Is riding a bike the same about of exercise as running?

Question

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Answer 1

It's cardio, but that's the only similarity.

My wife is a physical therapist and she did a paper on the differences between exercises.  In no way does biking help running or vice-versa.

There is no translation between training sports.  Swimming a ton won't help you run, running won't help you bike, and so forth.

Answer 2

on a cardiovascular level, it can be, but only if you maintain a consistent effort to keep your heart rate at workout level. In that sense, it can give just as good a cardio workout, with the added benefit of being impact-free.

It is hard to maintain a workout-level effort on an actual bicycle though, it is very tempting to relax too much rather than pedal consistently. You may also have to stop because of traffic or other obstacles.

One thing I learned from experience is that it's not a good alternative if you are a competitive runner. When I got my first stress injury and couldn't run, everyone suggested cycling as an alternative, which went fine except that when I returned to running, I found that the balance of my leg muscles was completely out of whack. My legs had become accustomed to cycling motion and it took several days to get my form back, in particular my faster, more open strides and sprints. Next time I was injured I used aquarunning instead.