What’s Better For Your Legs: Cycling Or Walking?
Are you looking to lose weight, or are you just interested in getting active? Do you need to find bikes for big guys and gals, or are you more interested in comfort bikes for seniors? Whether you are a heavyset individual or a senior citizen, finding the right cardio workout is crucial, especially when it comes to protecting your legs and knees. Ultimately, the cardio questions get narrowed down to which exercise is better for your legs: cycling or walking? To answer that, it is necessary to examine five exercise issues.
Table of Contents
1. Impact
Joint health is important, especially for overweight individuals and seniors. Therefore, when deciding between bicycles for seniors or walking, it is necessary to examine the impact of each exercise on the knees and ankles. Each activity, walking and biking, is considered low-impact. Although, biking would probably be considered even less of a threat to the joints because there is no impact or repetitive connection with the pavement.
2. Resistance
When deciding on a cardio workout, it is necessary to find something that not only challenges you now but also pushes you later. While walking is good for building stamina, it does not necessarily encourage resistance. Biking, however, encourages resistance and the building of muscles with the ability to switch gears while riding. Though resistance might be unnecessary and counterproductive for beginners, it is necessary to build muscle and to continue challenging yourself physically, which means biking likely wins out again.
3. Body Weight
While bike riding is an effective and low-impact exercise, not everyone can afford or use a bicycle. Heavier individuals might find it challenging to find a bike that supports their weight, especially an affordable one. Walking is always free, and it is a wonderful way to build muscle and get healthy. Although, if you genuinely want a bike, then be prepared to spend more money on more durable frames, tires and other materials.
4. Stamina
Before deciding on a cardio exercise, consider your current stamina. Can you walk the block without feeling winded? While walking is an excellent low-impact exercise, it is not effective if you can’t go far. Biking, however, especially with the use of hybrid technology, encourages longer periods of exercise. Also, you burn more calories riding a bike than walking, which means that riding a bike, if you are able, is a generally better form of exercise.
5. Balance
Also, it is necessary to consider balance before committing to a new cardio regimen. Older individuals and heavy individuals might find it difficult to walk even on the pavement. While a traditional two-wheeled bicycle may not be a good fit either, there are three-wheeled options. A trike bike is an excellent option for the elderly and larger riders because the requirement of balance is removed. Also, three-wheeled bikes often have a higher weight capacity than two-wheeled options.
Therefore, in the debate over which exercise is best for the legs, biking or walking, biking seems to win out. It is a low-impact option, and the variations of design make a bike a useful tool for people of various ages and sizes. If you do not currently own a bike, then head over to your nearest dealer and pick a cycle that suits your needs.