Give cycling a whirl for more muscle and less fat
June 6, 2008
Here’s something most weight lifting trainees don’t realize: there is far more to fitness than merely building muscle mass. For trainees who are less serious about bodybuilding, or for bodybuilders who are interested in incorporating some other activities into their overall fitness routine, cycling can be a great idea if you’re willing to give it a whirl (pun intended!).
Running, while it is a great cardio workout can be HARD on the runner’s joints — something a bodybuilder can’t afford. Cycling offers many of the health benefits offered by running, but without the downsides. Therefore, a lot of bodybuilders would do well to eschew running and/or jogging in favor of more low impact cardio workouts like cycling.
The best thing about cycling is it’s an activity which gives you a cardio workout AND is fun to do. It can be just the thing for the bodybuilder looking to take it east on their knee and ankle joints (as well as the layperson concerned with fitness in general). Best of all, it can be enjoyed outside - for many bodybuilders it seems like we spend our entire lives at the gym!
One of the best parts of cycling is you can incorporate it into your daily routine (if you so choose) — in fact, you could probably get all the advantages of cycling by just bicycling to work (something you can’t exactly do with running or jogging!)
If bike commuting is not an option for you (and you’d like to find a way to save some gas money — a good idea considering the price of gas nowadays!), you can also try running your errands around the neighborhood on a bike rather than driving.
The best part is: you don’t need to spend all day, every day on a bike to get the benefits. The idea is to work cycling into your daily life so that you don’t have to make time for yet another exercise plan - after all, there’s still the gym to think about!
Experts recommend between one to four hours of vigorous cycling per week as sufficient for your cardio needs. Especially if biking to work is an option for you, this will seem like you didn’t work out at all - while you still enjoy the healthy rewards of this activity.
Cycling is fun, which makes it seem less like a trip to the gym and more like a treat while providing a great workout. Even though a lot of us weight lifters, myself included, think going to the gym is fun too 
But the point I’m trying to make is, even if muscle building is your priority (and it probably is if you’re bodybuilding or lifting for general health reasons), you should not neglect to maintain a general fitness routine and cardio is an important part of any routine.
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