Pedaling Away on the Schwinn 230 Recumbent Exercise Bike

I have some damaged disks in my lower back, but still need to find a way to exercise. I have been doing exercises that were given to me by my Physical Therapist, but I still wanted to do something else that was relatively low impact. I was in Sears and saw the Schwinn 230 Recumbent Exercise Bike for $449.99.

They had one set up and I tried it out. This was completely different from riding a regular bike, or a regular exercise bike. On the standard bike, you have your center of gravity forward, and you tend to be hunched over to reach the handlebars of the bike.

The recumbent bike has you more laid back. Literally, you are leaning back and you don't have to reach forward to get to the pedals and the handlebars. The seat has dual position lumbar support for the seat.

Trying out the Schwinn 230 Recumbent Exercise Bike made me certain I wanted one. So I bought it. One thing that struck me besides the recumbent attitude of the seat, was the handle grip, that is situated on either side of the seat. When you grasp the grip, the machine will actually check your heart rate.

Exercising on the Schwinn 230 Recumbent Exercise Bike is pretty easy. You can use the manual system which can be set to any of 16 different levels of resistance. These then run for a certain amount of time, and give you your workout.

The Schwinn 230 Recumbent Exercise Bike gives you six different profile programs. Ride in the Park, Plateau, Strength Interval, Ramp Interval, Pike's Peak, and Cross Training. The Profile Programs can be set at any of the 16 resistance levels. The names are a little funny, but the programs work pretty well. I am still at level 1, but I have been using it ever day for about three weeks.

The design of the Schwinn 230 Recumbent Exercise Bike is such that you can walk into it, to sit on the seat, rather than have to lift your leg over it. This really works great for me, because my back gives me quite a bit of pain, and if I had to try to climb onto the thing, I would probably not use it as much as I do.

The Schwinn 230 Recumbent Exercise Bike has given me a way to get some exercise without killing my back in the process. I am happy with it and would recommend it to anyone who has back problems.