I’m lucky. I get free product sent to me to review for my readers. If it’s good, I share the info with you. If I’m not that crazy about the product, I generally keep it to myself because what doesn’t work for me may work great for you. (Unless it’s really bad, like fraud, and then I become a whistleblower.) I received a complimentary DeskCycle to review and the opinions written below are my own and were not swayed by my receipt of free product. Am I grateful for it? You bet! But you, my readers, are the most important things to me. Without you, there’d be no EB and, for that reason, my allegiance is to you, I owe it to you to be honest. Read on for my honest review of DeskCycle …
I’m a writer. That means I sit at a desk or a table, computer in front of me and I write. And I research – and then I write some more. If I get particularly involved in what I’m doing, I can sit there for hours without getting up at all. Medical experts and scientific studies say this is not good. A 2012 article on webmd.com says that long periods of inactivity (two hours or more) have been linked to obesity, metabolic disease (high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels), cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. The headline of the article proclaims that “Physical Inactivity May Be as Bad as Smoking.” This determination comes from a study in the medical journal, Lancet, that found that about 41% of Americans don’t get enough physical activity and that women are more prone to inactivity as are older adults.
I’m toast. Two hours at my computer without moving is all in one sixth of a day’s work. This is so not good. But I think I’ve found a cure for my inactivity. It’s affordable, well made, fun to use and gives you instant feedback which is very gratifying. Did I say it was fun? It’s called a DeskCycle and it’s from 3D Innovations. DeskCycle enables you to make the most of your sitting time by turning it into exercise time. Talk about multitasking!
DeskCycle is almost ready to use right out of the box. All I had to do was attach the legs and the pedals and it was good to go. As soon as that was accomplished, I placed Desk Cycle under my desk in my home office. I was amped to try it. I’d been investigating under-desk cycles for a while now because the research regarding sitting for long periods of time frightened me. I wanted an affordable apparatus that would enable me to work and work out simultaneously. DeskCycle fits that bill. It’s sturdy and very well made. It’s completely silent and doesn’t distract me from my work. It won’t distract coworkers either. The pedal action is smooth and, for lack of a better comparison, is as responsive as a pro bike at a fitness center.
According to the DeskCycle website, “pedaling the DeskCycle at 1 revolution per second, at resistance level 3, raises your energy expenditure by 100%. The DeskCycle offers 8 resistance levels.” (Visit the DeskCycle website here.) I have found that, when I’m writing, I prefer to use the DeskCycle on a higher resistance and pedal slower. When I’m on the phone or reading and researching, I can do it a lower resistance with faster pedaling. There’s something about my leg/brain connection that doesn’t quite allow me to pedal quickly and type at the same time. I don’t know why that is and maybe it’s just me, but it’s no big deal. DeskCycle, at any resistance, allows me to exercise my body while sitting to eradicate the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
DeskCycle has a display that lets you keep track of the time you’ve spent using it, the distance you’ve gone and the calories burned. But, if you want an even more accurate readout of calories burned, you can plug your current weight, height, age and sex into an online calorie counter. (I hate to break it to you, but some of those exercise bikes and treadmills at the gym aren’t as accurate as you might like, especially if they don’t consider the previously mentioned stats.) I haven’t done this yet. Frankly, I’m not obsessive about calories burned. I’m just enjoying using the DeskCycle and, because I work from home, I’ve moved it from my home office to my family room, where I use it when I’m watching TV to take advantage of it fully.
I know you want to know if DeskCycle offers a really good workout or if it’s just another piece of equipment that doesn’t do very much. Hell no to the latter! The DeskCycle works my quads, hamstrings and heart. While I can use it for longer periods of time at lower resistance. I get a good leg workout when using it a higher resistance. I switch it up, depending on the type of work or play in which I’m engaged.
One of the first things I did when I received my DeskCycle was to check the reviews on various sites and DeskCycle has excellent ones. Some people had trouble learning how to use it at first and the key to that is to think of “pedaling downwards”. I don’t know. I had no trouble whatsoever using the DeskCycle from the get go. I use DeskCycle with a chair that does not have wheels like many office chairs do. The company provides a tether to secure the DeskCycle to the chair so you don’t roll away from it when you’re using it with a chair on wheels. I’ve also read about people bumping their knees when using the DeskCycle and, depending on the height of the user and the height of the desk, that can be a problem. My kitchen table has a wooden frame at its heads and I did hit my knees when I used the DeskCycle sitting there. I had no such problem when I sat at a different place at the table nor do I have that problem when I use it at my desk. I’m 5’ 4” tall. As I mentioned earlier, I also use the DeskCycle when I’m watching a movie from my family room sofa. It’s quiet and doesn’t disturb the movie plus there is nothing to bang my knees on. I place a large pillow behind my back for additional support and I cycle away.
The DeskCycle is available in the U.S. for $159.00 from Amazon.com. You can get it by clicking the link below.
Let me know what you think of the DeskCycle and where it is that you use it. My guess is that if you use it in the office, your coworkers will want to borrow it. Tell them to get their own.
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