would freestyle BMX be considered cardio or workout?

J

jonny100

0
In my free time I love to ride BMX (not racing, I mean tricks like using half pipes and dirt jumps), I was just wondering if this would be considered more of a fat loss type activity or a muscle building activity.
It can get you out of breath sometimes, but you are using all of your muscles near enough so it uses arm strength to pull the bike around and leg strength when you land etc. And it can generate fatigue in certian muscles sometimes.

The reason I ask is because I'm doing a bulking cycle at the moment, so I understand that cardio should be dramatically reduced in order to see gains in muscle mass. But I don't want to stop riding my bike, especially seens as summer holidays are coming up (in the UK).
Will it hinder my progress if I ride frequently?
 
I would consider it more cardio
 
It's going to be more like H.I.I.T. in my opinion, meaning it will be fine while bulking. I see no reason to stop.
 
It is cardio. Try measuring your HR next time you do it and see what I mean. Doing a half pipe, jumps, etc. will keep you in a THR for the whole time you are doing stunts. However, normally at the half pipes, I had to wait my turn, so you only get bursts of cardio. The preferred method would be 40 minutes straight in your THR. Mixing cardio with a bulk routine is fine.

You will find that freestyle strengthens your forearms (wrist and grip), core muscles, triceps and of course your legs. In addition, serratus and shoulders can get minor workouts. It is pretty much a "light" full body workout.

Be careful not to break your clavicle (that was a favorite bone to break in my BMX experience), because that will eff-up most all of your upper body workouts!

-Rip
 
you're right about the "waiting for your turn" thing on half pipes, so yeah I guess it is more short bursts meaning it's more like HIIT.

Thing is, it's burning calories. And don't you only increase muscle mass when all (or most) of the calories go towards building muscle (ie. recovery from weight lifting)?

What's the clavicle? I've never broken a bone from BMX (thankfully), usually just bruises and scratches. I dislocated my big toe once and bruised my tailbone a few times (it's the bone right above your ass where your spine starts and it renders you absolutley useless when you bruise it. It hurts like hell and usually takes over a month to recover). You ever done that?
 
bmx'ing can be both.. My cavles, and quads got alot bigger from riding when I was into that bmx stuff... bikin is a really good workout id say, because for one, its fun, which is most important id say when working out.. I mean seriously, who wants to dred working out. and another reason its a good workout, is becuase you can make it as hard as you want.. Peddaling up hils, riding real fast.. Id say biking is an all around is very good excercise.
 
jonny100 said:
(SNIP)
bruised my tailbone a few times (it's the bone right above your ass where your spine starts and it renders you absolutley useless when you bruise it. It hurts like hell and usually takes over a month to recover). You ever done that?
Click to expand...
Coccyx? Yep. Pulled ligaments there once... Ouch!!!

I am too old for that crap now... I just mountain bike it these days.

(;

-Rip
 
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