The assault bike (also commonly called an air bike, or fan bike) is an awesome, calorie-burning workout.
Why? Because it’s a total body effort – you push, pull, and pedal against resistance that gets more intense the more you go. The faster and harder you go, the more resistance there is.
The assault bike has earned it’s nickname: Satan’s Tricycle
The assault bike can be used for steady state cardio or super-efficient interval style workouts.
In this article, we’ll bring you a round up of 28 of the best air bike workout ideas.
Find out why people have a love-hate relationship with this burn inducing, hard hitting workout device.
But why workout easy when you can workout hard?
These all work great with the Assault Fitness AirBike, AirBike Elite, Rogue Echo Bike, Schwinn AirDyne Pro, and more.
Let’s get started.
Assault Bike Workouts
We’re going to describe some great air bike workouts.
But, what’s even better, we’re going to make it easier than ever to give each a try.
For each workout, we’ll link to our Air Bike Workouts app for each workout.
What’s that? It’s an easy to use, complete workout timer that works on any phone, tablet, or computer.
You’ll be one click away from a intense workout.
Find a workout you like, pop your phone in the phone holder on the air bike, and get to work!
Here’s what it looks like on a Rogue Echo Bike.
Assault Bike Workouts
#1 Mark’s Gym – 450 Calories
Our first workout comes courtesy of Mark’s Gym. It’s a great challenge workout that you can use to benchmark your performance and measure progress over time. But it’s not easy. The goal is to burn 450 calories in 1 minute on / 1 minute off intervals, as fast as you can.
1 minute on / 1 minute off, until you hit 450 calories.
Complete this in as few work/rest cycles as possible.
#2 Heather’s Gym Airdyne Test
Got 30 minutes to burn? Try Heather’s gym Airdyne Test. 15 rounds on the bike – 1 minute on for calories , 1 minute off. How many calories can you burn?
15 rounds of: 1 minute bike for calories 1 minute of rest
15 rounds, total time of 30 minutes. Goal is to burn as many calories as possible.
#3 15 Calorie Sprint
One of the great things about an air bike – you know precisely how many calories you are burning for your effort.
How fast can you burn 15 calories? That’s the goal of this workout.
Bike for 15 calories, as fast as you can. It’s that simple.
[thrive_leads id=’5255′]#4 Go Primal Workout #2
From Go Primal Fitness we have : #4 Go Primal Workout #2. This one is a bit different than the rest in that you alternate using arms and legs, just arms, just legs, etc.
200 Calories for time:
50 Calories Arms and Legs
50 Calories Arms-only
50 Calories Legs-Only
50 Calories Arms and Legs
You will need a bike with a foot rest pegs such as the AirBike or Schwinn Airdyne to allow for arms only use. The Assault Fitness AirBike Elite also have these.
Here’s another one from Go Primal. This one uses a descending then ascending calorie goal. Killer at the beginning and killer at the end.
50-40-30-20-10-20-30-40-50 Calories
1:1 rest
Bike for the amount of calories specified, then rest as long as it took to bike the calories (1:1 rest).
#6 Go Primal Workout #8
Here’s one that combines air bike and a 400m sprint, also from Go Primal.
#6 Go Primal Workout #820 Calories on Airdyne + 400m Sprint 5 rounds for time
Bike for the amount of calories specified, then sprint for distance – repeat 5 times, as quickly as you can.
#7 Go Primal Workout #9
This one is similar to Tabata – 20 seconds hard, and 10 seconds easy (as opposed to total rest. Air bikes are perfect for interval training – because you can ramp up and down the intensity so quickly.
20s Hard + 10s Easy (instead of Rest) Airdyne until you reach 200 Calories
Use Tabata style intervals, but pedal easy instead of resting, until you reach 200 calories.
#8 1 Minute for Calories
This is a simple one. How many calories can you burn in one minute? Some people can hit 90. Can you?
1 minute for calories
As many calories as possible in one minute
#9 Mark’s Gym – Reverse Tabata
Tabata is 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest – so a Reverse Tabata is 10 seconds of work, with 20 seconds of rest.
#9 Mark’s Gym – Reverse Tabata
Pedal hard for 10 seconds, rest or pedal easy for 20 seconds. For 8 rounds
Repeat for 8 rounds. Just think, it will all be over in 4 minutes.
#10 Tabata
Classic tabata is 20 seconds on / 10 seconds off for 8 rounds.
Classic Tabata – Work as hard as possible for 20 seconds, rest for 10 – repeat 8 times
#11 Mark’s Gym – Morning Wake Up
Another workout from Mark’s Gym that proves the assault bike isn’t always just about intensity. This one is a nice warmup exercise.
#11 Mark’s Gym – Morning Wake Up
Bike for 20 minutes increasing calories every minute for 20 minutes total.
#12 Glycolitic.com: 5 Minute Time Trial
If 1 minute for max calories is good, is 5 minutes better? The folks at Glycolitic.com seem to think so.
#12 5 Minutes for max calories
#13 Mark’s Gym: 2 mi in 5 mins
#13 Mark’s Gym: 2 mi in 5 mins
2 miles in less than 5 minutes.
It’s all in the name. Bike 2 miles in 5 minutes or less.
#14 Mark’s Gym: 20 cal sprint x10
The people at Mark’s Gym sure do love the air bike …
#14 Mark’s Gym: 20 cal sprint x10Sprint for 20 calories, rest two minutes, repeat 10 times.
Fast sprint pace for 20 calories, then rest 2 minutes
#15 Mark’s Gym: 10 Minute Time Trial
This is a great bench mark workout – how many calories can you burn in 10 minutes? Long enough to test your mental toughness as well as your work capacity.
#15 Mark’s Gym: 10 minute time trial for calories
As many calories as possible in 10 minutes.
This one is often also called the 10 minute assault bike test.
#16 BoxRox: Death by 2 Calories
BoxRox brings a classic to the table:
#16 BoxRox: Death by 2 Calories
Death by 2 Calories:
2 calories the 1st minute.
4 calories the 2nd minute.
6 calories the 3rd minute, until you fail to make the required calories.
Carry on until you fail to achieve the required calories in the prescribed minute. Not until you literally die, please.
#17 Glycolitic.com: Recovery 45
After that workout, how about just an easy recovery? Just bike at any pace for 45 minutes.
#17 Glycolitic.com: Recovery 45
Ride for 45 minutes at a recovery pace.
#18 Glycolitic.com: 100 calories for time
This one is only 100 calories. But, it’s “as fast as possible” – so when you do it right, it’s gonna be tough.
#18 Glycolitic.com: 100 calories for time
Ride until you hit 100 calories, as fast as possible.
#19 John Carroll: Three Miles for Time
Coach John Carroll likes the 3 miles for time benchmark.
#19 John Carroll: Three Miles for Time
Ride 3 miles, as fast as possible.
#20 30 On / 30 Off
A simple interval workout – just alternate between 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. You can rest or pedal easy for the “off”.
Pedal hard for 30 seconds, then easy for 30 seconds, repeat 10 times.
#21 15 On / 15 Off
15 second intervals also work great as an interval.
Pedal hard for 15 seconds, then easy for 15 seconds, repeat 10 times.
#22 John Carroll: 8/15 Method
Another one from Coach John Carroll, this one has short work intervals. So, that means you gotta go hard. Sprint means sprint – as fast as possible.
Sprint 8 seconds max effort/ Rest for 15 seconds. Repeat 6 times
#23 Ross Training: Boxing Rounds – 3 mins
Ross Enamait is an accomplished boxing trainer and all around physical fitness guru. He recommends using the air bike in a boxing cadence for great carryover to fight sports.
#23 Ross Training: Boxing Rounds – 3 mins
Pedal hard at a boxer’s fight cadence: 3 minutes on, 60 seconds rest
Bonus points if you can go 12 rounds.
#24 Ross Training: Boxing Timed Rounds – 2 mins
Boxing cadence works great for 2 minute rounds also.
#24 Ross Training: Boxing Timed Rounds – 2 mins
Pedal hard at a boxer’s fight cadence: 2 minutes on, 60 seconds rest
#25 15 Hard / 45 Easy
Pedal hard for 15 seconds, then easy for 45 seconds, repeat 10 times.
#26 Cincinatti Fitness: 5 Miles in 13 Minutes
From Cincinnati Fitness Trainer we have a simple workout.
#26 Cincinnati Fitness: 5 Miles in 13 Minutes
Go 5 miles in 13 minutes, or less. Sub 10 minutes is downright amazing…
#27 MMA Fight Cadence – 5 Minutes
MMA uses 5 minute rounds. Try it on the bike. It’s better than getting kicked in the leg repeatedly. Or is it?
#27 MMA Fight Cadence – 5 Minutes
Pedal hard at a MMA fighter’s cadence: 5 minutes on, 60 seconds rest
#28 MMA Championship Fight
MMA uses 5 minute rounds. A championship fight can go 5 rounds. Now just do it on the bike.
Pedal hard at a MMA fighter’s cadence: 5 minutes on, 60 seconds rest, for 5 rounds total.
In Summary
So, there you go – 28 awesome assault bike workouts.
Which one is your favorite?
Have one to include? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll add it.
And by the way, you might be interested in our Olympic Barbell guide or our Olympic weight plates overview.
Tim is the founder of FitAtMidlife.com – an avid gym rat for 30+ years, he’s a reviewer of many, many shoes – and founder of the Speed Bag Gathering – the world’s only gathering of speed bag punching enthusiasts. See more gym reviews at Tim’s YouTube channel.
Ten seconds on, ten seconds off, repeat ten times.
That’s just the standard Rogue phone holder. It does NOT go sideways. https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-echo-bike
Where did you find that phone holder? Does it go sideways? Please post a link.
I recommend Gains Lab “Year of the Engine”. You can read about it here: https://fitatmidlife.com/air-bike-training-programs/
I am looking for an Air Bike Routine that I can use to supplement my marathon training. Do you have any recommendations?
You should use a “target heart rate” calculator. Then exercise until you reach the desired heart rate and keep exercising at the prescribed rate for the specified amount of time. In other words get your heart rate up and keep it up for the amount of time, don’t start the clock until you get to your calculated heart rate. At your age it should be approximately 127 bpm. Use a calculator, not me.
I don’t know if you answer specific questions but here goes:
I am 70 years old, and live in Alaska.
One of my exercise regimens is HIIT on an old Schwinn Aerodyne.
I am very confused about one aspect of HIIT heart rate tracking.
Typically one is told to exercise at a high heart rate for a short period of time: For example: 60 seconds at 150bpm, then 120 seconds at 115 bpm. What I haven’t been able to find anywhere in my research is what that exactly means.
During the 60 seconds, my hr will start at 115bpm. 30 seconds into it, it might be at 130bpm. 45 sec in it will be 145 and rising fast. I start backing off some so that I don’t overshoot 150, and end up at around 150bpm at 60 sec. I am only actually at 150bpm for about 10 seconds before it starts back down again.
Would this be considered as the prescribed 150bpm for 60 seconds? It doesn’t seem possible to spend the whole 60 seconds at 150bpm considering the ramp-up time involved.
Thanks for the help, and keep up the good work.
Regards,
Leif