[SportsandRec] workout apps for bikes and other cardio home equipment

[Ron Burzese]

> Hi Ashley,

I use a real bike on a Kurt Kinetic trainer stand. It lets me ride indoors. It retailed for over $600, but I found it on Craigslist for $180. Exercise equipment drops quickly in value, even though it was not used much.

For $50, I bought a sensor made by Kinetic. The Kinetic Fit app was free. It tells me my mileage, speed, power in watts, and estimates cadence and calories burned, based on my height/weight. There is also a provision for a heart rate monitor, which I have not yet tried. It all works with bluetooth on my iPhone.

I bought my Specialized Allez Comp bike for $800, when it was six years old. New, it was $1,600. I’m a bit of a bike snob, since I was a cyclist when I could see. However, you can find a bike for 50 bucks and a trainer for $100 or less.

Kurt trainers are  smooth and quiet. The loudest thing is a fan that I have blowing on me while I ride. I can heat a room a few degrees, just by riding the bike. Think of a car getting hotter, when parked in a drive-through line.

I ride about an hour, setting a timer on Siri, to hold me accountable. I listen to podcasts through a set of computer speakers. The app calls out which zone I’m in over the speakers as well. The harder I pedal, the more the resistance increases, just like riding outdoors. If I go to a higher gear, I have to push harder, but go faster. There are workouts on the app, but I just do my own thing at this point. . I ride about 16 miles and burn about 600-650 calories. The app also tells you about the 7 zones for power. A good ride for me is mostly in zones 4 and 5. I average about 135 to 150 watts for the hour. When I’m finished, the app automatically uploads my stats to Strava, where my tandem captains can give me kudos and make comments. When I ride outdoors, on a tandem, I use Cyclemeter, for $10 per year. It also posts my ride stats to Strava. Last year, I rode 1,600 miles, mostly indoors. With the move to FL, I only got in around 500 miles last year and just over 3,000 for 2021, mostly on a tandem.

If interested, I can tell you or others more offline. I’ve been using these trainers since 2001 or so.

Best,

Ron, near Daytona Beach

> On Jan 3, 2024, at 9:15 PM, Ashley Bramlett via SportsandRec <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> 
> 
> I hope your new year is going well.
> 
> 
> 
> For my cardio exercise, I use the three main cardio devices at the gym when
> I've been to one. The devices are treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals.
> 
> I want to exercise more consistently and build up stamina in the new year.