I used to do alot of running (100 miles a week) and have always found running a good way to keep fit but that was years ago. recenrlt i decided to lose some weight and my wife wanted to do it as well.

however...

I recently got a pedometer so was able to mointor my running and after a 20 min run had burnt less than 100 calories and was knackered.

but i can get on my wife's exercise bike, cycle for 45 minutes and burn 300-400 calories.

So im left thinking surely the bike is better then for burning calories yet how come im so knackered after running and not when on the bike???

Can anyone explain what i must be missing.....

 

I will see if my sister can perhaps comment as she knows a lot about this kind of thing being a very active runner...

 

Hi WOW!! 100 miles a week! You are very keen. Most I have ever done is 60.6 (yes, the .6 does count chaps )

Well........... pedometers, bikes, any cv equipment really, can only estimate your calorie burn and are very unreliable generally

Running is (as far as I know) one of, if not the, most efficient ways of burning calories.

As a rough guide, running burns 100cal/mile for the average 10 stone runner. Of course, muscle:fat will affect this but as a guide, close enough As an aside, WALKING burns the same, it just takes you twice as long

Cycling, is approx 50 cal/mile (this is a guess, for me it worked out to be 40 cal/mile but I'm less than 10 stone) so cycling burns LESS but of course you can probably do twice the miles cycling as running.

Dont forget also, you cycled for 45 mins, if you ran for that length of time at 10min/mile, you would have covered 4.5 miles and burnt more cals

If you are a bit overweight at the moment, maybe it's a good idea to cycle for a while. Try to do twice the distance on the bike as you would have run and all should be well Once you are able, you will want to run again I'm sure, someone who does 100 miles/week can't give it up easily

Hope this helps

 

Thanks very much for the reply.

Notice i did say USED to

I wish i could that now, but i know with a bit of hard work i could back to that level of fitness (well near )

I see what you mean now as well, with respect to the distance v's calories burned.

All clear now

I had started running again, and been running for the last few months, but then thought i'd try the bike.

I think i'll don my Ron Hills and start running instead of cycling as from Monday

Thanks again

Running Always help me stay fit, far more so than any other exercise i ever did, it was just the number of calories burned i was having trouble getting my head around. You've confirmed my thoughts, Running is best

 

You are very welcome

You dont say how long it is since you did any running but remember to build up slow or you may get an injury due to ever enthusiasm

As a general rule, increase mileage by no more than 10% per week

I dont always practice what I preach and have had many injuries as a result!

Good Luck with it, and yes you're right, running rules

 

Swimming is the best cardiovascular exercise you can do
Get on a rowing machine , that uses both upper body. You'd be surprised how many calories you burn on a rowing machine

 

I personally will always favour the bike or at least running on something forgiving. Being larger it knackers my already knackered knees and joints

 

i used to cycle as a warm up before training but now i row.much better for me i find.burns more calories to.

 

Swimming is especially good for people of a bigger build as there is no impact on any of the joints etc as you are supposrted by the water.

I used to run half marathons just over 8 years ago when I finished my army basic training. I damaged my tendons in my right ankle by treading on a brick in long grass.

I had an operation in October 2000 to thin the tendons in my ankle.

To get myself back into it after spending a month in plaster I started swimming at first to get my muscles and cardiovascular going.

I then moved to the bike with weights and situps then progressing to light jogging , followed by running again.

I would advise this to anyone that hasn't done any fitness for a while or who is recovering from an injury.

Going full blown running will just make you sore and ache as your body isn't used to it.

I would especially advise this to the bigger built people on here