Question:
How does bicycling or spinning compare with running or walking
as an exercise for health or weight loss?
Asked by No recall
Answer:
“Both running and cycling are excellent forms of exercise,” said
Hirofumi Tanaka, a professor of kinesiology and director of the
Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory at the University of
Texas at Austin. “Both are rhythmic aerobic activities that involve
large muscle mass.”
But there are differences, which could sway you toward one
activity over the other. In general, running burns more calories per
minute than cycling, Dr. Tanaka said, although the differential slims
if you cycle vigorously. According to broad calculations from the
American College of Sports Medicine, someone weighing 150
pounds who runs at a brisk seven minutes per mile will incinerate
about 1,000 calories per hour. That same person pedaling at a
steady 16 to 19 miles per hour will burn about 850 calories.
Meanwhile, walking requires far fewer calories, only about 360 per
hour at a four-mile-per-hour pace.
Strenuous running and cycling also can equivalently dull appetite,
at least temporarily. In a study published earlier this year , healthy,
active men were assigned to run for an hour on one day and on
another, to ride vigorously for the same amount of time. During
both activities, the men’s blood levels of ghrelin, a hormone known
to stimulate hunger, fell, compared to when they sat quietly.
But running has a downside: Injuries are common. Biking,
meanwhile, is gentler. “Cycling is a nonweight bearing activity, so it
is better for your knees and joints,” Dr. Tanaka said, “and it does
not cause much muscle soreness.” Walking, likewise, results in few
injuries, unless, like me, you are almost comically clumsy.
Any of these activities, however, will improve your aerobic fitness,
and greater aerobic fitness is closely linked to a reduced risk of
chronic disease and a longer life span.
“There is no easy answer to say which exercise is better, because it
depends on individuals,” Dr. Tanaka said. “Personally, I have an
iliotibial band problem and cannot do cycling. So I run.”
But any physical activity will improve health compared with
performing none, he said. So walk one day, maybe jog another, and
borrow a bicycle or join a spinning class on still another.
Whichever activity you enjoy the most and will stick with is the
best activity for you.
To me I prefer to run than to cycle what do you think ?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2013/08/28/shorter-workweek-may-not-increase-well-being/?from=health
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