Motorized Pedal Exercisers FAQ
Use motorized pedal exercisers FAQ or frequently asked questions to get insight into motorized pedal exercisers, reviewed elsewhere on this site. Also, use motorized pedal exercisers FAQ with motorized pedal exerciser's Buyers Guide to find the best motorized pedal exerciser for your needs. Below are list of typical motorized pedal exercisers FAQ.
What are motorized pedal exercisers?
Motorized pedal exercisers are motor driven pedals that provide a gentle low impact exercise for toning arm and leg muscles. These motorized pedal exercisers are used by the incapacitated. who cannot or have difficulty moving their arms or legs.
Consequently, motorized pedal exercisers have the following features:
First, many of the motor driven pedals provide little resistance.
Most of all, an electric motor drives the pedals.
Also, in general, the pedals move forward and backwards.
Next, in general, both legs and arms get a workout with this machine.
Finally, many of the motorized pedals have handles to make them easy to move.
Who would benefit from motorized pedal exercisers?
First, the primary beneficiaries are people with difficulty moving their legs or arms. Indeed, the motorized pedal exercisers or motorized desk pedals have a motor that drives pedals to help these people move their legs and arms. With motor assisted movement, their leg or arm movement will be easy and smooth.
Next, people with polio, paraplegics, lymphedema in the legs, etc.
Also, people needing rehab or are paralyzed.
In addition, mature or elderly people.
Also, people living with mobility or injury issues.
And, people who had a stroke, or have fibromyalgia, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, heart attack, Parkinson's.
Finally, those who spend hours sitting while working in the office. Specifically, the pedals are useful for people who need to concentrate on the work and don't want to focus on the pedaling. Indeed, the motor does the work of moving their feet.
Why are motorized desk pedals helpful?
Most of all, the motorized pedal exerciser helps in the following ways:
First and foremost, these pedals improve blood circulation in legs and arms.
Second, they improve muscle movement.
Third, they help maintain joint flexibility of shoulders, elbows, and wrists.
Fourth, they help with balance.
Next, they strengthen muscles in your legs and arms. For example, by exercising hips flexors, glutes, calves, hamstrings and quadriceps in the lower body. Also, by exercising biceps, triceps, and forearm.
Furthermore, they provide physical therapy of legs, arms, knees, and shoulders.
Also, they prevent muscle rigidity.
In addition, they provide body rehabilitation – activating stiff legs and arms.
Next, they provide gentle low impact exercise for muscle toning.
In addition, these exercises help enable anyone to exercise in the comfort of their home while watching television or reading.
Finally, passive exercises are a cost-effective way of maintaining ongoing rehabilitation without costly medical bills.
How are motorized pedal exercisers helpful?
Motorized pedal exercisers improve motor skills as well as motor functions in arms and legs.
Those suffering from stroke
Research has shown that stroke patients benefited from movement. In fact, stroke patients exercising on motorized pedal exercisers improved motor functions in their arms.
Especially relevant, 17 stroke survivors, ranging in age from 23 to 84, participated in the research. Moreover, these survivors had a stroke six to 12 months prior to the study. Meanwhile, all the 17 survivors participated in upper extremity repetitive exercises to regain arm use. On the other hand, one group of survivors also exercised on motorized stationary bikes for 45 minutes before the extremity repetitive exercises. And, after 24 sessions over an eight-week period, this group experienced a 34 percent improvement in their motor skills.
Furthermore, motor assisted stationary bicycles have also been shown to help patients with Parkinson’s disease, another neurological disorder.
Indeed, the advantage of motorized bike is that it helps patients with limited mobility to pedal and achieve intensity of training necessary to impact brain functions. Moreover, aerobic exercises have been shown to condition the brain for learning. In fact, it’s just not the brain and motor functions that benefit from motorized bikes, but motorized bikes also improve cardiovascular health of stroke patients.
Those with Diabetes or Heart Attacks
Diabetes and Passive Exercise
Research shows that nearly forty percent of Americans have high levels of blood sugar after meals. Regrettably, high levels of blood sugar can damage cells in the body.
Moreover, when blood sugar levels are very high, sugar can stick on the outer membranes of cells. And once there, it can never get off. The sugar is converted by a series of reactions to sorbitol. And the sorbitol destroys the cell.
This cell destruction is the reason why diabetics and pre-diabetics can suffer blindness, certain cancers, deafness, dementia, heart attacks, impotence, loss of feeling in the feet, osteoporosis, strokes, and so on.
Meanwhile, any kind of exercise, including passive movement of muscles by a machine can help prevent diabetes or treat existing diabetes. This is because resting muscles absorb very little sugar from the bloodstream and the little that do draw requires insulin. On the other hand, contracting muscles draw huge amounts of sugar from the bloodstream and don’t even need insulin to do so.
Finally, people with paralysis of their legs are at risk of kidney infections, kidney failure, strokes, heart attacks and diabetes. And, all these people would benefit from passive movement of muscles by a machine such as the motor driven pedal.
Takeaways from studies on passive exercise
First and foremost, a 2015 study compared the effectiveness of passive and active motion exercise among elderly nursing home residents. Indeed, the study found both passive and active exercise are similarly effective in improving functional fitness of these residents.
Meanwhile, another study found that passive leg movements have the capacity to induce muscular activity in the lower limbs. Incidentally, this electrical activity was measured using electromyographic techniques. In addition, the study found passive leg movements enhances oxygen metabolism in the lower limb muscles.
Furthermore, a study appeared on page 1,821 in the September 2016 edition of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. And, this study reported that passive exercise, such as using the motor driven pedal helps. In fact, passive exercise helps by burning extra calories, lowering blood sugar, and insulin levels in inactive people. Consequently, by simply having their legs moved by motorized pedal exercisers, the insulin sensitivity of inactive people increased after eating. In fact, this occurred because blood sugar rises were reduced after eating.
In another study, 20 sedentary people rode an electric motor bike which requires the occupant to pedal to keep the motor running. They rode for 40 minutes three time a week. One month later, this study found that these sedentary people had lower blood sugar, were more insulin sensitive and had less body fat. In addition, the study showed the sedentary people improved their body fat content and their blood pressure.
Calories from Passive Exercises
Over 60 years ago, scientist found that a person passively moved by motor driven pedals at 56 revolutions per minute, burned at least 7 to 15 kilogram calories per hour. Furthermore, if the person was passively moved at 74 revolutions per minute, the person would burn 19 to 26 kilogram calories per hour.
In addition, two leg passive cycling at 90 revolutions per minute resulted in energy expenditure that is nearly the same as energy expenditure from walking. Or in other words, a person, paralyzed in the legs, using a motor driven stationary bike gets the same amount of exercise as a non-disabled person gets from walking.
Cerebral Palsy
Most noteworthy, treatments for cerebral palsy include improving joint flexibility, increasing mobility, improving muscle definition, and improving muscle tone. Consequently, motor driven pedals, with their ability to move legs and arms passively, is a treatment option..
How do motorized pedal exercisers compare with other desk exercise machines?
First and foremost, motor driven pedals have a circular motion of the lower legs and hence more circular movement of the knees. In addition, motor driven pedals exercise glutes, quads, hamstrings, and to a lesser extent the calves.
Meanwhile, the stepping action of sitting steppers requires pushing down on the pedals against hydraulic resistance. As a result, there is greater stress on the knees. But a better lower leg muscle workout, especially of the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves.
Finally, under desk elliptical machines produces a walking action swinging the lower legs back and forth. Consequently, the joints relax during the exercise. In addition, the under desk elliptical machines don’t put too much stress on the legs.
