When we started this Excy journey, we knew in our hearts that we could make exercise more accessible to help people who face unique challenges with getting exercise, but the thought never crossed my mind that the size, durability, and versatility of the Excy portable exercise bike would have so many applications for such a wide variety of people.
The Excy journey began because I never felt like there was time to workout and I wanted a better solution to get more active and healthy in for 40s and beyond. In my mind…Excy was awesome. I lost almost 20 pounds in the first three months and felt more in charge of my genetic pathway that includes heart disease. We knew Excy could make a big difference in people’s health and I was excited.
Have Lost Over 20 Pounds, But More Importantly, Feel Strong
Then, I broke my leg and was exposed to months of living with pain and the difficult process of going through physical therapy. My eyes were open to the possibilities of how Excy could help with rehab, assist in increasing range of motion, and help people stay active with injuries during their recovery process. I burned 500 calories with an arm workout, but was still not fully weight bearing, was on crutches, in a boot, and taking blood clot medicine. Again, Excy blew me away and I was hopeful.
Spiral Fracture in January 2014-Focused on High Intensity Upper Body Interval Workouts to Stay Active Before Shifting into Rehab
In December, Excy was invited into a special needs class. The children are on the Autism Spectrum and many have sensory challenges. I spent time with the teacher and we collaborated on the best positions to try, location in the classroom, exercise movements, etc. During my first visit with the class, I came to observe how the children were using Excy and I couldn’t wait to watch after receiving reports that the kids loved Excy and it was helping with focus. Within a minute of walking into the classroom, a child started using Excy without being prompted. I just watched in complete awe. He started slowly. Then did a quick burst. He pedaled his feet in full rotations, then back and forth. He did full circles forwards, then backwards. When he stepped away, another child started using Excy, then another, then another, and the kids came back multiple times without prompts. The children had no idea I was there to observe their use of Excy until later when the teacher introduced me (they were on Excy so quickly that there wasn’t time). I then had a conversation with the school’s OT about how valuable cycling is for children with sensory challenges (we also know this is true for elderly). I worked with two kids that hadn’t tried Excy yet and showed them how to put their feet on the pedals, assisted them in moving their legs in a cycle motion, and saw their focus when figuring out how to coordinate a reverse motion pedal. I was humbled.
This week, I got an opportunity to visit the class again and I brought a new Excy with smaller cranks to see if we can get Excy under the desk more so the children could be closer to the teacher for instructional time while cycling their legs. I also let them play with our mobile application for the first time. The smaller cranks helped and the mobile app was a huge hit with a preference for our freestyle interval training workout where they can set their own pace for slow intervals and then fast intervals. You can read more about our journey to bring the Excy portable exercise bike to special needs children here.
Testing the Excy Portable Exercise Bike with Smaller Cranks for Special Needs Children
I used the same smaller cranks to hammer out an hour workout (cross training between arms and legs on the floor with high levels of resistance and intensity) with my heart rate monitor showing an average heart rate of 149 and an estimated 800 calories burned in 60 minutes. Nearly all of my Excy workouts to date have been about 20 minutes or so, done 5-6 days a week. I rarely have an hour to workout and I find that I am getting the results I want with shorter, 20 minute high intensity interval training workouts. But, for those looking for the longer workouts, Excy is up for the challenge anywhere, anytime. You can see some of the workouts on the Excy YouTube channel.
We are on schedule to deliver the next round of Excy systems this spring and have made some interesting improvements since our Kickstarter campaign, including widening part of the base a little, which will open up a few more stand-alone strength training Excy workouts.
We’re starting to see some great results with helping active people stay active even during an injury. For example, one early backer has a torn ACL and is doing upper body workouts with Excy, while also using Excy for rehab (Similar to my own story of breaking my leg…building strength and range of motion). We’re also continuing to get positive feedback from the special needs class in helping them get more movement to increase focus. Pretty exciting to also see some great weight loss stories beginning to bloom. Last, but not least, we’re also, seeing seniors with major improvements in range of motion, including little/big things like being able to reach behind their back to take off their own shirt vs. relying on others.
We will be opening up Excy for pre-orders in March!
Exciting times!
Stay in touch by Becoming an Excy Friend at excy.wpengine.com or connect via Facebook.
–Michele Mehl
Twitter: michelecmehl