60 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 SHAPE.COM

Rev your ride

Th is is the one

bike you’re not

using—and the

one that will net

you the most fat

melt and muscle

sculpting to

transform your

body fast.

By CARLY GRAF

T

The air bike is in a calorie-burning league of

its own, combining the arm-pumping action

of a cross-country ski machine with the

leg-firming power of cycling against seri-

ous resistance. Unlike its road or Spinning

counterparts, the air bike uses a fan (which

is why it’s also called a fan bike) to generate

wind resistance, so the harder you pedal,

the harder pedaling gets. Meanwhile, your

chest, back, arms, abs, and obliques get

sculpted double time as you aggressively

push and pull the handles to generate more

power and speed. “You waste no time ramp-

ing up or gearing down,” says Ian Armond,

a program manager at Basecamp Fitness

in Santa Monica, California, which is known

for its HIIT workouts featuring the Assault

AirBike (shown here). “There’s no effort level

you can hit that the bike can’t match, so the

calorie-burn potential is nearly unlimited.”

Sure, you could use this bike for endurance

workouts, but it truly shines in short bursts of

all-out pushes, Armond says, which is why he

created this workout alternating 4 0 - second

intervals of air biking with body-weight

strengtheners. Strap your feet into the pedals

and ride like hell, gripping the handles firmly

as you push them out and pull them in with as

INTENSITY

Hard (RPE:* an 8 or

a 9 out of 10)

TOTAL TIME

26 minutes

YOU’LL NEED

An air bike. Most gyms have

them; ask a trainer to point

one out if you need help.

HOW IT WORKS

Start with the warm-up.

Then complete 12 rounds

of alternating 40 seconds

on the bike (shoot for an

effort level of 250 watts

or better) with 40 seconds

of body-weight strength

exercises, taking 20

seconds to transition

between each round.

CALORIES BURNED

(^211) *
Rate of perceived exertion, see page
158 for chart.
pound woman.
much force as you can muster—the harder
you go, the more resistance you create and
the bigger burn you earn. “You’ll engage
your entire body and push up to your car-
dio max for faster results,” Armond says.
You’ll likely feel on the brink of exhaus-
tion throughout because you won’t get
much of a breather. But that’s the point.
“The bike won’t let you plateau because you
can never fully acclimate to the resistance,”
he says. “It’s the sweet spot for melting
fat and building muscle because you’re
constantly being pushed just outside your
comfort zone.” Try his power ride: We think
you’ll be a fan of what it does for your body.