{"id":218179,"date":"2025-10-16T20:52:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/218179\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T20:52:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:52:03","slug":"is-cycling-good-cardio-heres-how-it-compares-to-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/218179\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Cycling Good Cardio? Here\u2019s How It Compares to Running"},"content":{"rendered":"

As cyclists, most of us experience the amazing cardio benefits of riding every day. It\u2019s why many of us started riding in the first place. But what really happens when you hop on the bike and get your heart pumping? In this episode of The Bicycling Show About Bicycling, our experts dig into the big benefits of cardio and also reveal some of the overlooked ones. And we look at how cycling stacks up against other forms of cardio, like swimming and running.<\/p>\n

Our fitness expert Monique Lebrun, runner Theo Kahler, and our own Tom Messina throw some elbows as they debate which activity is the best form of cardio and why it’s cycling. They also share how cyclists can benefit from adding running and swimming to their workouts. This debate started when we published \u201cIs Cycling Good Cardio?\u201d<\/a> last month. The story breaks down all the key physiological benefits of time in the saddle\u2014from increased lung capacity and improved heart rate to maximizing muscle engagement.<\/p>\n

\"Play\"cycling,<\/p>\n

Tom, Monique and Theo unpack the nuance behind cardio training, starting with a simple definition: \u201cAny form of exercise that gets your heart pumping and increases your breath rate,\u201d says Monique. Running, they note, is a quick way to elevate heart rate<\/a>\u2014ideal for time-crunched athletes\u2014but it comes with higher impact. \u201cCycling is the safer option for your joints,\u201d says Monique. \u201cI think that’s a reason why our viewers and our readers and all of us love cycling. Because you can do it for a while without real hard joint impacts,\u201d Tom says. <\/p>\n

And while most of us are aware of the health benefits of a well developed cardiovascular system, we also know that boosting our cardio is a surefire way to get faster. But it takes more than just a humming aerobic base to do that. You need power to tackle climbs, unflappable cornering skills, and a comfortable yet aero position on the bike. It\u2019s a lot, we know. But you can get expert advice on mastering all of it, and more, in our exclusive, member\u2019s only How to Rider Faster<\/a> video series, hosted by former professional cyclist Jen Whalen. <\/p>\n

Do you ever sneak in a run to get a quick cardio boost? Or maybe you were a runner who joined Team Cycling after an injury? Let us know in the comments. <\/p>\n

Get Exclusive Training Programs and Digital Issues\"Chevron\"Chevron\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Louis Mazzante is the Test Director at Hearst\u2019s Enthusiast Group, overseeing product testing and expert reviews at Popular Mechanics, Runner\u2019s World, and Bicycling; he has more than 20 years of experience testing bikes, skis, cars, tools, and cool gadgets\u2014and he is always searching for new gear that looks good, solves problems, and has a fair price. Prior to his current role, he wrote for or led several product-focused consumer and trade magazines. He\u2019s a former ski instructor, bike racer, trail builder, and, thanks to the demands of a 2005 Nissan X-Terra with 208k+ miles, amateur car mechanic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As cyclists, most of us experience the amazing cardio benefits of riding every day. It\u2019s why many of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[105301,86962,105296,105299,105310,49,48,105304,105298,635,18203,105311,105305,105300,105302,100684,105303,105308,105312,105297,105309,105307,82,105306],"class_list":{"0":"post-218179","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-bicycling-show","9":"tag-bicycling-com","10":"tag-bike-fit","11":"tag-bike-performance","12":"tag-bike-setup","13":"tag-ca","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-colin-mcsherry","16":"tag-crank-length","17":"tag-cycling","18":"tag-cycling-comfort","19":"tag-cycling-injury-prevention","20":"tag-dan-chabanov","21":"tag-expert-tips","22":"tag-jonathan-blyer","23":"tag-knee-pain","24":"tag-matt-phillips","25":"tag-muscle-imbalance","26":"tag-riding-tips","27":"tag-saddle-height","28":"tag-saddle-sore","29":"tag-seat-position","30":"tag-sports","31":"tag-tom-messina"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}