Cardio Advice; 30 mins Running vs 1 hr walking/cycling?

ehimass
ehimass Posts: 92 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Sigh, already regret posting this. Forget it, please delete.

Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    The 30 minutes of walking burns an inconsequential number of calories, so it really just comes down to 30 minutes of cycling vs 30 minutes of running.

    If you like 'em both, nothing wrong with just alternating them.
  • ehimass
    ehimass Posts: 92 Member
    Nevermind.
  • BlakeHorton
    BlakeHorton Posts: 29 Member
    I won't speak on anything I don't have experience with and I don't run or do the elliptical. The only thing I can tell you is MFP's calorie burn #'s for cycling are way overestimated. I don't even know how it could guess, considering it has no clue what your mileage or cadence was.

    If the elliptical and or recumbent bike don't have tools to estimate your calorie burn, I would invest in a heart rate monitor or use google to find some tools to help.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Walking 4.0 mph on a 10% incline for 30 minute burns about 400 calories according to MFP.

    MFP is delusional. :smile:
    ...and I'm only getting 300-ish...

    More like 150, at the outside.

    Net calories walking = 0.3 * body weight pounds * miles walked. Add 30% for the incline.
  • ehimass
    ehimass Posts: 92 Member
    Nevermind
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    the sensible answer is: do what you enjoy and are most likely to maintain.

    walking at 4mph is not 'neglible'. (the mileage calculation the rather dismissive respondent uses is based on average pace 3mph). at the same time, mfp *does* overestimate running, cycling and walking quite a bit - especially if we are talking treadmill and static bike, where you don't have the same impact / drag factors of outdoor conditions.


    do what you enjoy. do it regularly. keep monitoring your cals in / out and your weight and work out what you enjoy.

    alternately do a tdee based calculation, worry less about cal burn, and keep things simple?
  • candiceh3
    candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
    Depends on how often you want to do it. I could cycle every day, but I can't run everyday.

    But hey - do something you love and keep doing it :)
  • Snappers007
    Snappers007 Posts: 4 Member
    With cycling, it depends how hard you go at it and whether you stay at your aerobic threshold or not for greater improvements in fitness, like if you're training (if running) to improve your time in a 5k, 10k or a marathon.

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