Biking vs running

[peter8581]

I am about to start my cardio and cutting and i was thinking of biking around town in the morning instead of running. Will biking be as affective as running? I was thinking of staying in low gear so i get a lot of peddling going. I will probably bike for around 40 min.

Good idea or not?

 

[rancid]

if you keep your rpm's around 80 or higher then biking will be effective and it's also easier on your joints not to mention it is probably a lot less boring for most people , but as far as more effective I would have to say running is more effective for fat burning and caridio since your legs have to support your full body weight and you don't have the option of gears to made the load easier.

 

[wanderlust]

I used to run cross country and track but now I have switched to biking.

- you can cover more territory on a bicycle (makes it less boring since you can go more places)

- far easier on your joints as long as you have your seat adjusted correctly


But, in general, biking burns fewer calories than running. And in my experience it is "harder" to keep a certain heart rate because you have to stop more frequently (e.g. a 2 mile stretch between stoplights will take you maybe 8 min on a bike, but probably more like 13-16 min running) Your peak efficiency is pedalling at 80-110 rpms, work up into that region.

 

[jennifer BFL chick]

I have to agree, biking dosn't burn as many caleries, even if you are on a stationary bike. And if you are using a real bike, I would think that would be really hard to maintain a high heart beat for a long time. (like above, street lights ect) BUT I if you have alot of steep hills that you can ride on, then I think you could get a great workout, and your heart rate could be as high a possible.

 

[keiko]

If you want to burn fat, you don't need a mile-high heart rate for your entire bike trip. You can sprint and then cruise, sprint and cruise or you can just work at a reasonable pace ( about 25 mph, say.) If you want to develop your CVS, then motor like crazy everywhere. Biking is a lot easier on your knees and joints than running.

 

[goahead]

shed fat

On holidays at the canary islands before breakfast I used to mountainbike uphill terrain 20 minutes to a small beach, than either did 20 minutes swimming or powerwalking through the sand there, worked beautifully.

 

[Liberator]

biking WILL burn MORE calories than RUNNING

you just have to pick the right stretch of road, over here in the UK its simple, a country lane or something

another thing is that biking will also work your quads, if you do hills it will build your calfs too

running is evil, the more you weigh, the more stress gets put on your kness, your a bodybuilder afterall, so putting on weight is a definate

biking can also aid recovery aswell, like after leg day, get rid of some of that lactic acid in your muscles, running will only make it worse

biking all the way, get yourself a pulse monitor and youve got the best method, in my opinion, of burning calories. just make sure you stay aerobic and not anaerobic.

anaerobic=muscle loss

I used to bike 5 days a week solid, I did sprinting, time trials, road races the lot, I was like a rake, but I never got any problems with my knees or shin splints, I had a restin heart rate of 38bpm (the average is 70) big legs and good calves and it was great going places, pretty fast.

I once tried running and I ran for an hour and half solid, I stoppped because I was bored and my legs hurt.