Recumbent Bike=Foot Pain

I love working out on the recumbent bikes at my gym, however after about 10 minutes my feet are in excruciating pain. Is there some technique I'm missing? My feet are a little touchy anyway, having broken both of them at separate times. Any ideas?

My suggestion is get away from the recumbent, especially if it is causing you pain. Why not try the upright stationary? I mean really, how many people do you EVER see on recumbent bikes on the road? If you have seen them, they are probably being ridden by a guy with a square mirror duct taped to some cracked glasses, wearing a tie-dye, with a peace sign flag flying proudly from a converted broom handle / flag pole, whilst the pet *****hila rests comfortably in the basket in front of the handle bars. That was a pretty good tangent!!! Anyways, all joking aside, if something is causing pain, it's probably not a good idea to keep doing it. Have an awesome day!! 

True true, I would never buy a real recumbent, lol. The seats on regular stationaries hurt my behind and I can't stand that. I guess I just need to stretch out my feet more, I think it is building foot strength though, which I desperately need.

I dont think a recumbent bike builds foot strength, I think it is possibly exposing Plantar Fasciatis in your foot, quite possibly as a result of tight calf muscles that are not being stretched properly. That is just a guess, not a diagnosis, but kudos to you for putting in the work.

I have plantar facittis and arthritis in both knees. I ride the recumbent bike when I can't make it to the gym. I rather be doing the elipitical and treadmill to burn those calories. I like my recumbent bike but it doesn't make me sweat I go for 2 hours or more on it and not even break a sweat. And my feet go numb. I still have to wiggly my toes when I am on the elipitical or treadmill. In January when I join Bally's and start on the treadmill the weird thing it cause me toe pain and then a month later the pain went away but now I have the big toenail and the toenail next to it are black. I didn't think nothing of it at the time but I couldn't figure out why I was in pain but now the black toenails will not go away. And it has been there for awhile now totally weird. I wear new balance shoes with special inserts that I got from a podiatrist. And just got a new pair in Nov 2009. In a smaller size too. The regular bike bothers my knees to much and hate the way the seat feels as well so I know where you are coming from there. The elipitical is my favorite so I start on that first and try to make an hour which the last 2 days I have done 65 minutes then I hop on the treadmill. If I do the other way around I won't have the energy to do an hour on the elipitical and you burn more calories on the elipitical. And it dont bother my knees just my feet gets numb at times.

Oh I definitely have plantar faciitis, I suppose I neglected to mention that ;) Its not bad (I have had it much, much worse) but the bike is causing my toes/ball/arch of foot to hurt, not the heels.

I need to start building stamina on the elliptical, I am still pre-op, so it hurts my back but doing even a  little bit should help.

 the best thing I ever did for my feet, i have pf and heel spurs in both feet (lots of walking horses in and out) was yoga!!!  Yoga helps stretch out those calf muscles!!!!  I have gotten away from my yoga classes to work harder at the gym and boy can I tell a difference...good luck to you!!!  Oh and I agree with Dan stay off the bike...try something else...make sure you stretch first!!!

Erin

Get a removable gel padded seat cover if the current seats at the gym hurt your behind.
Use that until you build up some seat time.   Then you can remove it.

Scott