I love the arm bike. I used to hate using an arm bike when I was walking. I felt defeated- that I should be using the regular bike or elliptical but because my legs weren’t as strong, I was using the arm bike. But now that I’m wheelchair bound, it’s become an awesome workout!
The arm bike at my gym requires me to transfer to the little bench. I don’t know if it’s removeable. The arm bike at my physical therapist’s clinic has a removeable bench where I can wheel right up and stay in my chair. I don’t mind transferring though.
The workout I did today (3/29/15) consisted of 15 minutes:
1:00 warm-up
4:00 forward [moderate] (L4)
4:00 backward [moderate] (L4)
1:00 forward [rigorous] (L5)
1:00 backward [rigorous] (L5)
1:15 forward [moderate] (L2)
0:45 forward [rigorous] (L5)
2:00 cool-down (L2)
This definitely got the heart rate up and the sweat pouring. Trick: keep your back straight and your abs tight for a great core workout. Don’t twist from side to side.