Does cycling or walking burn more fat?
Regardless how you do it, burning fat will definitely take some effort.
When it comes to cycling and walking, one activity requires more energy, burns more calories and will burn more fat. However, it’s best to opt for the activity that's right for you, based on the effort you want to put in and the time you want it to take.
In order to burn fat you need to expend more calories than your body takes in. For example, if you eat 3,000 calories of food in a day then you will need to burn off the exact same amount of calories to be able to maintain your current weight. If you burn off fewer calories, then the remaining energy will be stored as fat. On the other hand, if you manage to burn off more than 3,000 calories, then your body will start burning off energy from its fats stores.
According to specialist, a net loss of 3,500 calories will result in 1 pound of fat being burned. However, you don't want to burn those additional calories overnight – so, you should create a 500- to 1,000-calorie per day deficit, which will burn 1 to 2 pounds of fat per week.
As far as walking goes - for a person who weighs 165 pounds, walking at a slow pace of 2 mph will only burn 3 calories per minute. At this rate you would need to walk for more than 1,100 minutes in order to be able to burn off a pound of fat. At a quick pace of 4 mph the number of calories burned would increase to 6 calories per minute. So, walking at this pace it would take you close to 600 minutes to burn 1 pound of fat.
Cycling - is of course a quicker activity than walking, therefore it is no surprise that it burns more calories. A person weighing 165 pounds will burn 11 calories per minute cycling at a slow pace of 12 to 14 miles per hour - which would result in a loss of 1 pound of fat in just over 300 minutes. At a quicker pace of 14 to 16 miles per hour though, the number of calories burned per minute would increase to 13 - resulting in a pound of fat loss in less than 300 minutes.
So, choosing the best activity that would bring the desired results is really up to each individual.
Which one is your favorite – walking or cycling? Share with us in the comments below.
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