Walking vs Stationary Bike?

BelindaR

BelindaR

New member
There's a girl I went to school with who's lost 55lbs in four months. When asked what she's done to lose all that weight, she answered that she walks 4-6 miles PER day.

I have a stationary bike I've been using and do an average of 25 miles PER day.

Admittedly, her calorie goal is 1200 vs my 1500. But I'm more curious about what would be more beneficial: walking or the stationary bike? I know that with walking, one is carrying one's own body weight while moving. The stationary bike has one sitting down while moving, but the pedal resistance changes as the workout progresses to simulate hills.

Can someone help me out here? I used to have a treadmill but got rid of it the first time I gave up trying to lose weight (about two years ago). But if walking will get me farther than the bike, I may look into selling/trading it for another treadmill.

Input appreciated!
 
If you're happy walking (and depending on what bike style you have) any reason you don't try cycling while standing? BMX style etc.

Personally i wouldn't say walking is any better than cycling, or better than any other excercise going. If you're not trying to improve a certain area of the body then burning calories is burning calories. Shouldn't matter what it comes from.

Think it's like everything, it depends what you're after overall. If you prefer walking, try to trade the bike in, but if you like the bike stick with it.. End of the day you'll stick with what you like better than what someone else did/does.

Personally I'm a rower fan :)

Steve
 
Sorry for not putting some background up. I'm a stay-at-home parent of a four-year-old. I also live in central KY: hot and brutally humid summers, cold and wet winters, and short springs/autumns. My husband is also gone 11 hours/day during the week--daylight hours. No daycare or babysitter or nanny. It's not like I can just use one of those pull-behinds carriers for kids with how the weather is here.

I'm restricted to indoor workouts while she's home and the hubby is at work. Hence the stationary bike.

When she goes back to school in a few weeks (it's just for 4 hours/day, four days/week in the mornings) I'll be able to get outside more, but I usually use that time for getting outside work done (yard word, auto work--I'm doing a lot of cosmetic work to my car coming up, etc) because my man just simply doesn't have the time to do it. We're also working on renovating our house (mainly interior), so as soon as she gets back in school, I'll be pushing hard to get the rest of interior painted.

As you can see, I'm not just limited to indoor workouts, but I'm also looking at ways to efficiently utilize the time I do have to workout. Am I wasting time and effort on the stationary bike (granted I don't pedal leisurely at all)? Or should I look into going back to a treadmill that will force me to carry my own weight over a distance?
 
Well, I'm not sure, but doing bike is supposed to make you lose more calories...But again it's a stationary bike, so it may be different but then I don't know how.
 
I've read studies that said you burn more calories when doing sports outdoors, and from my own experience, I always lost more weight when going outside to do my physical activity for the day, rather than staying inside. So personally, I'd stick to walking. Though I will admit that I hate using stationary bikes, so I might not be entirely impartial regarding this matter. ;)
 
You shouldn't measure the success rate between walking and stationary bikes unless you and the other person have the same body profile, goal, intensity level and duration. Her recommended caloric intake may be different from yours so 1200 calories may be too low of a deficit to be healthy vice versa.

Both will have its benefits but the ultimate benefit is the exercise you enjoy doing the most.
 
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