well in the last year i have gained a lot of weight sence i have gotten out of the army and its getting out of control, i tried to run again but just can't get very motivated i looked around at other forms of cardio excersises and they say the next best thing for weight loss otherer running is either bikes, or the nortic trac machines. well with winter coming up in the next few weeks here (im in michigan) i really can't be riding a bike outside. so im thinking about buying an indoor bike machine just for winter and if it works well starting riding bikes again in the summer. i was just wondering what you guys though, is riding a bike much cardio compared to running? does it burn a lot of calories? is an indoor bike ok for the winter for burining calories? how do yoiu think biking compars to running or other forms of cardio?

thanks,

I use a bike indoors, and it works great for me! I just did a google search for "calories burned exercising", and this came up first

I used my own weight, 195, for biking, jogging, walking, and swimming for 1 hour (60 minutes), at a "moderate" level (ie, you're breaking out a good sweat!):

Biking - 573
Jogging - 877
Brisk walking - 515
Swimming - 784

So on a time-basis, jogging or running is best for you. Personally, I just can't jog that long, so I find biking is the best medium. I generally go for 45 minutes about 3 times a week while watching TV or something, and every now and again, throw in a short 20 minute stint.

I've also been told that its best to get your heartrate up for at least 20 minutes to actually get some benefit from it in terms of heart condition (because you need a strong heart to get to exercising longer!), so maybe start at 20 minutes on low-speed or low-resistance, and work your way up from there.

The trick to losing body fat is to participate in a cardio, strength training, rest and nutrition program. Skipping just one of those will leave you off-balance.

It doesn't matter what type of cardio you do, so long as you do something. If indoor biking sounds appealing to you, then by all means go for it. Don't worry yourself with how many calories it burns per minute or per hour because almost every calculator is off.

Cardio should be done 3-6 days per week. It should vary in intenisty levels and in session lengths. So if you do cardio 4 days a week... you could do 1 long, low intensity session, and 1 short, high intensity session, and 2 medium length, medium intensity sessions.

Keep your body guessing. Once you do the same thing over and over again, you will reach a plateau. Here are the 5 rules to dropping body fat:

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 3-4 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb.


2) Drink lots of water


3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.


4) Cardio. This should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions.


5) Strength Training. Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method.


All of the above things combined will result in fat loss. Good luck!

Looks like your getting some good advice. You could also start a diary, it will help you keep track of your calories and excersize!

Good luck, let me know if we can help!

Get a jump rope. Much cheaper than a machine, and just as effective. You can do hiit w/ the jump rope too. Start out doing 2 min. of jumping, 1 min. of rest...and work your way up

lol jump ropes are fine.. as long as your not big chested.

but seeing as your a man.. guess you got no worries there. haha