Biking

[EasyEd]

What's up everyone?

How good of an exercise is biking? I went bike riding this weekend with my wife on a bike trail near out house and absolutely loved it. I want to do it at least a few times a week, or as often as I can. My question is, how good of a cardio workout is this? The trail is a total of about 20 miles, but we only did about 10 yesterday. I didn't sweat a whole lot, but felt a serious burn in my legs constantly. Is this just a good leg workout, or a good core workout as well? I hate running, so if I just bike a few times per week, is that enough cardio?

 

[billythekid]

cardio means your heart right?

then get yourself a heart rate monitor and read up on:
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/hrm1.htm

it all depends on what you hope to achieve!

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

all it boils down to is calories burned.....also the higher the intensity the better...id recommend HIIT which you can do on a bike....read up about it.

 

[metalheaddude]

HITT is awesome. But I prefer to do sprints on the track when doing my HITT.


Biking as cardio is pretty good, but only if you don't step peddling. When riding this is hard to do because the terrain goes up and down and you tend to not pedal when going down hill. So you heart rate drops :thumbdown2:

 

[bobonyc]

Im also very interested in riding. I have kind of a high body fat %-age and also an ankle condition which prohibits me from running, so i was looking into biking to burn down some fat and condition my body so i can build some muscle.
Any general advice is appreciated.

 

[zxAddict]

I cycle everywhere. Usually I take the scenic route home which takes a good 30 minutes pedal to the metal. I love powering up hills and around the place at speeds cars don't expect. Cycling is a great workout particularly if you go all out and cycle the intensity. Recommended. Also, think about clip in shoes. Helps with a complete lower body workout as opposed to relying largely on the quads for power.

 

[EasyEd]

I cycle everywhere. Usually I take the scenic route home which takes a good 30 minutes pedal to the metal. I love powering up hills and around the place at speeds cars don't expect. Cycling is a great workout particularly if you go all out and cycle the intensity. Recommended. Also, think about clip in shoes. Helps with a complete lower body workout as opposed to relying largely on the quads for power.

How would you say you've benefitted most from it? Legs are obvious, but would you say abs also? Cardio? I love it too, though, and will continue to do it as often as possible. (Especially with these gas prices...)

 

[zxAddict]

I cycle everywhere. Usually I take the scenic route home which takes a good 30 minutes pedal to the metal. I love powering up hills and around the place at speeds cars don't expect. Cycling is a great workout particularly if you go all out and cycle the intensity. Recommended. Also, think about clip in shoes. Helps with a complete lower body workout as opposed to relying largely on the quads for power.

How would you say you've benefitted most from it? Legs are obvious, but would you say abs also? Cardio? I love it too, though, and will continue to do it as often as possible. (Especially with these gas prices...)

My legs are fit and strong - well developed, though interesting enough cycling only puts on so much muscle. If you want more you would have to supplement with gym work (squats etc). Cardio strength is very good from the cycling and of course your whole circulation benefits. Abs receive a bit of toning, though most of the upper body doesn't benefit directly of course as there is no direct stimulation other than the lungs/circulation. Basically cycling provides general health benefits provided you stay away from the heavy traffic and make space around parked cars which have doors flying open at random intervals.