i used to play football about 5hours a week,i was pretty fit,i now wont to take up mountain biking, fitness??

Question

am i right in asuming that i will have to double up the hours if i ride instead of run

Answer 1

If your getting your heart rate up it doesn't matter what type of exercise you do. ( cycling is a good choice). An hour of cycling at a certain heart rate will work you out exactly the same amount as an hour of running at the same rate.

You work most of your bodies muscle groups. (especially mountain biking). It is a lower joint impact sport. You cover a lot more ground so there is more to see. You can start doing a few of the short trips (and longer ones) where you would have normally have used your car .

Answer 2

I think that running and mountain biking are different in several ways. For one, I think you get a more complete excercise on a mountain bike, since you have to move your whole body if you're riding trails, not as much if you are just riding XC on flat territory.

Road biking will provide a stronger workout on the legs, I think. Some friends that do both says that road cycling helps them get better at mountain biking because of the excercise. On the other hand, mtb provides better upper body workout (not as much as weight or other stuff), since you have to shift your body, pull the handlebars to clear stuff, etc..

Running is running. I don't like it, but some people just love it.

What's really important is choosing a sport that you like, not the BEST absolute sport. I've tried, during my life, to do different sport activities, but mtb is the only one I've had for more than 3 years.

But you might find different, though. Just find something you like and keep at it.

Answer 3

no you don't have to double up on anything because riding is almost like running except your on a bike your moving your feet and if your mountain biking its going to be harder because your going up and up and if its too easy just change the gears to a higher one.