Virtual Bike Ride Exercise Bike

Few people can honestly say that cardiovascular training, or "cardio" for short, isn't mind-numbingly boring, so perhaps a virtual bike ride exercise bike isn't such a bad idea. The idea is simple enough, but does it hold up to the test? And what about those in-home options for a faux-virtual bike experience?

Precautions

While there's no risk of getting hit by a car or flying over the steering wheel when dodging a cat, all exercise comes with the same precautions. If you're currently inactive, it is always a good idea to consult with your doctor before jumping into an exercise program. This is especially true if you're overweight, have a medical condition, or are getting up there in the years.

Also remember to warm up thoroughly before each workout. Your risk of injury drops dramatically if you spend 5-10 minutes warming up and lightly stretching before getting down to the serious workout. Some virtual bike ride exercise bikes have a built-in feature for this; use it.

Virtual Bike Ride Exercise Bikes

There are different models, of course. The upper-end models cost several thousand dollars and will only be found at gyms and health clubs. On the lower end, you can buy a regular DVD with biking footage from exotic locales for around $15 and watch while pedaling away on your regular stationary bike. It can be debated if this truly qualifies as "virtual biking", but seeing how the offerings are still fairly slim for home users with limited wallets, we'll look the other way for now.

As far as the real thing goes, you may have spotted the first generation virtual exercise bikes back in the mid 90s, complete with primitive graphics and clunky interfaces. While slightly better than watching a rerun of the Fiji chess team semi-finals on the TV screens hanging from the ceiling, it was hard to justify the steep price tag.

The new generation is another story altogether. One leader in the virtual sports space, Expresso Fitness, has earned some ink recently thanks to its new Spark bike. This machine comes with a 17-inch LCD screen, 30 gears, 20 pre-loaded tracks, and the ability to race a friend on the same track. On this bike, the handlebars even move to simulate the full racing experience. They also have a recumbent bike with 19-inch screen.

Gamebike by Cateye Fitness is an older attempt at reaching home users. While still appearing for sale in some places, it is not actively promoted by the mother company, and the game compatibility lineup -- Gamecube and Playstation 1 and 2 -- speaks volumes about the cruel nature of technological trends. This brings us to...

The Virtual Exercise Future

Will virtual exercise gadgets survive and grow? The popularity of items like Wii Fit and the DDR and Hottest Dance Party pads shows there's a strong and growing market for home-based combinations of gaming and exercise. Few regular families can drop $4,000 or $5,000 on a professional-grade exercise machine, but the warm reception of the Expresso Spark is a good indication this is one of those ideas that may finally have matured enough to get a fair shake in the gyms around the country.

Once you've gotten used biking through lush forests with jumping rabbits and the option to score bonus points by performing impromptu bike stunts, particularly when playing head-to-head with a friend, it is dull to the point of being painful going back to watching a blinking red LED slowly, slowly move in a little circle. Boredom is one of the biggest threats to regular exercise, and anything that can help take the edge off that boredom is a step in the right direction -- and a step in favor of the next generation exercise equipment. Ask your health club manager for one or two of these today!

• Pictures of People Exercising
• Women Fitness Models
• Male Fitness Model

• Breast Lifting Exercise
• Contour Abs
• Naked Exercise
• Naked Pilates
• Hula Hoop Exercises

• Printable Exercise Log
• Fun Exercise Routines
• Free Printable Exercise Log
• Cardio Workout Routines
• Low Impact Exercise Equipment