Throughout the development of the SaddleBar® cycle utility bar finished product, numerous brands and types of resistance bands were trialed in order to settle on an ideal band that provides durability, manageable levels of resistance, hand comfort, adaptable for on/off the bike exercises, and was latex-free.
The SaddleBar® Team is confident that riders of all ages and at all levels indoor cycling experience will find that the bands provided are safe, effective and deliver the correct amount of resistance with a great texture.
Resistance applied to target muscle groups is the product of a bands thickness and width along the length of the stretched band. Resistance can be dynamically adjusted up or down easily by users sliding their hand grip closer to (increases) or further away (decrease) from the bands anchor point.
This is a major advantage of resistance bands over hand-held weights especially during cycling. Hand-held weights are locked into a non-adjustable level of resistance exclusively within the perpendicular plane of gravity. Alternatively, resistance bands afford a much wider range of dynamically adjustable resistance along many planes of movement due to the fact that the plane of resistance is the same linear line of direction that the resistance band is stretched.
So why were resistance bands not utilized from that point in time when it was realized that strength training can be combined with aerobic cycling?
The answer may be that at that time resistance bands were not in vogue outside of physical therapy therefore no one quite understood exactly how to or why resistance bands should be used in lieu of hand held weights and … until now there was no cycle utility bar available to anchor resistance bands to the bikes.
Some major advantages of B.O.B. can be listed as:
1. Providing versatility and flexibility associated with a multitude of upper body strengthening exercises during aerobic cycling. Studies have indicated that this combination presents an advantage over either type of exercise done independently.
2. Incorporating linear static (isometric) muscle contractions with bands strengthens muscles without risk to joints or tendons and additionally sensitizes the muscle-central nervous system-brain network as an anti-aging benefit throughout one’s lifetime.
3. Optional band exercises for upper (arms, chest, back, shoulders, core) and lower (ankle, knee, hip) extremities from the back of the bike allow many of the same exercises performed while cycling – in addition to exercises that help maintain balance and leg strength as a preventative of experiencing falls as one ages.
Learn more about Bands On Bikes at mysaddlebarteam.com
