Sitting Upright Cycling in Bed with Excy
Sitting Upright Forward Pedal
Reverse Pedal
Back and Forth Pedal
Sitting Upright Isometric
Sitting Upright Cycling in Bed Video
Sitting Upright Cycling Setup Overview
Place the Excy on a bed or floor. Attach the Keeper to the bottom of the Excy. Sit on the Keeper with a backrest. Place your feet on the pedals so that your metatarsal is located near the center of the pedal. Pedal forward. You should cycle with the balls of your feet on the pedals and with your feet facing straightforward. Your feet should be close to the crank arm, but never so close that your ankle will hit on its way through the stroke. Avoid splaying your feet outwards or rotating them inwards while cycling a full rotation and try to drive your feet forward, backward, and around in a smooth circle or cranking position at higher levels of resistance (at higher levels of resistance, the experience will feel more like cranking up a hill). Our favored foot position is barefoot or in socks, as that allows your toes to get involved in pedaling in smooth circles. When wearing shoes, make sure they are suitable to allow you to maintain a fixed and stable position on the pedals, especially if standing on the system. Also, remember you can use any 9/16” standard pedal threads if you prefer to use a different pedal. See other Excy Sitting Upright positions for “Back and Forth”, “Isometric”, and “Backward” exercises.
Sitting Upright Cycling with an Exercise Ball
Snapshot with Exercise Ball and Bosu Ball
Getting Started
There’s a big advantage of pedaling, spinning, or cranking Excy with controlled forces. Take time to pedal slowly at the easiest levels until it feels smooth and controlled before increasing resistance. Before pedaling, always protect your surface with a towel or mat.
Pedaling Forwards & Backwards
Whether using hands or feet, think in terms of square rotations to improve technique. Envision pushing your hand or foot forward along the top of a square and pushing down against the front side of the square and pulling towards your body as you pull up the backside of the square. To pedal backwards, follow the same process.
Back and Forth Strokes
Pedaling back and forth is great for range of motion and strength training. Simply apply pressure, unweight the opposite hand or foot in a repeating motion.
Isometrics
Instead of relying on pedaling with resistance cranked up to fatigue the muscle, you will instead set the resistance to easy and steadily press into the pedals with even forces to constrict your upper or lower body muscles and hold it until fatigue sets in.
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.
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Upper Body Setup Guidelines
- Palms facing each other
- 5-10 degree in elbow
- Pedal axis at shoulder or 1-2″ below
- Never hyper extend elbow
- Focus on good posture and engage core
- Pin placement will vary based on user preferences and goals
Lower Body Setup Guidelines
- Start with heel on pedal with straight leg
- Cycle with the balls of your feet (aligned with metatarsal)
- 20-30 degree bend in knee while cycling
- Hips/feet/knees properly aligned (do not splay feet or knees inwards or outwards)
- Barefoot and socks favored
- Never hyper extend knee
- Pin placement will vary based on user preferences and goals
On-Demand Exercise, Home Physical Therapy, and Strength Training Instruction!
Download the free Excy mobile coaching application for on-demand, live, and guided workouts. Save workouts, set goals, and keep track of progress over time! Watch instructional videos from physical therapists to learn proper technique. Contact with questions at excy@excy.com or 425-205-9444.
