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Walking had quite a year, between the viral rise trend of going with hot girl on social media and walking accessories like ball bangles and heavy news becoming fashionable. It is a solid form of cardiobut that doesn’t mean you should sleep on other heart-healthy workouts like the good oldie a cycling.
Walking and cycling are two of the most popular types of aerobic exercise – and for a reason. For starters, they are both with low impactmeaning they are “easier on the joints than, say, running or HIIT training“, he says Olivia AmatoCPT, a bike, treadmill, boot camp and strength instructor for Peloton based in New York City.
When it comes to walking vs. cycling, both activities are great for beginners and can be made difficult – either by wrist riding or ankle weightsor increasing the resistance on the bike. Both forms of exercise have advantages when it comes to improving endurance, increasing strength, and losing weight, but one *may* reign supreme.
Wondering which form of exercise should be a mainstay in your training routine? Next, coaches reveal the benefits of both – and how to integrate walking and cycling into your routine.
The benefits of walking
Walking has a low impactso it’s easy on the joints and affordable—all you need is a pair of walking shoes—and you can step outside or indoors on a treadmill, he says Claudette SariyaCPT, a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and alum al Women’s Health/Men’s Health Initiative Strength in Diversity based in New York City.
Walking is also easy to step up. If you’re used to walking on flat ground (or the treadmill), you can raise your walking level by going uphill or increasing the incline, Sariya adds. You can also walk faster, or wear a vest or ankle weight or wrist weights.
Walking is also a weight-bearing exercise because “you’re holding your whole body as you move,” says Amato. This can strengthen your lower body and improve your posture, back pain and bone densityadd Melissa DarlowRDN, CPT, a registered dietitian and certified trainer in New York. And walking can definitely improve your stamina and endurance, depending on the type of walking you do and for how long. For example, power walking it’s a great way to build your stamina, says Amato.
The benefits of cycling
Cycling is even lower impact than walking, Amato says, adding that it’s kinder on the knees and hips because pedaling provides support so you don’t have to hold your body as much. You can pedal as slow or fast as you want and you can easily increase the resistance, so it’s easy to control the intensity of your workout. The fact that you can add more resistance while cycling versus walking leads to greater strength gains and more calories burned, Sariya says.
Walking vs. Cycling for power
In general, walking is “definitely one of the forms of exercise that will develop lower body strength,” says Amato. She is a better one basic training than riding a bike because you’re standing and you have to maintain your posture balance as she moves, Sariya adds. (Walking up an incline works your core even harder because you have to brace it to protect your lower back, Amato adds.) Plus, wearing a weighted vest will work all of your lower body muscles, especially your quads and outer calves.
However, you won’t get a real strength workout from walking because you’re not carrying as much weight as you would if you were lifting dumbbellsfor example, says Darlow. Really, you can only build muscle while cycling if you are walking up a slopebut even then, it’s not much, Sariya says. But “in combination with other weight-bearing exercises, absolutely, [walking] it can lead to an increased level of strength,” says Darlow.
When it comes to cycling, because there is an ability to add resistance, it builds more strength and muscle throughout the body, especially the lower body muscles such as inner thighs, quads, hamstrings, BUTTOCK, calvesand the anklesSariya says. You also use your core and arms hold on Resistance also helps build strength Faster than you would if you were just walking, adds Amato. So you can spend less time cycling than walking and get stronger.
Walking vs. Cycling for weight loss
If you want to burn body fat, you’ll want to get heart rate in Zone 2 or 3 – the threshold indicates where your body burns fat for fuel – either while walking or cycling. You can do this by walking on an incline or increasing the resistance on the bike – you just need to see that your heart rate reaches that threshold.
FYI, you’ll know you’re doing Zone 2 cardio if your heart rate is 60 to 70 percent of your maximum (multiply your age by 0.7, then subtract the number from 208). Or, if you don’t own a tracker, you might feel like your rate of perceived exertion (RPE), which is how hard you’re exerting yourself to do the workout, is three to five out of 10. For Zone 3 cardio, your heart rate will be 70 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate and your RPE will be six out of ten.
It’s easier to burn calories faster on a bike because you can increase the resistance. To burn the same amount of calories walking, you need to add weight and increase your speed, says Sariya. So if you only have 20 minutes and don’t have a weighted vest or ankle weights, it’s more efficient to hop on a bike if losing weight is your goal, says Amato.
The most effective way to lose weight is to choose an activity that you’ll stick with, says Darlow. So if you sign up for a SoulCycle class pack but hate cycling, you might lose more weight in walking if you know you enjoy it more.
Walking vs. Cycling for cardiovascular health
Because you can access different cardio zones in both workouts, both are good for heart health. But if you only have a few minutes for a workout, “cycling is going to be your best bet because it’s easy and quick for you to change your resistance and you can go from Zone 2 to Zone 4 and then back,” says Sariya. But with walking, you may not have an incline or nearby hills to walk on, or there may be people in your way on the sidewalk, making it harder to change your speed to reach higher ground.
However, “as long as one finds a regular exercise routine and challenges themselves to some degree,” your heart will see benefits whether you walk or bike, Darlow adds.
Walking vs. Cycling for your goals
Whether your goals are to improve endurance, increase strength or weight losscycling is a better workout, especially if you only have a few minutes to exercise, Sariya says. But adding both walking and cycling to your routine is also beneficial for working your entire body, Amato adds.
Here’s how to fit walking and/or biking into your routine, depending on your goals.
If your goal is building resistance: Cycle or walk three to four times a week for 35 minutes, making sure your heart rate is in zone 2 cardio for 80% of your workout. The rest of the time should be spent cycling between zone 3 and 4 cardio, Sariya says. This interval training will help build your endurance.
If your goal is to improve strength: Walk two to three times a week for 35 to 45 minutes, increasing the resistance so you feel like you’re walking uphill. On a scale of 1 to 10, you should feel like you’re giving 70 or 80 percent in terms of how hard you’re pushing, but also taking a few breaks during your workout. Supplement your cycling sessions with two to three days of strength training.
If your goal is to lose weight: Get at least 30 to 45 minutes of cardio four to five days a week, whether you’re walking on an incline or cycling with high resistance. Make sure your heart is in Zone 2 or 3 for the entire workout so you burn fat.
At the end of the day, both walking and biking are great, and you’ll see gains from both. “What’s right for you really depends on your personal goals and what makes you happy,” says Amato. “Finding any way to move that you like is really the goal.” So whether you’re walking or cycling, make sure you push yourself and you’ll see the best gains.
Meet the experts: Olivia AmatoCPT, is a bike, treadmill, boot camp and strength instructor for Peloton based in New York City. Claudette SariyaCPT, is a NASM certified personal trainer and alum al Women’s Health/Men’s Health Initiative Strength in Diversity based in New York City. Melissa DarlowRDN, CPT, is a registered dietitian and certified trainer in New York.
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