Stabilization and balance. On a real bike you are the one who is keeping the bike upright as such you use a lot more little muscles in and around your core for this. Then there is the form changes that occur when actually biking that one does not need to do on a stationary bike, like leaning into and controlling a…

The grips are a big one. Another one is the motion of the stairs on the machine takes away from the pushing. Height variability is another factor. Lots of small things that add up on top. Stairmasters tend to have softer surfaces which makes it easier to push off and cushion your foots fall, stuff like that.

Waiiiit. I’m a little confused why a Stairmaster isn’t the same as climbing stairs. They are literally stairs on a loop.

Ya... they ride actual bikes outside in the wilds of France. They’re also world class cyclists with resting heart rates in the 30s... not exactly the same as a fixed stationary bike you dont need to stabilize yourself indoors ridden by an untrained person.

I live in NorCal and watching someone that’s come from Soul Cycle negotiating a 50mph descent is kind of frightening. And the whole steering while climbing thing can be a bit disconcerting. I have had to regularly yell at some of my riders to “get out of the way of the fucking cars before you get killed” because…

Ya, I’m a former competitive cyclist in my youth and road or mountain is nothing like stationary bikes. The stationary bikes completely takes out the stabilization one must do on an actual bike, which activates WAY more muscle groups. Most notably your core and back.

Bicycle coach here for a century team. We ride 100 mile trips. Whenever I’ve had new riders on the team, it’s important to assess their skills on the bike. Spin class riders generally don’t know squat about actually riding a bicycle any distance and teaching them to ride a bicycle out in the world must be what it’s…

Word. YMCA Boot Camp for the Win!  Exercise, Motivation, and supportive socialization for $35 a month. (and a pool.)

It’s the monthly subscription that really gets to me; the whole notion of adding “...as a service,” and tacking on a monthly fee.

First a lot of those calorie burned metrics are quite inaccurate and heart rate is not actually related to how much calories you burn. I as a trained individual can do one hour of moderate intensity cardio without elevating my heart rate over 130 to 140 bpm but that doesn’t mean I am burning less calories than when I…

For the same base price you could get more than 7,000 Pop Tarts.

I use a stationary bike at the gym to cool down after the elliptical or treadmill.  Good for wasting an extra 20 minutes at the gym while I finish whatever show I’m streaming.

I get angry every time I see the house in the GMC commercial with the couple in their late 20s/ early 30s living in a million dollar modern mansion and he buys them matching GMCs because her matching watches for the hell of it. Who is this supposed to appeal to? 

After years (ok, I can say decades now) of yo-yo dieting, I started with a personal trainer and HIIT classes last year. I have loved it and kept up with it with some variance. Stationary bike is what I do when I don’t really feel like working out, or I’m nursing an injury, but I still have to do something. What you…

I hate how aspirational this commercial is.

The real change is the friends she made along the way...

Fun Fact: Stationary Bikes are among the worst machines for burning fat as they only activate your lower body and even then only specific muscle groups. For somebody trying to lose weight or get into better shape in general stationary bikes are some of the worse. A smaller woman on a stationary bike could burn as few…

The real change is... ON THE INSIDE.

The ad is effective in that it got me curious enough to look up what Peleton costs. Then when I stopped laughing I went back to eating my Pop Tarts for breakfast.

What I don’t get is how this woman claims getting the bike “changed her.” There is no visible way in which she has changed over the year. She was already thin and toned. I guess she just gets up earlier now?