Is it better to walk or ride a bike to lose weight?

Quick Answer

Both walking and biking can be effective for weight loss, but biking burns more calories per hour. On average, a 155 lb person will burn around 295 calories per hour walking at a moderate pace and around 410 calories per hour biking at a moderate pace. So biking can create a greater calorie deficit to promote weight loss. However, the key is to pick the activity you enjoy and will stick with long-term.

Calories Burned Walking vs Biking

When it comes to losing weight, it’s all about creating a calorie deficit by burning more calories through activity than you consume through your diet. Both walking and biking can help create this deficit.

Here’s a comparison of how many calories a 155 lb person would burn in one hour of moderate walking versus moderate biking:

Activity Calories Burned (155 lb person)
Walking (3.5 mph) 295 calories
Biking (10-12 mph) 410 calories

As you can see, biking burns over 100 more calories per hour. This suggests that biking may be the better option for weight loss in terms of pure calorie burn.

However, this doesn’t tell the whole story. The key is to choose the activity you enjoy and will stick with consistently, whether that’s walking, biking, or a mix of both. Burning 295 calories per hour from walking you do 5 days a week is better than burning 410 calories per hour biking if you only bike once a week. Consistency is key.

Muscle Building

In addition to burning calories, building muscle can also boost your metabolism to help promote fat loss. Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue.

While both walking and biking engage your leg and glute muscles, biking involves more resistance to build strength. Various studies show biking leads to greater increases in leg and hip muscle size and strength compared to walking.

So biking may have slight muscle-building advantages over walking, further boosting your resting metabolism. However, walking still provides excellent muscle benefits, engaging your calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes.

Weight Loss Benefits of Walking

Though biking may burn more calories per hour and build more muscle, walking has its own weight loss benefits:

More Accessible

Walking simply requires a good pair of shoes and any open space available to you, whether that’s your neighborhood, a local park, or a treadmill at the gym. Biking requires having access to a bike and possibly biking paths or trails depending on if you’ll be biking on roads. For many people, walking is the simpler, more accessible option to add exercise into their routine.

Lower Injury Risk

Walking has a lower risk of injury than biking for most people. Impact activities like running and jumping can be tough on joints, but walking is considered a low-impact exercise. As long as you build up gradually, walking is unlikely to cause overuse injuries.

Biking comes with more risk of injury, particularly from accidents. Falls, crashes, and collisions are a possibility, especially when biking outdoors. Proper bike fitting and handling skills can help reduce injury risk. However, walking is the safer choice for many.

Easy to Multitask

Walking is something you can do almost anywhere while also doing other things – talking on the phone, listening to podcasts, spending time with a friend. Biking typically requires more focus on the road and your surroundings.

For many busy people, being able to walk and multitask makes it an easier activity to fit into their day. This can promote consistency with getting in those daily steps.

Can Incorporate Interval Training

Adding interval training – alternating short bursts of faster walking with moderate paced walking – can further boost the calorie burn of your walks. This can make walking an even more effective weight loss tool.

It’s definitely possible to do interval training on a bike too. But interval walking is often more accessible to do anywhere without equipment.

Weight Loss Benefits of Biking

Though walking has its perks, biking also offers great benefits for weight loss and fitness:

Higher Calorie Burn

As discussed above, biking simply burns more calories per hour than walking at a moderate pace. Over the course of a week, these extra calorie burns from biking can really add up.

If your main goal is creating a substantial daily calorie deficit, biking may be the better cardiovascular activity choice for you. But keep in mind the importance of choosing exercise you enjoy and will be consistent with.

Builds Lower Body and Core Strength

Biking involves more muscle activation and resistance than walking, especially for your lower body. Quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calf muscles all get strengthened through biking. And your core muscles are activated during riding to keep your body stable on the bike.

Building lower body and core strength helps increase your resting metabolism, further boosting weight loss. Combine biking with some upper body strength training and you’ve got a comprehensive strength routine.

High Intensity Interval Training Options

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is hugely popular for fat burning potential. By alternating short bursts of maximum effort with recovery, HIIT can keep your metabolism revved up long after your workout ends.

Biking makes it easier to incorporate high intensity intervals through sprinting or hill climbing, compared to walking. Though you can walk at an incline or add short jogging bursts to walking intervals if desired.

Overall, biking may lend itself better to high intensity interval training for those looking for that type of workout.

Outdoor Option for Mental Health

Being outdoors and getting Vitamin D from sunlight is great for physical and mental health. If you bike outdoors, it can double as enjoyable outdoors time in nature.

Of course walking outdoors provides similar benefits. However, biking may allow you to cover more ground and explore farther distances depending on your route.

Is Switching Up Biking and Walking Best?

In the end, the most effective option for weight loss is likely a combination of both biking and walking.

Here are some reasons alternating between the two activities can be beneficial:

– Works different muscle groups: Walking heavily targets your calves and shins, while biking engages more of your hamstrings, glutes, and quadriceps. Switching it up allows you to build strength across more muscle groups.

– More versatility: Having two go-to aerobic activities built into your routine gives you more options to choose from day-to-day for variety.

– Reduces injury risk: Alternating between walking and biking reduces your risk of overuse injuries from doing just one activity repeatedly. It provides more balance across your routine.

– Add intensity: You can use biking days for higher intensity intervals, then do more steady state walking other days. This allows you to get the benefits of both.

– Options if injured: If you sustain an injury that prevents you from biking, you can swap in more walking temporarily to maintain your fitness routine. And vice versa if walking is not possible for a period.

So in summary, the best approach is likely doing a mix of both activities rather than just choosing one. Aim for 150-300 minutes per week of moderate cardio exercise, with 2-3 strength sessions, and you’ll be on the right track for weight loss!

Sample Walking and Biking Workout Plan

Here is a sample one week workout plan alternating walking and biking along with strength training:

Day 1 30 minute walk
Day 2 30 minute bike ride (mix of moderate and high intensity intervals)
Day 3 Full body strength training
Day 4 60 minute moderate paced walk
Day 5 45 minute bike ride
Day 6 30 minute walk + lower body strength training
Day 7 Rest day or light yoga/stretching

This balances out steady state and interval cardio over the week, along with full body and lower body focused strength workouts.

Feel free to switch up the length and intensity of the walks and bike workouts as desired over time. Consistency is key!

Nutrition Recommendations for Weight Loss

To maximize fat loss from your walking and biking, it’s important to look at your nutrition habits too. Here are some diet tips:

– Maintain a moderate calorie deficit. Aim for a 500-750 calorie deficit per day to lose 1-2 lbs per week. Don’t under eat.

– Prioritize lean protein, fiber, and complex carbs – foods that digest slower to keep you feeling full. Examples include eggs, chicken breast, leafy greens, sweet potatoes, quinoa.

– Limit added sugar, trans fats, fried foods, and processed grains like white bread that provide “empty” calories.

– Stay hydrated! Drink water throughout the day.

– Monitor portion sizes. Use a food scale if needed to understand proper serving sizes.

– Focus on whole, minimally processed foods – not restrictive diets that demonize certain food groups. Build a balanced, sustainable approach.

Pair your walking and biking with a nutritious diet high in protein, fiber and complex carbs. Be consistent and the weight will come off!

Conclusion

Biking and walking are both great for weight loss, burning calories and engaging your muscles. Biking may burn more calories per hour when done at a moderate pace. But walking has the advantage of being low impact and simple to incorporate.

The best approach is likely alternating between biking and walking over the course of a week, along with incorporating strength training. This provides variety to your routine while building fitness across your whole body.

Consistency and personal enjoyment are key – pick the activities you like and will stick with long-term. Combine your cardio with a nutritious, portion controlled diet and the weight will come off in a healthy, sustainable way. Losing 1-2 pounds per week is a safe recommendation.

So give both walking and biking a try to see which you prefer. Mixing up both activities can help maximize your calorie burn while keeping your workouts interesting. As long as you pick up the pace enough to elevate your heart rate, both choices will torch calories and fat to help you reach your weight loss goals!

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