To determine the best recumbent exercise bikes with moving arms was easy and difficult for the same reason.
There are combination recumbent exercise bike with rower where you can cycle and row separately (but not at the same time) which gives a good workout and there are recumbent elliptical trainers with moving arms but recumbent exercise bikes with moving arms seem to be very rare.
It was the rareness that made it both easy and difficult. Finding them in the first place was hard but that made it easy to narrow the choice down.
For the bikes to make the list they did need to provide people with a good quality low impact cardio workout for the arms and the legs.
The two bikes that I’ve selected do meet this requirement as well as being quiet, comfortable and easy to adjust to fit a range of people for an effective and comfortable workout that is easy on the joint.
The front post on these bikes have been modified to include hand pedals that you cycle with your hands.
So, here we go, here are the best recumbent exercise bikes with moving arms:
Velocity Exercise Dual Motion Recumbent Bike
This is an affordably priced bike that provides a sturdy and stable platform for upper body and lower body workouts.
The moving arms and foot pedals work separately of each other. You can use both at the same time or on their own.
They have their own resistance adjustment knobs. You can set a different amount for each to use it at the level you want specifically rather than be stuck with the same for each.
The height and horizontal position of the seat can be adjusted so you can get it to the most effective and comfortable position for your workouts. It works best for people between the heights of 5 ft 2 ins and 6ft 2 ins.
It includes an easy to see console (in good light) to give you feedback while you workout your legs.
Stamina Elite Total Body Recumbent bike
This is a good well built bike that is solid and stable. It is more expensive than the Velocity model but it does provide a stronger base for your workouts.
The hand pedals and foot pedals are not linked so work independently to each other but can be used as the same time as well as separately.
It can be used by people between the heights of 4ft 10 ins and 6 ft 3 ins. Adjusting the seat position horizontally can be done while on the seat easily. The vertical height adjustment needs to be done off the seat.
If you use the arm exerciser at the same time as the foot pedals it doesn’t have any resistance. When used on its’ own it does and you adjust it as you do the resistance for the foot pedals. You have 8 levels of resistance that start off easy and increase incrementally.
The console provides good feedback on how you are getting on with your workout and you can set targets for the workouts.
The Process
In choosing the bikes I’ve spent hours going through the specifications, product manuals, product listings and over a hundred customer reviews to fully understand rate and rank these bikes.
What’s So Good About These Recumbent Exercise Bikes
These bikes with moving arms (hand pedals) allow you to train more of your body together which can help you to burn more calories in the same time.
The push and pull action of your arms in turning the hand pedals activates the core, the lats, biceps and triceps in additon to the lower body exercise you get using the foot pedals.
They are great to help to cut down on additional exercise equipment by having it all in one.
These 2 bikes will provide you with ability to get a full cardio body workout in a comfortable seat while being gentle on joints making the most of your time, being cost effective and saving space too.
BEWARE: Currently the Velocity Dual Motion bike is being shipped out missing a part: the u-shaped slider that holds the seat and back onto the bike’s base. I have been waiting 6 weeks for this part, to no avail. I have had a half-assembled bike since early January (it is now mid-February).
When I called (after leaving early a dozen unanswered messages) they finally told me many people received the bike with part missing! Don’t know when the part will come into warehouse. Frustrating!
Very frustrating.
Hopefully you’re missing part has now been received.
Why did you not include the NuStep (used by Hospital recommended Rehab Programs) or the Tetter Free Step?
Thanks for pointing that out.
I was looking at recumbent exercise bikes for this post rather than cross trainers which have a different foot movement pattern than pedaling. I’ll be sure to mention them here when I talk about cross trainers to give a more complete picture..