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Does it have to be a bike? What about a rowing rig, where you can leverage the powerful muscles in your back and upper body?


Contrary to what it might look like, rowing is almost entirely dependent on your legs, your arms/back merely keep the momentum going at the back of the stroke. Also, the muscles in your back are nowhere near as strong/large as the muscles in your legs, there's nearly a magnitude of difference. Though if you added power from your arms in addition to fully utilizing your legs (it would be much harder to concentrate) then there would be a benefit. But then you run into how to engineer such a thing, especially with respect to aerodynamics.


The limit is cardiovascular, not muscular. World class rowers and cyclists have about the same power output. A rowing bike would be larger (so less aerodynamic) and difficult to engineer.




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