Better workout on spin bike or road bike?

I have a Schwinn Spin Bike and several regular bikes. My typical
routine is to do 20 minutes on the stationary bike 4-5 days a week. I
increase the resistance at intervals and by the time I am done I am
sweating profusely. I was wondering if anyone has any dependable info
on the caloric burn differences between a spin bike and a regular
bike. If I rode the regular bike for 35-40 minutes would I get as
good a work out as doing the spin bike for 20 minutes? This is FL so
there are no hills but I would be going over several long high
bridges.

Of course after I ride the regular bike I am not sweating nearly as
much as after the spin bike but I think that may have to do with the
air that is blowing over me and evaporating the sweat...

I am 53 and in very good shape, if that makes a difference

"John H. Power" schreef in bericht
...
I have a Schwinn Spin Bike and several regular bikes. My typical
routine is to do 20 minutes on the stationary bike 4-5 days a week. I
increase the resistance at intervals and by the time I am done I am
sweating profusely. I was wondering if anyone has any dependable info
on the caloric burn differences between a spin bike and a regular
bike. If I rode the regular bike for 35-40 minutes would I get as
good a work out as doing the spin bike for 20 minutes? This is FL so
there are no hills but I would be going over several long high
bridges.

Of course after I ride the regular bike I am not sweating nearly as
much as after the spin bike but I think that may have to do with the
air that is blowing over me and evaporating the sweat...

I am 53 and in very good shape, if that makes a difference

There aren't any, since burning calories is depending on you and not on the
bike you're using. If you really want to loose wheight, you want to go for
long trips at low speed (50-60% of steady state heart beat). Take any bike

Certainly cycling on a real bike, out in the fresh air is way more enjoyable.

Cheers, helen s



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I have a Schwinn Spin Bike and several regular bikes. My typical
routine is to do 20 minutes on the stationary bike 4-5 days a week. I
increase the resistance at intervals and by the time I am done I am
sweating profusely. I was wondering if anyone has any dependable info
on the caloric burn differences

between a spin bike and a regular
bike. If I rode the regular bike for 35-40 minutes would I get as
good a work out as doing the spin bike for 20 minutes? This is FL so
there are no hills but I would be going over several long high
bridges.


It really depends on how you ride the stationary bike and how you ride on a
road bike.

I would think that some people could get a more intense work out on a
stationary bike because you can concentrate on just cranking as hard as you can
and you don't have to watch for road debris, hazards, squirrels and so on.

I find it hard to get motivated on a stationary bike and I think I do better on
the road.

I think your best bet is to try both and see which one you do better at.

John H. Power wrote in message . ..
I have a Schwinn Spin Bike and several regular bikes. My typical
routine is to do 20 minutes on the stationary bike 4-5 days a week. I
increase the resistance at intervals and by the time I am done I am
sweating profusely. I was wondering if anyone has any dependable info
on the caloric burn differences between a spin bike and a regular
bike. If I rode the regular bike for 35-40 minutes would I get as
good a work out as doing the spin bike for 20 minutes? This is FL so
there are no hills but I would be going over several long high
bridges.

Of course after I ride the regular bike I am not sweating nearly as
much as after the spin bike but I think that may have to do with the
air that is blowing over me and evaporating the sweat...

I am 53 and in very good shape, if that makes a difference

Hi, get a Heart Rate Monitor and then take a look at the differences.
I can tell you this, when I ride a bike indoors in a trainer, I can't
get my heart rate up anywhere near as high as when I ride outdoors.
Not to mention, 30 minutes on the trainer is boring, an hour on the
bike, outdoors, is fun. If time isn't a concern, I would just ride
outdoors.

Life is Good!
Jeff

I have a Schwinn Spin Bike and several regular bikes. My typical
routine is to do 20 minutes on the stationary bike 4-5 days a week. I
increase the resistance at intervals and by the time I am done I am
sweating profusely. I was wondering if anyone has any dependable info
on the caloric burn differences between a spin bike and a regular
bike. If I rode the regular bike for 35-40 minutes would I get as
good a work out as doing the spin bike for 20 minutes? This is FL so
there are no hills but I would be going over several long high
bridges.

Of course after I ride the regular bike I am not sweating nearly as
much as after the spin bike but I think that may have to do with the
air that is blowing over me and evaporating the sweat...

I am 53 and in very good shape, if that makes a difference

Calories burned will be governed by the resistance (speed) you ride for
those time intervals. Without this data it is impossible to answer your
question.

Your spin bike workout is too short to be of much benefit for cardio
conditioning. I believe 30 minutes is the *minimum* recommended length for
cardio workouts.

A couple of years ago I did a cycle camp in Italy. Among the campers were a
group of guys from Florida. Like you, their only hill training was from
riding the local bridges.

It was easy to tell on the Italian hills how long those bridges were as the
Floridians would detonate simultaneously and be dropped.


Chris Neary


"Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

John H. Power wrote:

I have a Schwinn Spin Bike and several regular bikes. My typical
routine is to do 20 minutes on the stationary bike 4-5 days a week.

Riding a stationary cycle is like eating nutrient paste out of a tube.

Of course after I ride the regular bike I am not sweating nearly as
much as after the spin bike but I think that may have to do with the
air that is blowing over me and evaporating the sweat...

Well, duh.

If you have a real bike, I wonder why you'd ever use a stationary one.
Not only can a real bike take you places you might wish to go, but it
rewards your effort with progress and sensory feedback. It also
exercises your equilibrium and your kinesthetic awareness, and it
connects you to your milieu.

My comparison, the stationary cycle teaches the tacit lesson that
exercise is futile, effort is for effort's sake, and all the strength
you can bring to your toil results in naught. Plus you get all soppy
with your own secretions.

Chalo Colina

On 25 May 2004 14:51:35 -0700, (Chalo) wrote:

John H. Power wrote:

I have a Schwinn Spin Bike and several regular bikes. My typical
routine is to do 20 minutes on the stationary bike 4-5 days a week.

Riding a stationary cycle is like eating nutrient paste out of a tube.

Of course after I ride the regular bike I am not sweating nearly as
much as after the spin bike but I think that may have to do with the
air that is blowing over me and evaporating the sweat...

Well, duh.

If you have a real bike, I wonder why you'd ever use a stationary one.
Not only can a real bike take you places you might wish to go, but it
rewards your effort with progress and sensory feedback. It also
exercises your equilibrium and your kinesthetic awareness, and it
connects you to your milieu.

My comparison, the stationary cycle teaches the tacit lesson that
exercise is futile, effort is for effort's sake, and all the strength
you can bring to your toil results in naught. Plus you get all soppy
with your own secretions.

Chalo Colina

Well duh, thanks for nothing my friend. I wasn't really interested in
your opinion in that regard nor am I interested in my "milieu". If I
want to connect to that I'll do yoga. My question related to whether
or not I would get the same exercise benefit using both mediums. Your
response did not address that question.

And I have 3 real bikes, not just 1.

But thanks to all the others who responded in a relevant fashion

John H. Power

Chalo wrote:
If you have a real bike, I wonder why you'd ever use a stationary one.

hmmmm, january in minnesota? i love you west coasters.

that said, rollers can be pretty intense. with high resistance they can be
on par with a long climb and since there's nothing to stop you (ie, no
breaks) just dial in your pain thresh-hold and go.

i'd rather climb, tho.
--
david reuteler

On Tue, 25 May 2004 18:06:01 -0400, John H. Power
wrote:

Well duh, thanks for nothing my friend. I wasn't really interested in
your opinion in that regard nor am I interested in my "milieu". If I
want to connect to that I'll do yoga. My question related to whether
or not I would get the same exercise benefit using both mediums. Your
response did not address that question.

And I have 3 real bikes, not just 1.

But thanks to all the others who responded in a relevant fashion

John H. Power

Hi John...I think you can do a -lot- of support work via your stationary
bike as long as it's not too cheap ride well, (doesn't twist and buck and
is stable) has a good seat and the pedals have good positioning and toe
straps, and can be adjusted right. It doesn't have to exactly mimic your
real bike, but the closer the better.

I go on and on about fit on the sta bike, b/c it's easy to get one that's
crappy even though it might be expensive.

The Schwinn sounds like a good sta bike - got a link? Picture.

I use my sta bike for several reasons -

1. if there's a weather problem like deep snow, or flooding - otherwise,
even if it's raining like crazy as long as it's not thundering, I'm riding.
2. I can do high pressure workouts, with higher resistance sprints and
-really- keep that energy up for longer than my street bike, b/c I can
concentrate and go until I'm just about to fall off the sta bike from agony
and don't have to worry about bumps, cars, dogs, trash -

So I can shut my eyes and 'make it bleed', plus I'll crank some tunes over
the speakers to keep the motivation up. Then when I go to my regular bike,
I feel the strength in my legs improving.

Best thing though is not to do the sta bike routinely. I'll do it for two
weeks every _other_ day on top of my regular riding. Then I'll lay off for
a while. The sta. bike is to regular biking like running the stadium steps
is to jogging the roads for 10 miles. You don't do the stadium steps all
the time.

Of course you can do 'repeat hills' on the road bike (similar intensity
theory, but better than the sta bike) and it's similar but it's sometimes
hard to find a hill that's easy to do repeats on that isn't full of
traffic.

So think of the sta bike as a specific training tool in your tool box and
don't just do 'em (unless you really enjoy it like spin class with a bunch
of people) to do 'em...you're better off putting in quality road miles over
the long run. IOW they're not a substitute for the road.

(Obvious rollers are different b/c you are actually using your own bike)

HTH, and sorry for the long babbling. g

-B