Tracy Weight Loss

June 28, 2010

Is Biking Good Exercise for Weight Loss?

Filed under: weight loss — Tags: , , , — Tracy @ 7:04 am

Another weight loss question has come in this week. Let’s tackle it straight away:

Question: If I were to ride 3 miles with my bike would it be the same is if I walked 3 miles? Would I burn near the same calories/ or more?
Would it be the same as if I ran 3 miles?
All this with an appropriate diet of course.
And to me it seems that riding a bike would be better than walking but not as good as running, what do you think?
Thanks!
Answer: I’m a regular cyclist, today riding about 20km into the city & 20Km back home again, to do some window shipping.

Anyhow, it’s an enjoyable form of exercise, as well as being an economical type of transport. But, 3 miles usually does not equal 3 miles riding a bike (unless you are riding up a steep hill climb for the whole distance).

When cycling, you have the assistance of gravity/down hills, a variety of bike gears & the fact that more distance is gained from one spin of the pedals is more than 1 step whilst walking.
So, you’ll need to travel a longer distance when cycling, when compared to walking, to achieve the same calorie usage.

With running, the body requires more erergy than walking or cycling., for every minute of activity. It’s also higher impact, which is not always a good thing, especially if you have joint issues.

All that said, the main reason I ride a bike is because it makes me feel like a kid again.

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