As a collegiate athlete who has trained in several small to world-class gyms, I’ve been using Air bikes a lot for my endurance.
This allowed me to try different workouts and exercises to change up my stress tolerance levels and be able to compete at a high level.
Today I’ll be sharing with you some of these workouts that I’ve personally used and others have to help improve their body into a toned, defined, endurance machine.
If you want to learn more about assault bikes, here’s an intro article about them.
So, let’s just jump right into it!
Classic Workouts
These are some classic, tried-and-true workout routines to start.
Tabata Interval Training Protocol
The Tabata is an interval training protocol developed to train Olympic skaters in the 90s. Developed by Dr. Izumi Tabata, he focuses high intensity interval training with shor trest period to target both the aerobic and anaerobic system.
Focusing on performance in less time, it is perfect if you’re in shape and looking to push yourself.
The workout:
- Warm up: Have the blood start to flow with light cycling for at least 10 minutes.
- Start slow: Start with shorter medium intensity interval sprints and work your way up to 20 second high intensity sprints and then rest for 10 seconds
- Rest between sets: Between sets, rest for at least 60 seconds and slow down your breathing
- Monitor your intensity frequently: Intensity increases as you go through each cycle or set, peaking as you reach the end of the muscle. Your form may get sloppy when your muscles are fatigued which increases your chances of getting injured.
The Reverse Tabata
If you’re looking to work up to the Tabata, you can try this inverse version:
- Warm Up for 3 minutes where you ride at a smooth pace while increasing the resistance gradually.
- Set a Tabata Interval, we recommend 4 minutes.
- Start doing 10-second sprints followed by 20 seconds of rest and repeat these sets 8 times.
This is great for getting used to high-intensity interval training and preparing for full Tabata protocols.
The Standard
This is a go-to, simple as can be a workout for the air bike (I recommend the Rogue Echo bike). It’s great for having a simple routine you can stick to if you don’t want to think about it much.
Do one minute on, then one minute of rest until you hit 500 calories. The goal is to reach the 500 calorie goal in as few rest cycles as possible.
Racing and Intervals
Internal training refers to using cycling periods of high-intensity workouts and rests to better push your body than regular, moderate exercise.
This section contains variations on internal training on the air bike, using both calorie and timing goals.
Pyramid Intervals
The idea of the pyramid internal is to build up to a 50-second sprint, 10-second rest, then cool down again. The increasing intensity allows you to build up momentum before a nice cool-off period.
- Minute 1: 10 seconds sprinting, 50 seconds resting
- Minute 2: 20 seconds sprinting, 40 seconds resting
- Minute 3: 30 seconds sprinting, 30 seconds resting
- Minute 4: 40 seconds sprinting, 20 seconds resting
- Minute 5: 50 seconds sprinting, 10 seconds resting
- Minute 6: 40 seconds sprinting, 20 seconds resting
- Minute 7: 30 seconds sprinting, 30 seconds resting
- Minute 8: 20 seconds sprinting, 40 seconds resting
- Minute 9: 10 seconds sprinting, 50 seconds resting
Inverse Pyramid Intervals
The same as the pyramid intervals, but inverted. Each sprinting period has to be followed by an equal-sized rest period to handle the increased intensity overall.
The reason for the inverse pyramid is to start off strong, relax a bit, then push yourself again. It’s great if you like to get right into a workout without too much warm-up.
- Minute 1: 50 seconds sprinting / resting
- Minute 2: 40 seconds sprinting / resting
- Minute 3: 30 seconds sprinting / resting
- Minute 4: 20 seconds sprinting / resting
- Minute 5: 10 seconds sprinting / resting
- Minute 6: 20 seconds sprinting / resting
- Minute 7: 30 seconds sprinting / resting
- Minute 8: 40 seconds sprinting / resting
- Minute 9: 50 seconds sprinting / resting
Death by Air Bike
Trust me, once you try it, you’ll believe the name.
For each minute you’re on the air bike, increase the calorie goal by 2 calories until you can’t go any longer.
Death by air bike is great if you’re looking to challenge yourself in an interesting and fun way.
- Minute 1: 2 calories
- Minute 2: 4 calories
- Minute 3: 6 calories
- … etc.
Keep going and challenge yourself with each attempt to go a bit further than last time.
Morning Wake Up
A nice warm-up exercise to get you started in your day.
Start with a low-calorie goal and add to it every minute for 20 minutes. For example, start with 1 calorie per minute, then build it up by 1 calorie for each minute until a final sprint at minute 20.
This is like the death by air bike, but shifts gears into an easier warm-up routine rather than a hardcore challenge.
15 Calorie Sprint
This one has one simple goal – sprint to see how fast you can burn 15 calories. It’s a time trial against yourself. 15 calories is a solid amount for a quick test to push yourself.
Keep trying to break your record from one session to the next.
1 Minute of Calories
The inverse of the 15 calorie sprint. This time, sprint as hard as you can for a full minute and see how many calories you can burn in a limited time frame.
As with the 15 calorie sprint, try to beat your record each session.
5 and 10 Minute Time Trials
A time trial is where you try to get the highest calorie count in a given time period. We’ve already seen some very short sprinting versions of this, but you can also go for higher times for a more intense workout.
These are great if you’re looking to really turn time trials into a fuller workout and challenge yourself using them.
Two popular time trials are 5 and 10 minutes. Try to beat your previous record each session.
100 Calorie Trial
An inverse of a time trial, the calorie trial pushes you to achieve a certain amount of calories in the shortest time frame.
Like with a time trial, the 100 calorie trial attempts to turn the smaller calorie trial into a fuller workout challenge.
Try to beat your previous time each session.
Max Calorie Burner
If you are looking to simply maximize calories burned, use the one-minute time trial to your advantage. Workout for one minute at maximum intensity, then rest for two minutes. That’s one of the optimal ratios to allow you to keep burning calories for a long-term workout.
For each minute spent sprinting, push for the absolute maximum number of calories you can.
Repeat seven times for a 21-minute workout that’s focused on high-intensity interval cardio.
15 Hard / 45 Easy Minute
If you are looking to vary up with the rest periods and switch to a more continuous routine, try the 15 hard / 45 easy minute. First, do 15 seconds of hard pedaling followed by 45 seconds of easy pedaling.
This is a variation on high-intensity interval training that changes up rest time to easy pedaling for a smoother workout experience.
Repeat 10 times for best results.
The 3 Mile Challenge
As a different alternative, you can try miles instead of calorie counts or time with the 3-mile challenge, which is just as it says.
Reach 3 miles in the fastest time you can at the highest intensity you can go before resting.
As always, you can challenge yourself to beat your previous record each time.
6 Minute Finisher
A great way to finish a workout. This finisher cools down the body with moderate exercise while still maintaining some high-intensity sprints to keep up gains.
- Minute 1: 55 seconds moderate, 5 seconds sprint
- Minute 2: 54 seconds moderate, 6 seconds sprint
- Minute 3: 53 seconds moderate, 7 seconds sprint
- Minute 4: 52 seconds moderate, 8 seconds sprint
- Minute 5: 51 seconds moderate, 9 seconds sprint
- Minute 6: 50 seconds moderate, 10 seconds sprint
Recovery Mode
A simple one for those in recovery mode, do 45 minutes straight at whatever pace is comfortable for your recovery.
By taking it at your own pace, you can listen to the needs of your body while in recovery mode, figuring out the level of strain it’s under and fitting your workout to your body.
Mixed Exercises
The mixed exercises combine air biking with other exercises for a stronger overall workout. We provide instructions and examples for some of the exercises to get you started.
Arms and Legs Isolations
For this one, you’ll need a bike with footrest pegs that allow you to use only your arms.
The goal is to alternate between using your arms and legs in the workout for a more well-rounded overall exercise that isolates the different sides for maximum impact.
200 calorie version (feel free to pick any amount and quarter it for each step):
- 50 calories – arms and legs
- 50 calories – arms-only
- 50 calories – legs-only
- 50 calories – arms and legs
Double Trouble
Alternate between air biking and rowing for maximum cardio results. Rowing focuses on the arms while biking hits the legs hard, both sprinting for cardio.
- 21 calories air bike
- 21 calories rowing
- 15 calories air bike
- 15 calories rowing
- 9 calories air bike
- 9 calories rowing
Air Bike and Kettlebell Swings
A kettlebell swing makes for a great addition to air bike sprinting, mixing a highly aerobic exercise with a high momentum anaerobic one.
- 30 seconds air bike sprinting
- 30 seconds rest
- 30 seconds kettlebell swings for maximum repetitions
- 30 seconds rest
Repeat 10 times for a 20-minute workout.
How to do a kettlebell swing:
- Start in a standing ‘plank’ position.
- Hinge down into a tabletop position – do not go deep into a squat. While in tabletop, pick up the kettlebell off the ground.
- Now, alternate between the tabletop and plank position with the kettlebell swinging in front of you in plank and all the way between your legs and out behind you during the tabletop.
Air Bike and Push-ups
This one is fairly straightforward, just alternate between using the air bike and doing push-ups, hitting both the upper and lower body.
- First, do 10 calories on the air bike.
- Then, do 10 push-ups. You can do hand-release or explosive push-ups for an extra challenge.
Repeat each cycle as quickly as possible for maximum effect.
The Full Body Bike
The full-body bike targets your whole body and using a combination of simple exercises and the air bike. A bit less vigorous than the baseline, it still hits most of the core areas on the body but with a more beginner-friendly routine.
- 1 minute sprint on air bike
- 10 squats
- 5 push-ups
- 30 second plank
26 Minute Calorie Burn
This is a complete workout for doing a maximum calorie burn with high-intensity cardio and strength exercises. Complete 12 rounds of the following:
- 40 seconds air biking (high intensity)
- 40 seconds strength exercises (Push-ups, pull-ups, etc.)
- 20 second rest and transition.
Burpee Challenge
The burpee challenge combines the air bike with the classic burpee exercise for an all-in-one intense cardio workout.
- 100 calories
- 1 burpee
- 90 calories
- 2 burpees
- 80 calories
- 3 burpees
- 70 calories
- 4 burpees
- 60 calories
- 5 burpees
- 50 calories
- 6 burpees
- 40 calories
- 7 burpees
- 30 calories
- 8 burpees
- 20 calories
- 9 burpees
- 10 calories
- 10 burpees
How to do a burpee:
- Begin standing normally with feet touching and arms relaxed at either side.
- Squat down until your hands touch the floor.
- Now jump your feet back into a push-up position.
- Do a push-up.
- Jump back into the squat position.
- Leap up into the air with hands reaching to the sky.
- Land on slightly bent knees.
Air Bike Baseline
This one is an absolutely brutal benchmark workout to mark your overall progress with your body, hitting your legs, abs, arms, and full-body cardio with the burpees.
Feel free to cut the numbers down to get a feel for it before going for the full workout.
- 60 calories on air bike
- 50 squats
- 40 sit-ups
- 30 push-ups
- 20 pull-ups
- 10 burpees
The “Novice”
A bit of a sarcastic title, as this one is an absolute killer. It’s fairly simple to remember and execute, but the level of intensity of each stage is quite brutal.
- 15 calories rowing
- 12 kettlebell swings
- 10 calories air biking
- 8 burpees
Repeat 8 times.
Six Pack
- 30 calories air bike
- 25 sit-ups
- 20 lunges
- 15 kettlebell swings
- 10 push-ups
- 5 pull-ups
You might think a workout called the ‘six pack’ has to do with abs, but in this case, the name refers to the set of six exercises. These cover the whole body and provide a nice all-around workout.
Sneak Attack
If you’re looking for something alongside burpees to add to the intensity and balance of your workout routine, you can try the sneak attack, which adds thrusters for a bit of a change of pace.
- 10 Thrusters (65 lbs)
- 10 Burpees
- 10 Calories on air bike
Repeat 10 times pushing for time. It’s gonna be intense.
Hump Day
A nice exercise for getting through the middle of the week. Hits the arms, abs, and leg cardio all in a row.
- 10 dumbbell deadlifts (2×35 lbs)
- 15 sit-ups
- 15 calories air bike
Repeat as many times as necessary.
Rise Above
Three rounds for time. The lunges are really going to hit all the different areas of your legs and stretch them out.
- 15 calories assault bike
- 30 overhead lunges (55 lbs)
A true leg-day workout, if this doesn’t make your legs weak, nothing will.
Full Body Recovery Day
Finally, a simple recovery day routine for the whole body, feel free to vary your pace as need to meet your body’s needs on a recovery day. Covers legs, arms, and abs.
- 2 minutes air bike
- 2 minutes rest
- 2 minutes rows
- 2 minutes rest
- 2 minutes sit-ups
- 2 minutes rest
Cycle 3 times for a 34-minute workout.
Conclusion
There are so many different assault air bike exercises that can help you get your desired results.
Whether it’s to improve your anaerobic system, aerobic system, getting toned, or just getting the blood flowing, one of the workouts above will get you to that goal.
Let us know your experiences with these workouts and how you felt after you finished.