running or biking?

C

corple

0
whast better, running a mile in say a good 6 some odd minutes or biking for an hour. running is boring i have to say. biking is fun. i can bike forever, literally i dont get tired biking. but i can feel my heart rate going faster. it seems to have a low intensity on my joints, unlike pounding the pavement while running. theres no way im gonna run over riding my regular bike, but are theyre any benefits over running than biking? i dont mountain bike either, i just got my regular sport bike. so..yeah please tell me what i want to hear :cool: also, i live in texas, im 16 yrs old, any information on like how i could get into some marathons for you know, those breast cancer things or whatever that would be great. i would ride across texas and back for a good cause.
 
corple said:
whast better, running a mile in say a good 6 some odd minutes or biking for an hour. running is boring i have to say. biking is fun. i can bike forever, literally i dont get tired biking. but i can feel my heart rate going faster. it seems to have a low intensity on my joints, unlike pounding the pavement while running. theres no way im gonna run over riding my regular bike, but are theyre any benefits over running than biking? i dont mountain bike either, i just got my regular sport bike. so..yeah please tell me what i want to hear :cool: also, i live in texas, im 16 yrs old, any information on like how i could get into some marathons for you know, those breast cancer things or whatever that would be great. i would ride across texas and back for a good cause.
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Funnily enough I just joined up and was about to ask the exact same question, but with the additional option of swimming, so I guess the new question is: running, biking, or swimming? :)
 
Hi there. I would definitely say that running is better than biking or swimming, mainly because it gets your heart going the most. When biking, you are only using your calves and not many other muscles but, while in running, you are also swinging you arems at the same time, etc.
While swimming, you can't even tell if you're breaking a sweat, which is very important in a workout, and also helps to clean your pores. Also, you aren't carrying any of your body weight while swimming, you just kind of glide, therefore making running the better choice.
I'm not trying to disaprove of biking or swimming, because I do love thm both also, I'm just saying that running is better. Keep up whatever activity you love so that you don't lose motivation all together!
--Sis
 
Negative.. Swimming is just as good as running for the heart rate and oxygen flow; in addition to being low impact. All things considered, I consider swimming to be better for the general public. Personally, I do both and could never choose. I am addicted to both.
 
sis_celtic said:
I would definitely say that running is better than biking or swimming, mainly because it gets your heart going the most. When biking, you are only using your calves and not many other muscles but, while in running, you are also swinging you arems at the same time, etc.
While swimming, you can't even tell if you're breaking a sweat, which is very important in a workout, and also helps to clean your pores. Also, you aren't carrying any of your body weight while swimming, you just kind of glide, therefore making running the better choice.
I'm not trying to disaprove of biking or swimming, because I do love thm both also, I'm just saying that running is better. Keep up whatever activity you love so that you don't lose motivation all together!
--Sis
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Johnny i couldnt have said it better, swimming is an excellent form of cardio exercise. But i have to say i do like both running and swimming.
 
Not to mention, in swimming, you have the resistance of the water. If you have a circular pool, start making rings around the outside, create a small whirl pool (takes about ten minutes to do this by your self) current thing, then turn around and walk against the resistance. It's a heck of a work out, I'll tell ya.
 
Johnny said:
Negative.. Swimming is just as good as running for the heart rate and oxygen flow; in addition to being low impact. All things considered, I consider swimming to be better for the general public. Personally, I do both and could never choose. I am addicted to both.
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Ditto.

I also think biking is a terrific exercise. You may not be using all the muscles you use during swimming or running, but it's still a very effective (and FUN) way to burn calories.

I say, whatever you enjoy, whatever you will stick to, do. YOu like biking better than running, then bike. Enjoy it and lose weight at the same time!

If you are looking for bike races and such, just do some Googling. My boyfriend's father is a member in a bike club, and once a week, they go on long bikerides together around the state (we're in Connecticut).
 
sis_celtic said:
When biking, you are only using your calves and not many other muscles

--Sis
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Wow, you definately ride your bike a lot different than I do. After a good 60 - 100 mile ride every muscle from my waste down is screaming. If there is a lot of climbing my arms are even tired. That is just road riding. After a good mountain bike ride my entire body feels it.
 
My $0.02

Biking – Pros – Low impact, fun
Con – harder to get your heart rate up

Running – Pros – Heart rate gets up quickly
Cons – High impact (I recommend landing toe first to reduce impact)

Swimming – Pros - Heart rate gets up quickly, Full body cardio, lower body temp
Cons - I don’t have a swimming pool

Swimming would be the best all around but not everyone can find a place to get wet.

Bottom line…all that said…do whatever you feel like doing. Anything is better than nothing, and if you are doing something you hate, then you will eventually stop doing it.
 
biking with clipless petals (lock your feet into the petal) lets you use your entire lower body, allowing your heart rate to raise easier.. so it is deffinatly not just your calves..
 
with clips (they're called "clipless petals", i know its an oxymoron lol), bc u use more muscles, which need more blood, so the heart pumps faster
 
From my personal experience, running is much better. I used to use a stationary bike for a long time. After an hour of the stationary bike I would burn about 275 calories, but just half an hour on the treadmill would burn 230 calories. It all depends on your speed as well. I recently switched to the treadmill and I think it's much better.
 
IMO, I put my vote in for bicyling. Some have said its harder to get your heart rate up. I dont feel this is the case. If you cant get your heart rate up bicyling, all you have to do is either do a higher RPM, or a harder resistance level. The harder the resistance, the more your muscles work and the faster your heart will beat. I can say bicycling works alot more than just calves as well. It works almost every lower body muscle group plus Ab muscles. If you feel no strain at all, then you probably dont have enough resitance.

With that said, I do Jogging/Bicycling, switching between the two. I feel this really mixes things up, and makes things interesting. I have had pretty good sucess with this routine.
 
I have access to all three methods but usually go for running as I live by a park and have found that running in the snow there is fairly low impact and a heckuva workout (like in Rocky 4).

I read on a doctors website () that swimming is not as effective as the water cools you while you are doing it so your core temp doesn't raise. He says this means that you are not burning as many calories in the hours after you complete the exercise as you are with land exercises where your core temp raises allowing you to burn calories at an accelerated rate for hours after exercise. Don't know if it is true or not but seemed interesting enough to mention.
 
Here's my "skinny" on it all:

Heart rate isn't an issue. Intensity and resistance determines heart rate, and you can easily get to your peak heart rate with any of these exercises if you put enough into each.

My personal recommendation is swimming because it's more of a full-body exercise. This is the order of attractiveness, as I'm generally told:

[most attractive]
swimmer's body
runner's body
cyclist's body
[least attractive]

Not to say a cyclist's body is UNattractive - quite the opposite, but because swimmer's tend to tone the full-body, you end up with a svelte semi-muscular physique - with kickass lats and back.

As far as straight exercise go, it can be a matter of preference. I get more of a high from running than the other two, but I can get a better workout out of swimming since I don't dehydrate as quickly (my body is kept cool by the water), it's a full-body cardio/resistance workout, and gravity isn't as big a factor in my exhaustion.
 
Addendum:

One thing I want to add is that swimming doesn't load the axial skeleton at all, and the resistance is minimal, so you'll want to do land-based exercises to strengthen your bones. Variety is always best!

blackedout said:
I read on a doctors website () that swimming is not...
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I've read his articles. He says that swimming doesn't help you burn fat because it pulls away heat, which of course is true. Don't forget, though, that there are more advantages to exercise than just burning fat. Also, he says that swimming is an upper body exercise, and this is just plain false.
 
Addendum #2:

I just realized, too, that it doesn't necessarily matter if it pulls away heat. You won't burn fat as quickly, but as soon as you expend more calories than you've eaten that day, fat will start being utilized for energy. So know that if you're swimming, longer can be better.
 
corple said:
whast better, running a mile in say a good 6 some odd minutes or biking for an hour. running is boring i have to say. biking is fun. i can bike forever, literally i dont get tired biking. but i can feel my heart rate going faster. it seems to have a low intensity on my joints, unlike pounding the pavement while running. theres no way im gonna run over riding my regular bike, but are theyre any benefits over running than biking? i dont mountain bike either, i just got my regular sport bike. so..yeah please tell me what i want to hear :cool: also, i live in texas, im 16 yrs old, any information on like how i could get into some marathons for you know, those breast cancer things or whatever that would be great. i would ride across texas and back for a good cause.
Click to expand...

You answered your own question silly... Here's what I read:

I don't like running...
I love biking...

Which one should I do?

Dur! Do the one you love! They are both beneficial, but you will keep doing the one you love. Eventually, you may stop running because you find it boring!

:)
 
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