Recumbent Bike

A beginner cardio exercise that works the quads, using a machine.

Recumbent Bike — Starting position Starting position
Recumbent Bike — End position End position
Difficulty Beginner
Type Cardio
Equipment Machines
Primary Muscle Quads
Logged As Duration

How to Do Recumbent Bike

  1. To begin, seat yourself on the bike and adjust the seat to your height.
  2. Select the desired option from the menu. You may have to start pedaling to turn it on. You can use the manual setting, or you can select a program to use. Typically, you can enter your age and weight to estimate the amount of calories burned during exercise. The level of resistance can be changed throughout the workout. The handles can be used to monitor your heart rate to help you stay at an appropriate intensity.
  3. Recumbent bikes offer convenience, cardiovascular benefits, and have less impact than other activities. A 150 lb person will burn about 230 calories cycling at a moderate rate for 30 minutes, compared to 450 calories or more running.

Muscles Worked

Front
Back

Primary

Where Recumbent Bike does most of its work.

Secondary

Assisting and stabilising muscles.

Alternatives to Recumbent Bike

10 movements that train the same primary muscle, closest substitutes first — same kind of training, then variations of the movement itself, then a similar difficulty.

  1. 1 Bicycling

    Bicycling

    A beginner cardio exercise that works the quads.

    beginner Not specified
  2. 2 Trail Running/Walking

    Trail Running/Walking

    A beginner cardio exercise that works the quads.

    beginner Not specified
  3. 3 Bicycling, Stationary

    Bicycling, Stationary

    A beginner cardio exercise that works the quads, using a machine.

    beginner Machines
  4. 4 Running, Treadmill

    Running, Treadmill

    A beginner cardio exercise that works the quads, using a machine.

    beginner Machines
  5. 5 Walking, Treadmill

    Walking, Treadmill

    A beginner cardio exercise that works the quads, using a machine.

    beginner Machines
  6. 6 Jogging, Treadmill

    Jogging, Treadmill

    A beginner cardio exercise that works the quads, using a machine.

    beginner Machines
  7. 7 Skating

    Skating

    An intermediate cardio exercise that works the quads.

    intermediate Not specified
  8. 8 Rope Jumping

    Rope Jumping

    An intermediate cardio exercise that works the quads.

    intermediate Not specified
  9. 9 Elliptical Trainer

    Elliptical Trainer

    An intermediate cardio exercise that works the quads, using a machine.

    intermediate Machines
  10. 10 Rowing, Stationary

    Rowing, Stationary

    An intermediate cardio exercise that works the quads, using a machine.

    intermediate Machines

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles do recumbent bike work?

Recumbent Bike primarily works the quads. The calves, glutes and hamstrings assist as secondary muscles.

What equipment do I need for recumbent bike?

Recumbent Bike uses machines.

Recumbent Bike: is it suitable for beginners?

Yes. Recumbent Bike is rated beginner. Movements you can learn in a session, with a low skill floor and a forgiving failure mode.

What can I do instead of recumbent bike?

Bicycling, Trail Running/Walking, Bicycling, Stationary train the same primary muscles and are listed with 7 more alternatives above.

How do I log recumbent bike in Fitnit?

As a duration. Fitnit logs the session length and counts it toward your weekly activity alongside your strength work.

Photographs and step-by-step instructions from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. Muscle mapping and alternatives by Fitnit.

Track Your Recumbent Bike with AI

Fitnit automatically tracks push-ups, crunches, squats, pull-ups, and curls with advanced body tracking technology — and you can manually input any other workout too. Start free — Pro is $8.99/month.