Fitness experts agree that walking and riding a bicycle are two of the best low-impact exercises you can utilize to lose weight and stay in shape. Of course, there are disagreements among various camps as to which of these two exercises is superior; some saying bike riding is better than walking, while others claim they are equal. Both have benefits, and your goals will decide if they are equal or not. Use our goal tracker to design a proper fitness program and track your progress! Before we discuss bike riding and walking, and the benefits both provide, remember that the value of exercise is measured both by calories burned and cardiovascular stress achieved. Deciding whether riding a bike or walking is better for you is dependent on both of these factors and how important each one is in your exercise regimen. At the end of the day, the value of any kind of exercise can only be measured in terms of how well it helps you achieve your fitness goals.

Bicycling and walking are both effective aerobic workouts that are suitable for people of just about any fitness level. Both types of exercise can be done indoors, on a stationary bike or treadmill, or outdoors when the weather permits. Determine the more effective choice by examining the number of calories burned during a workout with each type of exercise.

Performing either exercise at a moderate pace provides a nearly identical cardiovascular benefit. The primary difference between the two is your own comfort level. Some women find it difficult or uncomfortable to spend 30 to 60 minutes riding a bike; others experience knee or joint pain when walking. Improve your comfort level when bicycling by trying a recumbent bike; both stationary and outdoor recumbent bikes are available.

Exercise Duration The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends up to 60 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per day; both walking and biking qualify in that category. The minimum recommended amount of exercise is 150 minutes total per week. For weight loss or cardiovascular health improvements, the CDC suggests 300 minutes or more each week.

Considerations Talk to your doctor if you experience pain of any kind while biking or walking. In many cases, such as in women with osteoporosis, exercise will help to lessen the pain over time; however, do not start exercising for pain relief without first consulting your doctor. Intensity can have a major impact on how either form of exercise affects you. As you increase your workout intensity, you increase the rate at which your body burns calories and may also get a better workout in less time. The CDC says that 30 minutes of vigorous exercise is equal to 60 minutes of moderate exercise in terms of overall health benefits.

It is hard to compare the two as there is a lot of possibility for variation : if you are walking 'fast' it burns 300 per hour, if you are cycling 'slow' it burns 300 per hour. But who decides what fast and slow is? I suggest you get a HR monitor, you input your height,age and weight and it determines your caloric expenditure based on these factors, and using your HR.

As a very loose guideline, i would say if you are exercising a good level of intensity as you walk/cycle, that one hour of walking and one half hour of cycling might be about equal.

i don't think there are many people who walk at 5mph or cycle at 5mph.

I've heard a rule of thumb that running burns ~100 calories per mile and cycling ~40 calories per mile on average. I also see a lot of people in here saying between 3-4 miles cycling: 1 mile running, which for me is pretty accurate - according to my HRM/GPS watch, my most recent 12 mile ride burnt just over the amount of calories that a 5K run would for me. Do you have a HRM or the possibility of plugging your weight/height/age into a program like myfitnesspal or runkeeper to see what it guesstimates for your calorie burn during activity (it might be slightly inaccurate but the ratio between the two activities should be right)?? I would say that doing something like that would be the best option to really determine this for you since it seems to vary person to person.

Fitness experts agree that walking and riding a bicycle are two of the best low-impact exercises you can utilize to lose weight and stay in shape. Of course, there are disagreements among various camps as to which of these two exercises is superior; some saying bike riding is better than walking, while others claim they are equal. Both have benefits, and your goals will decide if they are equal or not. Use our goal tracker to design a proper fitness program and track your progress! Before we discuss bike riding and walking, and the benefits both provide, remember that the value of exercise is measured both by calories burned and cardiovascular stress achieved. Deciding whether riding a bike or walking is better for you is dependent on both of these factors and how important each one is in your exercise regimen. At the end of the day, the value of any kind of exercise can only be measured in terms of how well it helps you achieve your fitness goals.