sunrunner

I've often read that bicycling is not viewed as
a resistance or weight bearing kind of exercise, versus that of walking/running
or weight lifting. This is in context of those who are trying to avoid or
delay bone problems as they get older, or those who might have osteopenia
or osteoporosis, so they are told to do resistance and weight bearing exercise.
(am not trying to discuss here if that is true or not, just to give context of
my question below)

I do walking and light weight lifting related to weight bearing and resistance
activities.

I also ride my recumbent exercise bike for aerobics - I'm not able to get to an aerobic level by walking
and am not able to jog.
And at the moment am not able to do outdoor
biking at all.


===> What I am wondering is, when using the recumbent exercise bike
(and maybe this applies to biking in general) --

-- is there some part of the rotation of the pedal in which the legs
are doing resistance or weight bearing kind of exercise ?

That is, given that one given pedal rotation of one leg
is 360 degrees circle, could it be that part of that rotation, say
90 degrees or less, when the leg is pushing out and down
against the bike resistance (for a recumbent exercise bike) -

-- could it be in that situation that one is doing in effect weight bearing
and/or resistance exercise during that one part of the rotation ?


--- since it seems to me that pushing the leg down against resistance
seems to be similar to doing standing squats holding weights in the
hands

or similar to leg exercise machines like a leg press ?



I realize that even if there is some part of the rotation that provides
resistance and/or weight bearing exercise, that its only exercising
just one or a few muscle groups in any case.



Again, I am specifically asking in context of using a recumbent exercise
bike though realize this might apply to any biking, but am not clear on if thats the case.

Seattle Forrest

I'm sure you're right, and I'm also sure it's not limited to recumbent bikes, the same will apply to any upright bike climbing a hill.

But if you want to strengthen your bones because you're concerned about osteoporosis, you want to strengthen your back too.

wphamilton

About 45 pounds of pressure on the pedal for a relatively strong rider putting out 200 watts. I'm not a gym-rat but I'd say that's not enough to be considered weight-bearing type exercise.

jade408

Squat, squat, squat. Even body weight only has huge benefits. Add those in too.

JanMM

Just riding a bike of any sort is not enough.

TimothyH

This is absolutely correct. It just isn't enough weight.

Most everyone else here is right as well. Even just walking is a great weight bearing exercise.