Nice Aquabike Review

You can choose from indoor or outdoor sessions, held either in a swimming pool or in the sea. I figured that if I was going to try it then I may as well take the plunge (literally) and do a sea session. Arriving a little early at Plage Ruhl on the Promenade des Anglais, I got to watch a sneak preview of what I was letting myself in for. I imagined that we would be quite conspicuous, and probably look faintly ridiculous, but actually all I saw was the heads and shoulders of three ladies bobbing gently in the waves just a few metres offshore. You could barely see the bikes and they looked much as if they were just treading water and having a chat.

As the previous class drew to a close a few more people gathered and some chose to warm up with a gentle swim. I’m generally more of an afternoon swimmer, preferring a cool dip as an antidote to the sweltering Nicois sunshine, so I was a bit underwhelmed by the thought of venturing into the Med at 8:30am on a grey and slightly chilly morning… However, the water was surprisingly warm - I think it actually felt warmer than usual because there was less contrast between the water temperature and the air temperature.

The bikes are completely submerged and once seated you’re in the water up to about chest height. We started off with a minute of gentle pedalling just to get the legs warmed up before we started on the cardio work; Fl’eau (or Florence, as she is actually called) put us through our paces with an infectious enthusiasm that kept us grinning and giggling as waves lapped up against us. We went through a number of different motions; pedalling forwards and backwards, standing up on the pedals, sitting back in the saddle, as well as a few arm exercises. It’s a little like spinning except that you don’t change the resistance, it occurs naturally with the push and pull of the waves.

Obviously the swimming pool sessions don’t have that advantage but Florence tells me that they are more challenging in other ways, often focussing more on arm and abdominal exercises.

The session was great fun and, at 30 minutes, just long enough to give you a good workout without leaving you too exhausted to wade back to shore! Being immersed in water gives you a natural buoyancy that makes your muscles work hard against the resistance but without feeling any impact or pressure. The Aqua Bike workout can safely be done by anyone of any age and any level of fitness.

Sessions take place in Nice and Beaulieu-Sur-Mer throughout the week in various indoor and outdoor locations; booking is easy, just register on the Aqua Bike 06 website and you can buy credits to use against whichever sessions you want.