I have often recommended that people replace running with biking over the years, especially if their miles per week are starting to exceed a progression of 10%-15% from the previous week. However, you cannot just hop on a bike or a stationary bike and just pedal; you need to put in some effort and a similar heart rate to the type of running you are replacing. This can include easy Zone 2, sprint intervals, goal-pace effort, and lactate-threshold-type workouts. Here is a question about biking in place of running.
Hey Stew. How often is it acceptable to use the bike as opposed to running through programs? It feels like a cop-out some days. Thanks, Jack C.
Jack, usually this recommendation is made when someone is recovering from an injury related to running, such as shin splints, stress fractures, tendonitis or muscle strains. If a bike is pain-free, it makes sense to replace any running with the same type of biking. Consider the following types of bike workouts:
Go Half-and-Half
Consider a BR-ick Workout. These are bike-and-run combinations, often used by triathletes, that can give you twice the cardio with half the impact if you limit impact forces toward the end of the week. You can use any type of running with this combination. You can do 1-minute fast/1-minute slow intervals for 20 minutes each on the bike and on the run. You can keep the entire bike-run event at a Zone 2 heart rate. Or you could push your anaerobic threshold and find that sweet spot for your racing and timed run pace.
Running (or Biking) with Leg Calisthenics
This is a workout many tactical athletes mix to develop leg muscle stamina for both running and rucking (or swimming with fins) by combining calisthenics (squats, lunges, hills, bleachers, jumps, etc.) with running. You can replace the running if needed, but you want to push the legs and lungs on the bike. We do this with a workout called the Bike Pyramid. Each minute gets harder as the bike's resistance levels increase by one to two levels. Continue this every minute on the minute (EMOM) until you can no longer maintain 70-80 RPMs. Then return down the pyramid. This typically will take 15-30 minutes.
Norwegian 4x4 (But on a Bike)
This workout is a classic high-intensity interval training (HIIT) method that strengthens your heart and increases your body's capacity to use oxygen efficiently (VO2max). The sustained high-intensity intervals improve both aerobic and anaerobic endurance, making it easier to sustain physical activity. This is 4 minutes of high-effort running (or biking) at 90-95% of max heart rate, followed by a 3-minute rest. You do this for four total sets, or 28 minutes total. Trust me. This is not a cop-out workout even on a bike.
If you feel like the bike is a “cop-out,” you’re not working hard enough. Any workout you do on the bike should match your effort level (heart rate), and you should have a puddle of sweat under you when you are done. If you make the bike, elliptical, rower or stair stepper machines hard enough when you replace running workouts, you have an opportunity to actually run faster than before you were injured or nursing an injury.
Performing replacement workouts due to injury or to avoid injury is smart, but you have to replicate the effort levels in any workouts you change. How you breathe during running workouts should be similar to the breathing you do on the bike to achieve the response you want. Check out more articles on non-impact cardio and running workouts at the Military.com Fitness Section.
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