People always point out the irony of driving to a gym to ride a stationary bike. But one of the primary reasons people do it is because they don't feel safe riding bikes on the road with all the cars. Its an onion of irony.
Another thing people seem to forget is that with an exercise bike you can stop whenever you want and be in a place of safety. Knee pain in the middle of the road? Yeah, no thanks.
What fascinating about exercise bike is it train you indoor so you can take on outdoor long distance cycling. It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive and i hate conversation like this.
Also bike isn't only meant for exercise, you can go to the store or run errands with it if distance allow.
And you don't have to worry about emergency repairs.
No? If I am biking in a separated bike lane, I can stop and move over onto the sidewalk where I am not in anyone's way. But IMO you should not be getting injured just trying to pedal a bike, maybe something like an ebike would reduce the physical excursion needed to pedal, reducing injury.
But IMO you should not be getting injured just trying to pedal a bike
Oh, to be that young again…
you should not be getting injured just trying to pedal a bike
Oh how I wish that were true
Biking for transit also isn't much of a workout if you're relatively fit. There's a cap to how fast you can go before it becomes dangerous because of obstacles and limited reaction time.
Indoor biking isn't much of a workout either to be fair.
It's one of those things that seeped into the public mind as part of going to the gym. Whereas you can get the same or better cardio while lifting weights that also builds your muscles, while indoor bike is imo just a meh, or borderline the "lazy" choice realistically for a lot of people.
It's what you do when you don't want to run because that's hard, and the elliptical is too hard because that actually hits the whole body.
Ofc this is a generalization of the majority, individuals can still use it to great effect, but imo, meh.
Whereas you can get the same or better cardio while lifting weights that also builds your muscles
This is just blatantly false - same or better cardio from lifting weights? You'd have to be pedaling extremely lightly for this to be true.
Naw, bad take. I hate spinning, but it absolutely can be a solid workout.
The cheapest treadmills and ellipticals are a lot more expensive than the cheapest exercise bikes. They take up more room, too (especially the treadmills.)
Of course, I'm talking about exercising at home here rather than going to the gym, but it's worth pointing out regardless.
And also not wanting to show up at work a sweaty, disgusting mess because you decided to do threshold intervals on the way to work
Although i've been told that it's normal for dutch people to show up at work meetings in various states of wetness like rain or sweat
I mean for me it's comfort, I don't want to bike in the rain, or high heat, or snow... If you do then awesome that's great. So instead i just reduced my car footprint. Drive a smart fortwo which is one of the least polluting cars on the road and you can fit 2-3 into a standard parking spot (depending on orientation)
i know I'm in the wrong place for this but I wish people would focus on just trying to make people realize that they don't need so much car instead of fuck car entirely. It is much more likely to be a successful message in the long run and still beneficial
IMHO most people here are for systemic change that internalizes the external cost of pollution, and building better transportation infrastructure. Not pointing fingers at individual working-class people.
you are not in the wrong for this
you are making a responsible choice given your options
it's not about cutting out entirely, it's about minimizing where possible
Same. It often gets to 45°C where i live. No fuckign way I am walking in that. I'll get heat stroke.
I will give you high heat sucks, though 110 heat index isnt terrible when youre moving fast, but it takes 30 seconds to throw on some rain gear, Ive even seen people do it at a stoplight.
Putting on raingear, while less miserable than not being in rain gear. Does not entirely save one from the annoyance and wetness of the rain. I did a LOT of biking in my teens in all conditions... I'm familiar with it lol
My bike route is down canals and the river to the local nature reserve and then back again.
Fuck riding on the roads, I've seen how these pricks drive. They barely look out for other cars.
And AC. It was 105 heat index out the other day here. I biked outside but it was awful and dangerous.
Sounds American.
Six months of every year being -40°C is a pretty compelling reason to want to be inside.
I think another part people are missing is that going to the gym is a social event. You see people there regularly, talk to friends, and do an activity together. It's extremely healthy to have a group of people that you spend time with outside of the home and work.
Exactly this. It's 10km to my gym, it's two towns over. But there is no designated bike path so I'd have to drive on the road, getting passed by cars going 100kmh. The roads here are already lined with crosses for people who died there, I'd rather not have my family have to add one for me.
Bill Bryson wrote of this upon his return to the US from the UK where he used to walk lots of places. How his wife's friend drive 2.5miles to a heath club to walk 5miles on a walking machine, then drove 2.5 miles home.
Its probably a more enjoyable walk in the gym than walking to the gym because walking along stroads suck. They are loud, the air is polluted, there is a sense you need to be constantly alert, and all those factors passively stress humans out.
Thankfully I get my cardio climbing stairs up and down from the Metro, and rack up 10-15k steps per day. I live in a city.
Fuck whatever I used to do. Car culture contributes to societal and cultural division
I did used to feel odd back when I would bike to the gym, because I realized I was already a little tired by the time I got to the gym, but just sucked it up and figured it could only make me more healthy. For years I biked everywhere, work, school, hangouts etc . . .And some peers would complain about back pain or odd health problems, and I'm thinking well maybe an active life is worth all the effort.
You are so right! When they shut down all exercise during COVID-19, I slowly started feeling all these aches and pains other people constantly complain about. I though, "Oh, well, you are getting old..." Then six months after exercise restarted, I was my old self again.
I’m all for biking if that’s your thing, but I’d rather take a subway, than to arrive at work all winded and sweaty, smelling like a locker room. Or, completely soaked because it was raining that day.
Subway is 100% fine, also needed for accessibility for people who can't drive a bicycle. It's the cars which suck.
It's 100 degrees in Texas right now. And exercising in AC is a lot better
I always went to the gym on my bike (10 km one-way). Perfect warm-up and cvool down. I've seen It's true beyond believe. Only three biked and a full parkinglot. Everyone wants to park as close to the entry door as possible.
I have family who live in southern Ontario who do this. They live in rural areas so they drive 1 hour to the gym, workout for half an hour and drive an hour back. I pointed out to them that in terms of cost, it would probably be cheaper to just invest in a home gym, treadmill and exercise bike and do everything at home.
Personally, my wife is sick with chronic illness so I can't go anywhere any more. So I just invested in a good treadmill, set up a TV in front of it and watch all my shows just about every day while walking. An average show is about 45 min or an hour so I take that time to do my walk at home and never go anywhere. The cost of the treadmill paid off years ago.
Also, as another tip, buy your treadmill or exercise equipment in January / February. Everyone always buys exercise stuff for Christmas or New Years resolutions in December / November ... then forget about it all after the holidays and sell stuff off or the stores put everything on sale. I bought a $1,000 treadmill like this about ten years ago for half the price and have used it since every year without problems.
I ride my stationary bike at home. It was always the stupidest feeling for me to drive to a car park just so i could workout
Edit: I'll add if you have a bike already, they make basic stationary trainers for relatively cheap that you can attach your rear wheel to. Sometimes called bike training stands, they come in three styles:
They can be between $30-100. And then if you end up liking it then they also have smart trainers that are even better but expensive up front.
For the bike trainer stands then if you like it get a training tire which is more durable than standard tires. And you're also going to want to find any fan and point it at you while working out.
If you miss the social aspect there are some apps like zwift, rouvy, etc that let you ride virtually with other people though $, and you'd also need some relatively cheap speed/cadence sensor hardware on your bike to send your speed/ cadence to send to those apps (this is not needed with a smart trainer). Because i hate extra subscriptions, I just watch TV or read a book (can be hard during a harder workout).
There's a lot more i could say but basically i started with a 30 year old bike on a cheap magnetic trainer. It wasn't the nicest set up in the world but it worked, and eventually i realized i liked it enough to just cut my gym free and save up for a nicer set up.
My schools gym is walking distance away from me. Its like 7-10 mins. I can't get to it safely without a car because there is a 5 lane road (suicide lane in the middle) with cars speeding 50 in a 30 mph zone, no side walks, no stop lights.
It is one of the most demoralizing feelings in the world to use a car instead of cardio just to work out.
I had a colleague like that. It was a bit ironic because he's the type of person that wants to be perceived as manly, but he was going to run on treadmills at the gym. He said the gym alwas had the same climate and he didn't need to run in the cold or in the rain, which is true.
But then the pandemic hit so he started running outside year round and got used to it.
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