Do bents give less upper body workout?

chero said:

I commute with an upright. In addition to the leg and cardivascular workout, I feel I get a reasonable amount of upper body workout from standing on the pedals going up hills, and pulling on the handlebars a bit. I am thinking of trying a bent for greater comfort and a more straight ahead view. But, in a bent do you get less of a workout of your upper body?

chero

Yes, it is true.

An alternate choice to a recumbent is a semi-recumbent, like the RANS Fusion (and similiar), Surefoot Lightfoot, Day6Bicycles and Sun SunRay. The RANS bikes are the more performance-oriented of the bunch, but they are also the most expensive.
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Yep, they do require less upper body. That's one of the advantages - you can put all your energy into pedaling instead of wasting it doing pushups. Recumbenteurs who want upper body exercise can get it by doing something else, no bike required.

There is virtually no upper body workout on my LWB recumbent. For that , I got a rowing machine. During the rainy season, it's often the only workout I get. bk

bkaapcke said:

There is virtually no upper body workout on my LWB recumbent. For that , I got a rowing machine. During the rainy season, it's often the only workout I get. bk

For that, you could get a rowbike: rowbike.comrowbike.comOpen ↗
......
(-I kinda like the look of these things, but I wuldn't buy one before trying it out [just ot make certain it was long enough for me]... and I ain't looking for them. Last thing I need right now is another $1K bicycle....)
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Slugster438 said:

For that, you could get a rowbike: rowbike.comrowbike.comOpen ↗

...or an Irish Mail: http://www.champiot.com/

Well, if you are on a 'bent trike, you could always bring along a set of dumbells and do bicep curls, shoulder presses, and chest flys while merrily peddling away since many of the trikes will let you ride "hands free" in a straight line once you're accustomed to the trike's nuances. Just a thought:o)

I have a Sun EZ-3 SX. Once I laid the seat back and learned to spin and not mash I discovered that my Abs were getting a good work out. Still don't have a Six-pack but any thing that flattens my gut is a good thing.

chero said:

I commute with an upright. In addition to the leg and cardivascular workout, I feel I get a reasonable amount of upper body workout from standing on the pedals going up hills, and pulling on the handlebars a bit. I am thinking of trying a bent for greater comfort and a more straight ahead view. But, in a bent do you get less of a workout of your upper body?

chero

Any sort of biking will not give your upper torso a decent workout. That's what regular weight training is for -- pullups, bench presses, rows, military presses, etc.