The 18 Best Cardio Machines for Indoor Workouts and Exercise 2022

The Hydrow rowing machine is a reimagined rower which aims to recreate the experience of rowing on the water without any actual H2O. The company did this with a patented electromagnetic drag mechanism that is controlled by a computer. Add in a full-HD screen that streams workouts and you’ll feel like you’re actually out on the water.

The NordicTrack Commercial S22i Studio Cycle brings the cycling studio to your home with this interactive model designed to mimic having a personal cycling coach in your home. It’s powered by iFit, an interactive, connected fitness platform loaded with content.

The indoor exercise bike has a 22-inch interactive screen that allows you to cycle through the most beautiful landscapes in the world, or drop in on an on-demand iFit class with elite trainers. It also offers cross-training options, like yoga and strength training.

Stepping onto the treadmill to log another mindless 30-minute jog might sound like the most unappealing way to spend a workout — so don’t waste your time. Instead, cut your running time in half and ramp up the intensity with this curved tread, specifically designed for sprinting.

Better yet, the motor-free machine is built to be powered by your strides. There’s no max speed, either, so try your best to push it as hard as you can during sprint interval workouts.

Think you can handle the speed? Try this workout: Perform a 15-second sprint as fast as you can, and then rest for 15 seconds. Keep your chest high and your core braced the entire time you’re running. That’s 1 round. Do 40

The M8 Max Trainer is an elliptical and stair stepper in one that offers a low-impact cardio workout that torches calories. It comes with Bowflex’s JRNY technology, a personalized coaching system that creates daily, custom workouts that automatically adjusts time and intensity as your fitness improves.

This isn’t your dad’s clunky ski machine. Professional cross-country skiers use this machine to hone the skill of exploding down onto their poles for more power. While you might not be hitting the slopes any time soon, you can use the Concept2 SkiErg for a grueling cardio and upper-body workout.

“In order to drive the handles down toward your body, you have to use your abs, arms, shoulder, and hips,” says Sean De Wispelaere, expert coach from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “The power, speed, and strength needed for each rep will jack up your heart rate and make you sweat.”

To make it even more difficult, change up the position of your legs, says De Wispelaere. Holding a deep lunge or inline lunge not only blasts your lower body, but it narrows your base of support, he says. This forces your core to work harder to stay braced and upright as your arms move up and down.

The Assault AirBike might look like it belongs in a dust-filled corner of your high school’s weight room, but it deserves respect. “No one climbs off of one of these thinking, ‘That was easy,’ ” says De Wispelaere, who has seen a few clients almost heave after an Assault AirBike workout.

The reason it’s so tough: The Assault AirBike is a stationary bike without a motor. It only has a fan in its front wheel that provides wind resistance. The harder you pump your arms and pedal your legs, the higher the resistance becomes. “While it’s easy on your joints, it provides an intense aerobic workout that burns a ton of calories in a short amount of time,” says De Wispelaere.

If you’re looking for a finisher to tack onto your regular workout, De Wispelaere recommends sprinting for 15 seconds, then resting for 15 seconds. That’s one round. Do six. If you’d rather test your endurance instead, do three miles as fast as possible.

This Echelon rower is super ergonomic. Not only does it fold upright for convenient storage, its device holder swivels 90° and flips 180°, and the resistance controls are located on handlebars for easy adjusting. Plus, it has 32 levels of magnetic resistance for a customized workout. If you prefer, you can also subscribe to the Echelon Fit membership to get access to on-demand and live classes.

The Assault Airbike isn’t the only variable-resistance airbike on the market. Schwinn’s line of Airdyne bikes can also give you a similarly nasty workout (meaning after about a minute of going hard on either the Assault Airbike or an Airdyne, you can expect to be fried).

You’ll feel a slightly greater sense of power on the Airdyne, with each attacking pedal and push yielding a stronger response from the bike. And don’t dismiss the little comforts on this bike, either: You’ll be thankful for that cupholder in the console whenever you’re between intervals and gulping down water.

Climbing a ladder isn’t so bad. But what if that ladder kept going up and up and up? Suddenly, that ascent becomes a monstrous workout. That’s the idea behind Jacobs Ladder, a self-paced machine that requires you to climb endlessly upward.

Unlike the StairMaster, Jacobs Ladder puts you on a 40-degree angle, which engages your core muscles and takes stress off your lower back.

“It’s fun, because it’s totally different than any other exercise you can do at the gym,” says De Wispelaere. “The climbing action hits big muscles like your quads, glutes, shoulders, and lats, revving your metabolism and burning a ton of calories in the process.”

If you want a heart-hammering workout, look no further than the indoor rower. It requires a coordinated effort from your upper body and lower body, and extreme muscular and aerobic endurance to blast out stroke after stroke. Plus, it’s low impact, so you get the same cardiovascular benefits as running, but without the pounding on your joints. However, not every rower is created equal, says Jesse Ewell, a trainer in Firecrest, Washington. His pick: Concept2’s Model D.

“It provides even resistance unlike other models that jerk or jump when you pull too vigorously,” says Ewell. “That means you can work as hard as possible, while maintaining a smooth ride.” And the harder you work, the more calories you’ll burn. A 185-pound guy can burn 377 calories by rowing at a fast clip for only 30 minutes, report researchers at Harvard University. Try it yourself with this intense rowing program.

The Ergatta rower was specifically designed to be an at-home rower, and has so many features that make it a great pick for your home gym. Not only is it pretty (Ergatta rowers are handmade from American cherry wood in Rhode Island), they’re also super functional. It has a super big 17.3”, high-def touchscreen to track your workouts, and also stores in the space of a barstool and can be easily wheeled to a new room.

Read more: Men’s Health Home Gym Awards

Rogue’s Echo Bike is an air bike like no other. It’s built with high quality steel frame, metal pedals, a belt driven steel fan and rubber leveling feet for maximum durability. It also has a sweet battery-powered LCD console that allows you to track intervals, distance, calories burned, heart rate, and more to make sure you’re hitting your training goals.

Don’t just pedal away mindlessly on a spin bike hoping for a good workout. Instead, buckle into an intense group fitness class from one of Peloton’s trainers from anywhere using the bike’s connected video screen.

You can drop in on live classes or take them on demand on your own time. It’s almost like having a fitness studio in your own space— minus having to deal with a group of sweaty houseguests when you’re finished.

You might not have much respect for the elliptical section of your local gym—but if you push yourself and adjust the settings correctly, you can still burn off tons of fat on the machines.

This model from Schwinn can help you do just that. Sync your phone with Bluetooth and connect with the company’s app to cycle through courses all over the world, try out 29 different workout modes, and most importantly, adjust to any of 25 resistance settings to make sure that you actually make it a workout worth doing.

Don’t just run the same mindless miles on a nondescript treadmill. Instead, tune into top trainers for guided interval workouts that will also take you off the track to use free weights, thanks to iFit, which powers the X22i.

The high-tech treadmill offers a shock-absorbent running surface, a 40 percent incline, and over 12,000 iFit-guided workouts on demand. You might get tired of running—but you’ll probably never get bored. Includes a one-year iFit membership (a $468 value).

Concept2 continues to set the bar when it comes to rowers, delivering a challenging and consistent brand of resistance that’s become a standard in CrossFit. But there’s one thing Concept2’s rowers don’t offer: A connected experience.

That’s where Nordic’s RW900 comes in: A 22-inch HD touchscreen display powered by iFit interactive, connected technology streams iFit workouts from top trainers right into your home, offering endless variety and keeping you from enduring any sort of workout monotony. The RW900 also has a smooth brand of magnetic resistance that’s so quiet that you can watch a movie on your big screen as you get your sweat on.

This is truly the bike of the future. The CAROL Bike is an interactive, AI-powered exercise bike for high intensity interval training.

It specializes in personalized resistance, using your biometrics and performance data that creates algorithms to adjust the training resistance as you fatigue to give you the most efficient and effective workout possible, aiming get fit after 40 second bursts of effort.