Categorising bicycle exercise

andyj1984
andyj1984 Posts: 76
edited September 26 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm sure this has been asked before, but how do I choose the correct category for my bicycle exercise. For example, I have just been on a 3 miles bike ride, lasting approximately 20 minutes. This would put me under 10mph, into the leisurely category (in the exercise list).

However, half of the journey was uphill (rather a monster of a hill!) and the other half was through parkland, grass, and forest. Only a small fraction of the bike ride was on flat paved roads. It certainlly didn't feel like a leisurely bike ride (heart rate up, out of breath, etc).

Do I still categorise it as leisurely, since technically I didn't average more than 10mph, or can I categorise it as 12-14mph (moderate)?

It makes quite a difference with the calories burned, and since I plan on eating back my exercise calories I don't want to be over eating, and messing up my diet (aiming for 1680 net cals).

Any opinions?

Replies

  • MsLisaB
    MsLisaB Posts: 256
    Hills are the bane of my existence at the moment (both cycling and running) :grumble: Would you be able to classify your ride as "Bicycling, BMX or mountain (cycling, biking, bike riding) "? If not, I'd go for the moderate category. :smile:
  • andyj1984
    andyj1984 Posts: 76
    Thanks! I think moderate category works out okay. I plan on going for a much longer ride later, but it was cold outside (wimp!) LOL
  • Jqgod
    Jqgod Posts: 9 Member
    I do a lot of uphill walking... but every hill i go up i must go down so i split up the workout in to 2 sections. i think that should probably work for biking too..
  • andyj1984
    andyj1984 Posts: 76
    I do a lot of uphill walking... but every hill i go up i must go down so i split up the workout in to 2 sections. i think that should probably work for biking too..

    Thankyou, that's a good idea. I've put half as leisurely, and half as moderate! I do a lot of walking as well, I have heard (somewhere) that walking downhill requires more energy than walking on flat surfaces? Is that true?
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