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YOU’VE SEEN IT lurking in the darkest corner of the gym, beckoning you to take it for a spin, if you dare. Maybe you’ve seen the world’s fittest athletes get humbled by it, or maybe it served as a coat rack in your parents’ basement in the ’80s. Just a few pedals and pushes on it recruits just about every muscle while firing up your lungs. Meet the Assault bike (also known as an air bike), a machine you might be overlooking when it comes to fitness gains.
Unlike treadmills or spin bikes, there’s no coasting and no hiding on an air bike. Power output is immediate and the machine answers every extra watt with equal resistance. A device once meant to gently rebuild hearts became one of the most feared tools in modern gyms, famous for revealing exactly how honest an athlete is willing to be with their effort.
Below we dive deeper into what the Assault or air bike is, how to use it, and the benefits of this often overlooked machine.
What Is an Assault Bike?
An Assault bike is a full-body cardio machine that uses a large fan to create resistance from air. Unlike a spin bike, it has moving arms as well as pedals, so your upper and lower body work together. The resistance isn’t set by a dial or a weight stack, it’s determined entirely by how hard you push. The faster you pedal and drive the handles, the more air the fan has to move, and the harder the bike fights back. It’s naturally self-scaling and low impact.
“The assault bike is capable of crushing even the most advanced of gym goers,” says Ben Feiden, ACE-CPT, cofounder of Performance HQ in New York City. “The best way to start is by monitoring the wattage of the machine, which is a clear read on the display, and finding the level of output that could be comfortably sustained for a whole minute, without feeling too easy. This is a good baseline metric to build off of.”
The Assault bike’s origin began in the late 1970s with the Schwinn Airdyne, a machine created for cardiac rehab and general fitness rather than punishment. Schwinn designed it around a fan flywheel and moving arms so resistance came from air, not gears or magnets.
Its identity changed in the 2000s when CrossFit gyms rediscovered the Airdyne as a brutally effective conditioning device. Athletes wanted something sturdier and more aggressive than the original Schwinn, a bike that could survive repeated high-intensity intervals and competitive environments. That demand led to the creation of the Assault AirBike by LifeCORE Fitness, later branded simply as the Assault Bike, built with heavier gauge steel, a more responsive fan, and the kind of durability meant for daily sufferfests. The assault bike nomenclature is similar to Kleenex; the brand name now serves as a descriptor for a style of apparatus made by multiple brands.
Benefits of Using an Assault Bike
Cardiovascular Power in Minimal Time
The Assault Bike improves heart and lung capacity faster than most machines because it demands effort from the entire body at once. Arms and legs work together to drive the fan, forcing the cardiovascular system to deliver oxygen to a large amount of muscle simultaneously. That full-body requirement makes even short sessions highly effective, whether the goal is steady aerobic development or sharp, high-intensity intervals that push the heart rate up quickly.
Low-Impact, Joint-Friendly Conditioning
Unlike running, the bike creates no impact with the ground, so knees, hips, and ankles are spared the pounding that often limits hard training. Resistance comes from air rather than a fixed setting, which means the machine automatically matches how you feel on any given day. You can move gently for recovery or accelerate into hard efforts without changing gears, making it accessible for beginners while still challenging for elite athletes.
Strength + Endurance Combo
The Assault Bike isn’t just cardio; it builds muscular stamina across the shoulders, arms, core, and legs as they coordinate to keep the fan turning. That combination of strength and aerobic work transfers directly to sports and everyday movement, improving overall work capacity rather than isolating a single muscle group. Its simplicity is part of the benefit. Every watt of progress reflects real effort, giving an honest measure of fitness each time you ride.
Assault Air Bike Classic
$749.00 at assaultfitness.com
Rogue Echo Bike
$895.00 at roguefitness.com
Schwinn Airdyne AD7
How to Incorporate an Assault Bike Into Your Workouts
Ben Feiden’s Morning Espresso Shot
0:15 sprints, 0:50 rest x 10 rounds.
“I call this my shot of espresso because it wakes you up like a Starbucks red eye,” Feiden says. “Short enough efforts to go all out, long enough rest to recover, enough rounds to feel alive.”
Warmup: 5-Minute Primer
Start with an easy, progressive build that wakes up the whole body without creating fatigue. Pedal at a relaxed pace for the first minute. With each additional minute increase your effort. The goal isn’t to tax the system, it’s to lubricate the joints, elevate heart rate and core temperature, and connect upper and lower body before lifting or skill work. This is a great way to prep your central nervous system, sending a signal that you’re ready to work hard.
Want something to measure? Set a calories goal each week. Hit 75 kcals in 5-minutes? Impressive. Rush to 100? Next level. “This style is for both the fearless and the petrified,” notes Feiden. “Fearless, because we’re about that life. Petrified, because there’s only one way to break a wild horse; the way out is through.”
Mid-Workout: Strength Pairing
Use the bike between sets of a primary lift to keep the heart rate elevated without overloading the muscles you’re training. After each set of squats or deadlifts, ride the assault bike for 40 seconds at a moderate, repeatable pace, then rest 40 seconds before returning to the barbell. Repeat for four rounds. This keeps conditioning in the session while allowing enough recovery to maintain good technique on the strength work.
Mid-Workout 2: EMOM Conditioning
Drop the bike into the middle of a circuit with an every-minute-on-the-minute format (EMOM). On minute one, complete 10 calories on the assault bike. On minute two, perform 10 push-ups or kettlebell swings. Continue alternating for 10 minutes. The bike acts as the engine driver while the movement station adds variety, creating a balanced dose of cardio and muscular endurance without turning the session into pure suffering.
Finisher: 6-Minute Descending Intervals
End the workout with short, sharp efforts that empty the tank. Ride hard for 30 seconds, then recover for 60 seconds. Repeat for three rounds, aiming to match or beat the calorie count each interval. Because there’s no coasting on the Assault bike, this finisher delivers a powerful metabolic hit in just a few minutes while still being low impact on the joints.
The days of ignoring—or hiding from—the Assault bike are behind you. Take on the challenge in your next training session to begin increasing both strength and endurance.
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