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Best Indoor Cycle Bikes under $400

Covid has wrecked havoc on most people’s workout routine and more and more people are turning to at home workouts this year than ever before. This year, indoor cycling has exploded and now it seems “everyone is doing it”. Top companies such as Peloton and Nordic Track sell amazing products and offer top of the line customer service. However, those items come with a price tag that just make it impossible for me to fit in my budget. In true EvieLu fashion, I decided to find a way to make an indoor cycling bike work for my budget.

What is indoor cycling?

First of all, what the heck is an indoor cycling bike. Most people refer to these as “spin bikes” but it turns out spinning bike and spin workouts are actually are copyrighted by Madd Dogg Athletics so I will not be referring to indoor cycling bikes using those words for obvious legal reasons. So, an indoor cycling bike is a type of stationary bike and what makes it unique, is it uses a weighted fly wheel which helps feel like a real, outdoor bike ride. The resistance of the flywheel can be adjusted to increase the intensity of the ride. It mimics hills and tough terrain.

Benefits of Cycling

I enjoy my indoor cycle rides because I can get in a total body workout in 20-30 minutes, keeping my heart rate elevated for the duration of the ride. During most of my rides, the instructors (will provide links to my favorites) teach how to properly ride to incorporate your whole body including arms, shoulders, and core. It’s so easy to get in a quick 20-30 minute ride each morning!

Bikes Under $400

While purchasing a bike from Amazon would save me more than a thousand dollars, it also meant that I needed to do my own research to find the best bang for my buck. There are HUNDREDS of indoor cycling bikes on the market. It actually was quite overwhelming to me. There were some things I was personally looking for in a bike.

quiet
tablet holder
hand weight holder and hand weights
adjustable seat
adjustable handle bar
adjustable resistance

For this blog post, I’m going to include the three bikes I found under $400 that I considered.

First up, this bike rings in at $339, making it just over $350 with tax But it meets every one of my criteria. With more than 5k reviews, this bike gets 4.5/5 stars. This bike includes a tablet mount which allows you to add your own tablet to watch workouts or link to the Peloton app during your ride. Those who have reviewed this bike, report that it is quiet.

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Sunny offers a variety of bikes at several price points but this particular bike comes highly recommended. It comes with adjustable seat and handlebar which is important if you have multiple riders in your home. This bike offers a 49lb flywheel and delivers a quiet, smooth ride, per the reviews of this bike. While equipped with a water bottle holder, it does not offer a tablet mount or hand weight mount.

Click to Shop

This is the bike I grabbed and I am so happy with my decision! It is sturdy, quiet and comfortable. It comes equipped with a tablet mount, hand weight mount, complete with hand weights and adjustable seat and handlebar, making this bike super comfortable. This bike also can handle up to 300lb rider, which other bikes at this price point have 270lb weight limit. The reviews of this bike were that it is quiet and sturdy and I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve been riding this bike daily and have absolutely zero complaints. If I was going to be picky, I would say that I don’t love the bottle holder. I tend to use larger bottles that don’t fit in the slim bottle holder.

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Best At Home Spin Workouts

For $12.99/month you can get the Peloton app to use with your indoor cycling bike. This app offers thousands of classes and you get a 30 day free trial!

YouTube is where I find my free workouts. My favorite instructor is Gabriella Guevara who offers hundreds of rides. I love the way she instructs on the proper way to ride the bike. She motivates me to keep going, even when it’s hard. In addition, her music is FANTASTIC! My favorites are the 90s rides! Check her out!

I’d love to hear from you! Please comment below or tag me on Instagram.

At Home Workouts

At home workouts 🏋️‍♀️ I truly detest working out at home but because of the stage of life I’m I’m, it’s the best option for me.

In multiple areas of my life, I fight the need for things to be perfect in order to want to do it. I want the perfect workout class, at the perfect time, in the perfect outfit. So I wait, and look and wait and look for the perfect opportunity. Welllllll, guess what-that NEVER happens. Sooo I have to FIGHT that feeling HARD! So not only do I not like working out in my basement because it takes so much self motivation, it’s also NOT my idea of perfect! It’s never the perfect workout and I’m DEFINITELY not in the perfect Lulu 🍋 outfit 🤪.

But I’m learning (slowly but surely) to just show up. In this case, I’m getting up and pressing play! I’m not waiting for the perfect opportunity cause if I do, I miss out. How true is that in all of life?!?

Here’s my 5 tips for sticking to an at home workout

Find something you like. It took me a while to find the perfect at home workout. I needed something interesting, fun, with tons of variety. I need to follow a workout so I stream workouts with a trainer I love. It took me a while to find a trainer I love but now that I’ve found one, I’m obsessed. When I don’t feel like doing a workout in my basement, I give myself permission to walk or run outside.
Have a variety of at home workout equipment. I have spent nearly a year, slowly collecting weights, resistance bands, kettlebells, stationary bike, etc. When I first started working out at home, I had one yoga mat and 5lb handweights but over the year, I’ve search Marketplace and looked for sales, so I can collect these items at affordable prices. Here is the bike we have (https://amzn.to/2BFT7ks), not the best, but gets the job done!
Make it a habit and make it YOU TIME! I used to HATE waking up to work out, but I just kept setting my alarm for 530/545am every. single. day. even the on the weekend until it became a habit. Now, I can’t sleep past 545am 🙂 and I look forward to my workout every morning.
Focus on progress over perfection. In the past, my perfectionism got in my way of doing what I needed to do. If I couldn’t get a FULL workout in, I’d get discouraged and quit all together. Now, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I will do what I can. I will cheer myself on and be proud of what I did accomplish, instead of worrying about what I couldn’t do.
Find an accountability partner, I’ve had so much fun challenging my friends using my Apple Watch. I also have friends I check in with about my exercise routine and nutrition. If you don’t have someone that can be your accountability partner, I have TONS of suggests, please reach out!
Have fun! Lordy, this stuff is HARD but I make it as fun as I can. I recently purchased bluetooth earbuds (budget friendly of course :-)) which allows me to blast encouraging music and helps motivate me to get my workout done! (Linked here—https://amzn.to/30WZ8Sa).

Favorite At Home Workouts

Heather Robertson is who I follow on YouTube

Heatherroberston.com

Her workouts are laid back, easy to follow and fun. I absolutely love following her. She has TONS of workouts, including a 12-week plan.

Peleton App

https://www.onepeloton.com/app I have not personally used this but I have heard SO many great things about this app. You don’t have to have a Peleton bike to use the workouts. Great variety and great workouts.

Beachbody on Demand ($99/year, unlimited workouts, meal plans)

https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/

Favorite workouts within BOD include:
*21 Day Fix
*Core De Force (kickboxing)
*Morning meltdown (variety of workouts)
*Insanity
*Cize (hip hop dance)

What’s your favorite at home workout!??!

At Home Workouts

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Because I’m breathing…

Rainbow Rice Sensory Activity

Bath Playdough