Single Leg Hand Cycle Exercise Setup (Forward Pedal Exerciser)

Place the opened Excy system on the floor. Use the pin to adjust the height to your preference (2nd hole is optimal). Lie the Keeper on the floor and use the dual center Keeper Holes and Posts Bands to connect to the Excy bike. Stand on the Keeper, squat down and place your hands on the pedals. Adjust your feet on the Keeper until you have a 5 to 10 degree angle in your elbow (never lock your elbows while pedaling). The most ergonomically comfortable and safe hand cycle exercise position is grabbing the end of the pedals with palms facing each other. Make sure your thumb is not near the crank arm as it may get pinched during cranking. Hand pedals or hand gloves can be added for comfort. Exercise: With your feet on the Keeper and holding onto the pedals firmly with your hands, bend both knees and lift your back left leg up straight behind you. Your head should be looking forward and the bend of the right knee should create a 90-degree angle between the hamstrings and the calves. Don’t let your front right knee bend past your toes. While raising your left leg, squeeze your glutes at the top of the motion, but don’t lock your knee. Avoid going too far and hyperextending your back at the top of the exercise. When you rear leg is in the top position, slowly pedal your hands back and forth. As your right hand pushes forward and down, your left hand circles backward and up. Stop after moving the pedal between 30 and 90 degrees past vertical. Reverse direction pulling backward and up with your right hand, your left hand circles forward and down. Stop after moving the pedal between 30 and 90 degrees past vertical. Repeat. Keep your chin up; back and hips straight, and your torso/core strong. Explore other positions for “Isometric”, “Forward Circles”, and “Backwards Circles” exercises.

Resistance Guidelines for Clinic and Home Physical Therapy

Excy offers a wide range of resistance to accommodate all riders. Depending on your goals, you may want to do more rotations or cranks with less resistance, or the opposite. Excy is designed to take either path or a combination of both. Generally, rotations with light to moderate resistance are used to improve cardio vascular endurance, while high resistance with fewer cranks are used to increase muscle size and strength. It is important to start easy before increasing tension as it is easy to get very sore muscles almost immediately doing high tension cranking motions that a person is not use to. Always consult a doctor before starting a new exercise program.

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