Dual action exercise bike use helps you make fast progress because workouts use more muscles and build strength and stamina as well. These machines do more because workouts are more than just simple mindlessly pedaling away. Here are three tips based on my twenty years of pedaling a Schwinn Airdyne, the classic of a dual action machine.

Recovery Time

Hard workouts cry out for recovery time. Especially for older riders, every day workouts may not be the best idea. That assumes you're really working and not just coasting along. More intense workouts, but with rest days help with fast progress. Hammer away and then take a rest day. Spend less time and make more progress. Hard work means more progress and lasting gains.

Less frequent workouts that are longer and more intense mean more progress but less total time spent on exercising. Plus less frequent exercise periods may be easier to stick with and that sticking to it is key to making the progress you probably desire.

Circuit Training

Boredom may be the chief obstacle to progress with exercise bike fitness. Anything that makes workouts more varied helps keep boredom beat back. Since dual action bikes are short on electronics, something must be done to fight the boredom factor. The very design of the machines helps since you get to use both legs and arms during the action of the bike.

Why not throw in other types of exercise along with riding. For example, get off the bike and do a set of weight exercises at intervals. After a few minutes of brisk pedaling, think what a set of bench presses could do. That's a great way to expand the chest and really get some breathing going. Not to mention exercising the chest which isn't worked overly much with the bike.

In addition, a short but intense weight workout added right on to the end of the exercise bike routine will keep you breathing and heart pumping going longer and make the routines of more benefit while adding the advantages of the weight moving.

Mix in other exercise types and fight the same old same old.

Varied Pace

Similarly, why just pedal along mindlessly at the same pace for the whole workout. Mix up the pace so you hammer along at high rate for awhile then back off to recover then repeat. It's easy enough to write out a pace routine and just vary the pedaling rate based on the time on your timer. Speed up and slow down and get more done in the same time. Mix in circuit training with another machine or weights and make fast progress.

Varied workouts also help keep routines interesting and less of a chore to be dreaded and avoided.

Dual action machine fitness results from using more of the muscles on your frame. Mix it up to make more interesting workouts and make faster progress. More time in the seat and a higher effort level spells real improvement for weight loss, fat burning and fitness. The right workouts can mean increased metabolism and more long-term results.