On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:04:39 -0600, "Jon Meinecke" <
[email protected]>
wrote:
>"Werehatrack" <[email protected]> wrote
>> "Jon Meinecke" wrote:
>>>[www.rowbike.com]
>>>- Burns approximately 50% more calories than ordinary biking
>>>- Provides nearly twice the cardiovascular benefits as ordinary biking
>>>
>>
>> The other one cited has a much less upright position, and more closely
>> mimics the rowing position and technique used in a racing shell. As
>> is almost always the case with advertising claims, they're probably
>> puffing up the description quite a bit with glittering generalities
>> and misleading or invented "statistics", but my impression is that of
>> the two, the Rowbike would be much slower.
>
>Yes certainly slower, by design! %^)
>
>The claim of burning 50% more calories than ordinary biking
>is an interesting marketing claim.
Yeah, 50% more relative to what? By comparison to the number burned
over the same speed and distance? That would certainly be an
admission that would send people off to the other products in a hurry
if they thought about it. Besides, it's been pretty well esytablished
that the limiting and determining factor in how many calories get
burned is the engine, not the device; if the rider wants to achieve a
higher output, *any* bike will facilitate that.
>Easy to accomplish the same
>thing with an ordinary bike and intentionally dragging brakes!
Or just go faster!
>%^P
>Full body workout, is the better claim for RowBike.
Even that doesn't really look valid; the legs flex very little, and
the motion doesn't look like it would do much with the abdominals
either. To me, it's a back-and-arms beast, and doesn't even get to
all of the muscles in the arms. It it used a push-pull resistance,
they'd have more of a basis for the claims.
>One presumes, a bike design that could efficiently recruit more
>muscles for propulsion could be faster than a bike that employs
>fewer muscles. It's the efficiency issue that's challenging, but
>the laid-back Thyes rowing bike tends more in that direction
>than the RowBike, almost certainly.
That's my impression; the Thyes uses more than just the arms and back
for motion generation, and the laid-back position seems likely to
present less drag as well. Of course, the cardio limit will still
determine the maximum absolute output that can be achieved, and
bringing more muscles into the mix will only allow a brief burst of
higher power before anaerobic operation begins, with all its
penalties.
>I wonder, is there's anything in the periodic use/rest cycle of
>rowing motion that might also improve rider power or endurance?
I have never encountered anything to suggest that this is the case.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.
