Cycling = Running?

alphafemale

alphafemale

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I am training hard and my shins are starting to give me problems. I know I have tibial periostitis in both legs, and I use ice and ibuprofen, but I think it might be wise to run every other day now, and maybe cycle the rest of the time so that I don't put myself out of commission in the second week of a six week training camp. What do you think? I have two main questions:

1. Is 10 kms of biking equal to 10 kms of running, in a cardiovascular sense?
and,
2. Is there a benefit in running that I will miss out on by replacing half the runs with cycling?

Any help would be much appreciated. I am also an avid swimmer, and am thinking I could switch my cardio up with any of those three triathalon exercises.
 
I'd definately substitute some running with biking if your shins are giving you trouble.
10kg biking would probably not be the same, if I were you I'd try not to find a way of doing the same on the bike, but just make the biking a new thing.

A benifit of running you'll miss out on is of course the specific adaptions to running. If you want to be great at running, then you need to run, but if your goal is just to get your heart healthy, then that's not really a big issue.

Other than that, since running his higher impact it will stress your bones more, causing them to become more dense and sturdy/preventing them from breaking down and preventing osteoporosis. However, if you keep running some this shouldn't be that much of an issue. Running is not THAT good for bone stimulation anyways, if you do any proper strength training like squats and deadlifts you should be covered.
 
Thanks, I appreciate your response.

My only reason to run is to increase my leg strength and cardiovascular endurance; but with my shins the way they are, running has been a problem for the past six months. This is why I am looking for cardio substitutes. I kickbox 8 hours per week, so it's not like my cardio is neglected in any sense, but if I want to compete I have to run. I guess I always knew there was no real substitute for running... which leads me to one more question:

Is swimming a more beneficial conditioning exercise for endurance athletes than cycling, overall? Or does running just crush both of them?

How much swimming would I have to do, hypothetically, to get the benefit of a 5km or 10 km run? Is that a fair comparison.

Thanks for helping me out, any new thoughts are welcome.
 
I think that you will find that cycling gives you a BETTER cardiovascular workout. No other exercise can get my heartrate as high as cycling can. I think too that you will find that 10km of biking is nothing compared to the same distance running. You may consider time instead of distance for comparison (or fatigue or some other measure). Lastly, I think the cross-training will be beneficial to you in the long run.

All JMO.

Good luck.
 
Thanks - that's extremely helpful advice.

I will cross train, and I'll use time as my primary measure, and fatigue if it feels just a little too easy.

I needed to hear that from someone else.
 
Hi there, as Karky said... 10km of biking would not be the same as 10km of running. If you wanted to get the same benefit, you would want to be cycling a longer distance. It's easy if you think about in a sense of - how long will it take you to run 10km? e.g. 60minutes. how long will it take you to cycle 10km? e.g. 30minutes. So there is already just a difference in workout time of 30minutes and running is more strenuous. Also as Karky said, cycling is great though as it is a lot more less impack than running :) so just do a good mixture of both.
 
I read an article that stated for cycling to running... you need to go approximately 3.5x the distance on a bike as you do for running.. and in a low gear where your legs are really pumping fast.

And for me, swimming is MUCH, MUCH, more of a cardiovascular workout... I think the reason that most people say doing something else, say running or cycling, is better is because most people can't swim continuously for the same amount of time as running or cycling. Swimming involves a ton of legs, as well as upper body... people can't breathe 'at will' while swimming because your head is underwater for the majority of swimming; further most people can't kick strong enough to simulate running or cycling... but swimming, when done correctly is a much better cardio workout.

To test it, just do intervals in the pool...using the same intensity that you do on a bike or while running, one length at a time with a minute or so rest... do that for twenty minutes and tell me how ya feel!! You'll be a ton more tired and see a great benefit to swimming.
 
BasketLady said:
I think that you will find that cycling gives you a BETTER cardiovascular workout. No other exercise can get my heartrate as high as cycling can. I think too that you will find that 10km of biking is nothing compared to the same distance running. You may consider time instead of distance for comparison (or fatigue or some other measure). Lastly, I think the cross-training will be beneficial to you in the long run.

All JMO.

Good luck.
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Really? I'm pretty sure I've gotten higher on the rowing machine as thats a full body cardio exercise and biking is only the legs.

But hey, what do I know.
 
To the OP: To make the bike equivalent, figure out what your average heart rate on a 10k run is and then make sure you get yourself up to the while on the bike. Also make sure you are keeping a high cadence as someone else said. Running is not a slow cadence sport so neither should your stationary bike cross training.
 
personally my HR is way higher when I run than when I cycle.. if I try to get as high of a HR by cycling I'll get lactate in my quads like a few seconds (which isn't good if you want to go on at a steady pace for a while). Probably because cycling is more intense muscularly than running.

And you're running for leg strength? If you want leg strength you should do some squats and deads, running won't really build a lot of strength (unless you're very weak to start with) it will just build your cardiovascular fitness.

Swimming is a good workout. One very hard part about swimming is that you can't breathe as quickly as you want to. You can only get up for water every stroke on the breast stroke and crawl.. though on the crawl you will want to stay under for longer, at least 2-3 strokes.. That means you can only take a breath every now and then, which is really challenging when the going gets tough!
 
firefreak said:
Really? I'm pretty sure I've gotten higher on the rowing machine as thats a full body cardio exercise and biking is only the legs.

But hey, what do I know.
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I don't use a rower, so I wouldn't know about that. So, yes, really - for me the bike is a much better cardiovascular exercise than say the treadmill, elliptical, arc trainer, etc.!!


Karky said:
personally my HR is way higher when I run than when I cycle..
Click to expand...

I guess that just goes to show that everyone is different, and you have to work however is best for you and your body. Try the cycling, and even the swimming (or both), and see how your body responds.
 
Good Advice

Thanks for the responses, I will take all of this into account and work it out. I actually bought a shock absorbing cushion insole for my running shoes today (Berry 'Superfeet') and it made a big difference to my warm-up jog before my kickboxing and plyometrics work out routine this evening. No pain so far, but we'll see what happens tomorrow.

My two cents with regard to the cardio debate: nothing gets results faster for me than swimming. I usually just sprint 2000 yards of freestyle and then retreat to the sauna and that is enough to kick my metabolism into high gear, increase my cardio substantially, intensely develop my shoulders, chest, arms, and abdomen in a relatively short period of time, and really it just generally makes me feel good all over... it's like a massage.
 
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