Assault Bikes are a brand of air stationary bikes that can help you move more. In turn, these exercise bikes can help you burn more calories.
Air bikes like the Assault Bikes are a type of exercise bike where you move both your arms and legs and the resistance comes from a big fan that turns against the air.
The average person can expect to burn around 260 – 447+ calories per 30 minutes of using an Assault Bike at a vigorous effort. This number will vary from individual to individual due to a variety of factors.
For example, a 125-pound (56 kg) individual will burn around 260 calories during 30 minutes of using an Assault Bike at a vigorous effort.
On the other hand, a 215-pound (97 kg) individual will burn around 447 calories during the same session of using an Assault Bike at the same intensity.
Something to keep in mind is that how intense you do this type of exercise influences the number of calories you burn a lot.
This article will also show you a more detailed chart that takes multiple factors into account, how many calories you burn when only using your arms, differences between intensities, and more.
Biggest influences on calories burned
A fact that many people find annoying is that the number of calories you burn while doing something like using an Assault Bike is hard to predict and measure correctly.
This fact can make things like weight loss feel like a guessing game when you are trying to balance these numbers with the calories in food.
Even so, good estimations for the number of calories burned while using an Assault Bike can be a helpful starting point. By taking a few important factors into account you can make your estimations more accurate.
Some of the biggest factors that influence how many calories you burn while using an Assault Bike include:
- Weight: To move around your body needs energy, measured in calories. The more you weigh, the more energy your body needs to fuel its movements.
- Body composition: Body composition is how much of your body weight is made up of different tissue. Two people can weigh the same but for one individual most of the weight can come from fat while the second individual has a lot of muscle. The reason that is important is that the same weight of muscle requires more energy than that weight in fat.
- Intensity: If you’re looking at calories burned per minute of using an Assault Bike this can vary a lot by moving your legs and arms at a fast vs slow speed.
- Resistance setting: You have the option to adjust the resistance on the Assault Bike, how hard you have to push and pull to move. The higher the resistance, the more energy your body will have to use to move your legs and arms.
Hidden calorie burning from using an Assault Bike
There are many other aspects that make it even harder to put how many calories you burn by using an Assault Bike into an exact number. This includes the fact that the calorie-burning effects of using an Assault Bike are not limited to during the workout.
As mentioned, how much you weigh plays a relatively big role in how many calories you burn. This doesn’t just apply to your workout, this is also the case during everyday activities.
Some people also build or preserve a little amount of muscle mass by using an Assault Bike, especially if they turn up the resistance.
This amount of muscle mass will definitely not be as much as something like weight lifting but it does help you burn more calories day in, day out.
It is however extremely hard to put this amount into a number since this muscle mass will be so different from person to person. Individuals more experienced with resistance training will likely not build any muscle by using an Assault Bike.
Next, doing an activity at high intensities can also cause something called “afterburn”. This is basically having an increased metabolism for a while after you stop doing the exercise.
Lastly, by moving your body more you influence the levels of certain hormones that in turn can benefit your metabolism.
Estimations of the number of calories burned with using an Assault Bike usually don’t take these effects into account.
Estimations calories burned with Assault Bike
To calculate calories burned during certain exercises like using an Assault Bike you can use a formula with MET values.
A MET value is an exercise-specific value to indicate how intense a specific type of workout is. This number represents how many times more intense the exercise is compared to sitting still.
You can use this in the following formula: METs x 3.5 x (your body weight in kilograms) / 200 = calories burned per minute
Unfortunately, there are currently no precise estimations for the MET while riding an air bike like the Assault model where both your legs and arms move. Interestingly enough, there is a MET estimation for using an air bike with only your arms.
That being said, there are different estimations for METs while using regular stationary bikes at different intensities. These vary from 3.5 at very light to light effort stationary cycling with 30-50 watts resistance to 14 at very vigorous effort stationary cycling with 201-270 watts resistance (1).
The first table will show estimations for the calories burned while using a stationary bike at 101-160 watts resistance at vigorous effort for different body weights and time intervals. This should resemble using an Assault Bike at least to a certain extent.
Additionally, you can find a chart with the estimations about the number of calories burned when using an assault bike with only your arms and how different stationary bike intensities compare in terms of calories burned.
Again keep in mind that these are estimations. This formula doesn’t take into account certain important factors that do influence the number of calories burned with an Assault Bike.
To put these estimations into perspective, 100 grams of boiled potatoes contains about 87 calories (2).
Calories burned with an Assault Bike
One of the most convenient ways to see how many calories you burned with an Assault Bike is by looking at how much time you spent doing it.
The numbers below are for using a stationary bike at 101-160 watts resistance at a vigorous effort. This is not precisely an Assault Bike but the numbers should be at least somewhat similar. Your workout intensity can make a big difference.
| Time Weight Person | 1 Minute | 15 Minutes | 30 Minutes | 45 Minutes | 60 Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 Pounds (56 kg) | 9 calories | 130 calories | 260 calories | 390 calories | 520 calories |
| 155 Pounds (70 kg) | 11 calories | 161 calories | 322 calories | 483 calories | 644 calories |
| 185 Pounds (83 kg) | 13 calories | 192 calories | 385 calories | 577 calories | 769 calories |
| 215 Pounds (97 kg) | 15 calories | 223 calories | 447 calories | 670 calories | 894 calories |
Calories burned Assault Bike vs running
Next, using an Assault Bike is not the only workout out here. Another popular option is running, inside on a treadmill or outside in the sunshine. The numbers in the table below are for 30 minutes of doing the exercise.
These rough estimations imply that running at 5 mph (8.1 kmh) burns around 13.7% more calories than using an Assault Bike at a vigorous effort.
| Exercise Type Weight Person | Assault Bike (Vigorous Effort) | Running (5 mph/8.1 kmh) | Running (6 mph/9.7 kmh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 Pounds (56 kg) | 260 calories | 295 calories | 340 calories |
| 155 Pounds (70 kg) | 322 calories | 366 calories | 421 calories |
| 185 Pounds (83 kg) | 385 calories | 437 calories | 503 calories |
| 215 Pounds (97 kg) | 447 calories | 508 calories | 584 calories |
Calories burned Assault Bike arms-only
Interestingly enough, while there is no MET estimation for air bikes, there is a MET estimation for using an air bike like the Assault Bike with arms-only at a moderate pace (40 rpm) (1).
These numbers are interesting to see but unless you plan to do this activity, not that useful.
Adding these numbers to any other estimations will likely not represent reality and overestimate it since your legs and arms work together when riding an Assault Bike.
| Time Weight Person | 1 Minute | 15 Minutes | 30 Minutes | 45 Minutes | 60 Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 Pounds (56 kg) | 4 calories | 63 calories | 127 calories | 190 calories | 254 calories |
| 155 Pounds (70 kg) | 5 calories | 79 calories | 157 calories | 236 calories | 315 calories |
| 185 Pounds (83 kg) | 6 calories | 94 calories | 188 calories | 282 calories | 376 calories |
| 215 Pounds (97 kg) | 7 calories | 109 calories | 218 calories | 328 calories | 437 calories |
Calories burned different Assault Bike intensities
Like any stationary bike, you can use the Assault Bike at different intensities. This will have an impact on how many calories you burn.
In the table below you can find estimations of calories burned with a stationary bike at different intensities when using the machine for 30 minutes.
| Weight Person Assault Bike Intensity | 155 Pounds (70 kg) | 185 Pounds (83 kg) | 215 Pounds (97 kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very Light Effort (30-50 Watts) | 128 calories | 153 calories | 178 calories |
| Arm-Only (Moderate Effort) | 157 calories | 188 calories | 218 calories |
| Light Effort (51-89 Watts) | 176 calories | 210 calories | 244 calories |
| Moderate Effort (90-100 Watts) | 249 calories | 297 calories | 345 calories |
| Vigorous Effort (101-160 Watts) | 322 calories | 385 calories | 447 calories |
| Very Vigorous Effort (161-200 Watts) | 403 calories | 481 calories | 559 calories |
| Very Vigorous Effort (201-270 Watts) | 513 calories | 612 calories | 711 calories |
How to burn more calories with an Assault Bike
How many calories you burn with an Assault Bike is certainly not something set in stone. There are a few ways you can increase this amount per time interval.
The challenge for most people is fitting in activities in their busy schedules. They want to burn as many calories in the least amount of time, which means burning more calories per minute of using an Assault Bike.
If you do have more time, spending more time using an Assault Bike will generally burn more calories although at some point overtraining may cause the reverse.
A more obvious way to burn more calories with Assault Bikes is by doing more intense workouts where you move your legs and arms faster. At some intensity point, you also get the added afterburn effect.
The second way to burn more calories on an Assault Bike is by making the movements harder to do. This is mainly done by increasing the resistance setting.
Another method is building some extra muscle mass with other exercises. Because of this extra healthy weight, you will burn more calories.
Can you lose weight using an Assault Bike?
Using an Assault Bike is a workout that can help you burn a good amount of calories. In combination with good habits in other lifestyle areas, this can lead to weight loss.
One pound of body fat is about 3500 calories (one kg +-8000 calories). How long it takes to see weight loss results from using an Assault Bike will also depend on the number of calories in your diet.
One person might eat more than the other. This might make it so they need to exercise longer or more intensely to see the same weight loss results. You can even lose weight without exercising so there are many factors that influence it.
Using an Assault Bike for 30 minutes a day could help you burn an extra 3220 calories in 10 days which is about 0.92 pounds of body fat. 30 days, 9660 calories (= +- 2.76 pounds of body fat), and so on…
Keep in mind that losing weight too fast can be suboptimal. In general, a 500 calorie deficit per day is considered to be a healthy weight loss rate.
What muscles does an Assault Bike work?
Using an Assault Bike mainly works muscles like your glutes, quadriceps, calves, hamstrings, shoulders, triceps, biceps, and back.
If you are relatively inexperienced when it comes to resistance training, using an Assault Bike could help you grow and strengthen some of these muscles a small amount. Especially if you turn up the resistance.
For individuals more experienced with resistance training, using an Assault Bike is likely not enough to build a lot of muscle mass.
Both groups of people generally benefit from giving their bodies enough nutrients, rest, and sleep to repair and grow their muscles after an intense Assault Bike session.
Should you use an Assault Bike to burn calories?
As you can see, using an Assault Bike is a good workout that can help you burn a nice amount of calories. That being said, there are definitely also Assault Bike alternatives that are even more effective in this area.
Whether you should choose Assault Bikes as your main form of workouts also depends on factors like personal preference.
If calorie burning is your main goal, implementing some exercises in your schedule specifically for building muscle can be helpful.
The extra muscle mass will help you burn more calories day in, day out, including during your Assault Bike sessions.
Also keep in mind that the things you eat stay important no matter what movement routine you’re following. It’s hard to out-exercise a bad diet.
