What if, instead of forcing yourself to maintain your discipline and motivation through a long session on your exercise bike, you could instead bike through beautiful new terrains or regions?
Or maybe even trying one of those new exercise bicycling classes, without going to the gym and spending money for an annual membership there?
Welcome to the new world of interactive exercise bikes, enabled by the power of technology.
People love interactive exercise bikes because of the way they mimic biking in "the real world," and giving you a variety of ways to do so.
You shouldn't be forced to have to stare at the LCD screen that tells you how long you've been on the bike and how many calories you've burned, through the duration of your workout.
For those bikes that have a built-in television monitor, you also shouldn't have to be forced to try and find something on TV when you're working out early in the morning, in the middle of the day, or late at night, when there's nothing worth watching.
Most importantly: you shouldn't be forced to find ways to "zone out" while you're exercising.
In today's world, where we're constantly connected and have access to an unprecedented amount of information and content, why shouldn't you be able to leverage that when exercising?
Many interactive exercise bicycles will look much like your standard exercise bike, but they'll have a large monitor positioned right in front of your face, giving you access to a whole variety of interactive activities and features. The entire idea is to immerse you in a comprehensive bicycling experience.
​Instead of thinking about the fact that you're sitting in place and pedaling away without actually going anywhere, what if your bike ride made it feel like you're biking through the Swiss Alps, the along beaches of Hawaii, or right on the Autobahn in Germany? Or better yet, what if you always had a secret dream to someday bike in the Tour de France?
That's what the simulated courses built into interactive exercise bikes provide you.
Not only will you feel like you've been transported to an entirely new location, but you can also set some of these programs to make it feel like you're biking with -- or competing against -- other people on the same course.
Interested in taking a spin class, or even just a general exercise bike class taught by a celebrity trainer? Many interactive exercise bikes have preloaded sessions like these, to give your workout another layer of intensity.
If you're someone who enjoys having a trainer motivate you, but don't like the idea of having to pay one to do so, this is a wonderful way to enjoy all the benefits without the added costs.
The benefits of interactive exercise bikes are far more than simply “fun.” There are studies that show how using an interactive exercise bike can be just great for your brain, just as much as it is for your body.
A report in the February 2012 edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that older adults – between the age of 58 to 99 years old – who combined physical exercise with computer-simulated environments and interactive program yielded greater cognitive benefits than traditional exercise alone.
At the end of the day, exercise is about how much you put into it, and how diligently you stick with it. Most people fail to meet their fitness goals because they get bored with their workouts, and eventually lose the motivation to exercise.
By making exercise bikes more interactive, it helps prevent these issues.