you lose at least 150 more calories more per hour compared to the Air Walker.
Verdict: So, which is better, theAir Walker or Exercise Bike?
In more ways than one, the Exercise Bike is way better than the Air Walker. In terms of calorie burning, weight loss, variety in functionality, ease in use and overall long-term use, the exercise bike beats the Air Walker on all levels.
However, the Air Walker is the best option for osteoporosis as it strengthens the joints, ligaments and helps grease the knee cap for easier more fluid movement.