To receive ideal health benefits, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 150 minutes of moderately intensive aerobic activity every week. If you are looking to lose weight and/or receive other ideal health benefits rather quickly, indoor group cycling — a high intensity class — may be more beneficial than walking, which is typically considered a low to moderately intensive aerobic activity.
Health Benefits of Indoor Cycling
Indoor cycling requires spending about an hour on a stationary bike that is specifically made to support high-intensity movements on the bike. The class is led by an instructor and is usually accompanied by music as well as outdoor visualization techniques. The class gets your heart pumping, which makes it an ideal cardiovascular workout. It also torches lots of calories, about 450 calories in 45 minutes, and is the perfect tool for toning up your leg and core muscles. No experience is necessary to join an indoor cycle class.
Health Benefits of Walking
Walking makes a proper cardiovascular workout that can be done anywhere, whether around the house, neighborhood, local park or shopping mall. Regular walking workouts of 30 to 60 minutes may help lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, reduce your risk of serious illnesses such as diabetes as well as help keep your weight under control. In order to receive these important health benefits, it is important to keep a brisk walking pace. This will help boost your heart rate, which helps strengthen your cardiovascular health.
Time and Intensity
To determine which is better for your health, consider the time and intensity of the workout. If you were to walk and cycle indoors for the same amount of time yet at different intensity levels, it would take you longer to burn calories and lose weight from the lower-intensity workout. Low to moderately intensive activities will burn calories over a period of time; however, if you are looking to lose weight as well as experience other important health benefits quickly, it is better to participate in higher-intensity workouts such as indoor group cycling.
Speak with Your Doctor
It is always important to speak with your doctor prior to starting a workout routine. Some drawbacks of workout routines, such as indoor cycling, include the risk of muscle injuries. It may help to start with a low to moderately intensive workout, such as walking, first then move onto higher intensity workouts.
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