# Simple Technique to Boost My Stationary Bike Work Out **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 26, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-technique-to-boost-my-stationary-bike-work-out/954997 "2021-11-26T23:16:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-technique-to-boost-my-stationary-bike-work-out/954997/1 "2021-11-26T23:16:20Z")
I have Type II Diabetes. And believe me, I am doing the best I can. My A1C is 7ish, down from over 8 before. My doctor said that we want it around 6ish. I suspect that we may need some pharmacological intervention. I digress. Anyway, I exercise on my stationary bike for about twenty minutes a day. And I think that I may have found a way to boost my work out. I put my hands on my legs so my arms get a workout too. I must not be the first person to think of this. Because if you recall, they used to have workout bikes with moving handlebars. We had one when I was in HS, now long gone, not surprisingly. I asked my doctor, when I saw him last. And the medical student he was with, said it’s all about resistance. Is it? So now I move my hands more towards my kneecaps, and I do feel resistance (or mild discomfort, IAE). BTW for the present moment, there is a reason why I do it for about twenty minutes. That’s how long I let my glaucoma eye drops set. It seems to work for the present. And I have heard some people say, 20 minutes is better than none. IAE my question is, does the extra resistance boost my workout. Well 🙂 ? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-technique-to-boost-my-stationary-bike-work-out/954997/2 "2021-11-26T23:38:59Z")
Unless you increase the resistance, you’re just moving some of the effort to the arms. A good check is your heart rate. You could just increase the resistance and/or pedal faster rather than using the arms. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-technique-to-boost-my-stationary-bike-work-out/954997/3 "2021-11-28T22:21:49Z")
Don’t try to to extra stuff on the bike. Just get off of it after ten minutes and then do ten minutes of other stuff. Honestly, twenty minutes on a stationary bike is better than nothing but twenty minutes of squats, lunges, and push-ups would be a lot better. Get a light kettlebell, watch some videos, and be careful about your form so as to not injure yourself. Take it slow. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-technique-to-boost-my-stationary-bike-work-out/954997/4 "2021-11-28T23:14:53Z")
You can move your arms in the air as if you were running or walking fast, while you ride. If you have a fitsy-bitsy or smart watch, it will count it as steps. The action of moving your arms back and forth is genuine work, even without resistance.