help - which is best? swimming or cycling

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lisajtubs
lisajtubs Posts: 62
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi

I am trying to lose fat and maintain muscle size. I have just this week started lifting heavy (for me!) weights. I usually do cardio, and love running outside, but I also like to do some cardio when at the gym. The problem is that I get bad knees from too much running so I need to introduce another form of cardio. 2/3 times a week at the gym my cardio consists of sprint training on the treadmill for 30 mins but i need to do something else on the other days. Can anybody say which is best for burning calories - swimming breast stroke with good effort, or stationary bicycling also with lots of effort? I am 5'6" female looking to lose about 18lbs of fat. Also, swimming makes me VERY hungry, though im not sure why!

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  • kmvz
    kmvz Posts: 3 Member
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    I think you can't go wrong with either option! I'm a cyclist myself, but I hate stationary bikes and personally would skip biking in the gym. It's so much more fun outdoors -- maybe you could get in some HIIT biking to/from the gym? Or maybe find a local group ride that's a bit faster than you're comfortable with.

    That said, I also enjoy swimming and for me it's more work. And my suspicion (based only on personal experience) is that it will be easier for you to get your effort level high enough to do real interval training swimming versus biking in the gym. But I swim less often, in large part because I hate dealing with chlorine and my hair. I'm pretty sure if you did it frequently you can just get a swim cap though :smile:
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    Whichever one you enjoy and can keep doing
  • nkeklund
    nkeklund Posts: 35 Member
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    Is swimming laps more intense and burn more calories than cycling? I don't feel much of a workout cycling, maybe a little in the legs but seems like swimming laps in the pool gives more of a whole body workout, even in the abdomen area......
  • jmt08c
    jmt08c Posts: 343 Member
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    When done properly swimming is a full body cardio workout-most cardio emphaizes your legs. The reason why you are so hungry after swimming is you burn more calories. In addition, your body being submerged in cold water forces your body to use more calories to maintain a warmer body temperature, thus increasing thermogenesis. I swam in college, and during training I was consuming 7000-9000 calories daily.
  • 87monkey
    87monkey Posts: 83 Member
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    I am always starving after swimming too! lol As for cycling, outdoors is super fun but I feel a little depressed doing it in the gym. Do both until you figure out which one you enjoy more.

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