Flywheel Design Exercises

A flywheel design on exercise or sports equipment provides a workout with speed and smoothness of motion. The size of the flywheel, especially in elliptical trainers, also determines the intensity of the workout you receive. A large flywheel makes for a steeper stride, and takes away some of the intensity, where a smaller flywheel causes you to work harder. Bicycles, both stationary and road or mountain bikes have a flywheel design and combine speed with resistance, natural or artificial, for a great workout. The new outdoor elliptical riders combine the mobility of a bike with the cardio benefits of an indoor elliptical for a fun new way to work out.

  1. Bicycles For All Ages

    • Exercising on a bike is something many consider to be for children, but the truth of road biking or more extreme mountain biking is that it is excellent cardiovascular exercise and has lower impact on joints than running or jogging. It also has practical applications in getting you from point A to point B quickly while still allowing you to enjoy the scenery. A bicycle is one way to combine errands with exercise. Riding over hilly terrain and standing up frequently on your pedals are ways to increase the fitness benefit of a bicycle.

    The Stationary Bicycle

    • This piece of personal fitness equipment relies on the flywheel design just as the road bike, and fits easily into most homes. The benefit of a stationary bike is its usefulness in all weathers. The level of its cardiovascular intensity depends on the speed, tension and length of time you use it. It is a great introductory piece of equipment, good to ease sedentary people into exercise.

    The Elliptical

    • Like the stationary bike, this is an indoor piece of equipment that fits easily into most homes. The elliptical requires that you stand for your workout and uses more muscle groups, more quickly increasing the heart rate. It still depends on your intensity levels as to how much benefit you get from the machine. Machines vary in their available settings, but you usually have a tension setting that adjusts the difficulty of your workout. Some more advanced models include incline settings further ramping up the cardio burn.

    The Elliptical Crosstrainer

    • These combine the elliptical and stationary bike. They make it possible to combine different lengths and intensities of the two exercises for greater fitness benefit.

    The Elliptical Bike

    • This is a relatively new flywheel based design that takes your elliptical machine outdoors. Different models have different-sized flywheels, so the workout you get will depend upon that. These are a new way to add a fun element to your exercise routine, and provide an excellent cardio workout.