McBTC

true, true... you need a regular exercise that's enough to afford the calories for a pint of beer...

Hiro11

All of these comparisons are pointless. I ran cross country in high school and college, raced bikes for almost 20 years and I swam competitively from age 8 through college. I know something about all of these sports. Just saying one sport is "harder" than another is silly. You have to account for how hard you're going.

Putting on a pair of trunks and splashing around for 20 lengths is easy, swimming 1,000 yards under 10 minutes is friggen hard.
Jogging at a 9:30 pace for a few miles is easy, running a 5k under 17 minutes is friggen hard.
Getting out the flat bar bike and tooling around at 13 mph is easy, half an hour at 350+ watts on a bike is friggen hard.

Too many people say "cycling is easy" because they're unfamiliar with what riding truly fast feels like. Hop in a cat 1/2 crit some time that's spiking at over 34 mph, get back to me on how "easy" cycling is.

Sportdog

Most reasonable post on the thread. 👍

livedarklions

The other reason these comparisons are silly is because we're probably talking about small marginal differences in effects on the heart and other factors are and should be more important in selecting activities for yourself. I'm not going to run because it would cripple me, and I don't want to swim very much because I find it inconvenient and tedious, especially since I'm essentially blind when I take my glasses off.

OBoile

Yes, exactly. In any of these disciplines, you effectively can make it as hard as you like.
Wait... I said essentially the exact same thing a week or so ago. Does my post not count?

OBoile

Also agreed. There are many factors that are more important than the marginal, at best, differences the choice of sport makes wrt heart health.

one4smoke

This is a very interesting thread. I've learned (I think) quite a bit. Your "runners high" comment caught my eye...

I know every time I go out on my bike, the first 8 to 12 miles almost always feels like work. Very rarely does it not. The heart rate goes up, I'm breathing hard and I'm very aware of the legs working hard. But after that initial period of "work" the adrenaline kicks in, the heart rate goes down, the heavy breathing subsides and I can literally go all day long (well, up to about 100 miles or so). I get into a rhythm and forget all about my legs even moving. Almost feels like I’m riding a motorcycle. Well, maybe an E-Bike would be a better analogy. Most cyclists I talk to can relate to it, but very few casual riders know what I'm talking about.

I've often referred to it as "a runner's high" but does the term mean something else?

Btw... if I had to run to get my physical exercise, I'd be SOL. Tried it ...and it ain't for me. Not fun.

Sportdog

Touché 👍

Maybe because I was not following the thread carefully enough and didn’t digest your post adequately. Apologies sent.....

wphamilton

I don't think that anyone has been saying one is "harder" than the other. A few have thought that if you go all out, they're both the same which is just as silly.

There are differences in physiological adaptations, between running and cycling. That isn't really debatable, and are the only "comparisons" that are really relevant to this thread. How those differences relate to the development of the athlete's heart may be debatable.

Sportdog

So enlighten the forum of the statement please.

OBoile

Actually, I'm pretty sure that's what you said.
No, we said that going all out in one is no harder than the other... kind of based on the definition of "all out".
This, at least, is something everyone should agree on.

wphamilton

Regardless, you'd be wrong about that.

Exactly. You keep talking about is or isn't "harder than the other" when no one else is concerned about it.

wphamilton

I'm not repeating myself (again). Go back and check it if you're really interested, but I'm out.

McBTC

Going back to the original observation noted in the article, running is difficult from the onset because you are horizontal vs, swimming, for example - the heart has more to overcome compared to where the body is horizontal and the body weight is displaced by water. But then, you have more energy to apply to, for example, the breaststroke. It's only my assumption that cycling would fall somewhere in between running and swimming as far as... what you might think of is a sort of basic load on the heart before you do anything. But, as was mentioned - if you're going 'all out'... what more can you do. So,you must be doing the max, irrespective of whatever the sport may be. Still, apparently... there is some difference because heart health is different as far as overall health benefits being measured by longevity.

Lemond1985

I seem to recall, when I first got a heart rate monitor and wanted to find my maximum heart rate, I compared running uphill to the point of almost collapsing, with sprinting up a hill on a bike, also to the point of almost collapsing. I was able to get several beats per minute higher on the bike. However, I've been riding a bike almost all of my life, and only run occasionally, so that probably should not be surprising.

I would be curious of other people's experiences in this regard, whether they can achieve a higher heart rate while running, vs. biking, swimming, cross country skiing, or whatever.

gregf83 

When I started cycling regularly about 11 yrs ago my MaxHR was 5 or 6 beats higher running up a hill than anything I could do on a bike. After about a year my max was about the same for both. I suspect cross country skiers (possibly rowers) would have a higher max because of more muscle groups being involved than running or cycling.

McBTC

I would think, not surprising in as much as it reinforces what most people believe - that cardiovascular health involves more than just the heart... It includes the web of all of the blood vessels in all the muscles throughout the body which will be different depending on the amount and type of exercises persons have engaged in throughout their lives. An anecdotal example might be, for example - and otherwise healthy person having a heart attack shoveling snow in the winter...