Cycling vs Swimming: Which Exercise Burns More Calories Faster?

Cycling vs Swimming: Cardio workouts that build endurance and burn calories are usually at the top of the list for cycling and swimming. They are believed to offer multiple benefits according to their advocates—from working all body muscle groups where endurance is concerned, to the heart and physical conditioning. Therefore, always the burning question for enthusiasts has been, which burns more calories faster? Well, it is not as easy as the answer would sound. It depends on the intensity, weight, and duration of training. Let’s take a look at both activities and compare them.

Cycling: The Highway to Calorie Burn and Endurance

Cycling is perhaps one of the most beautiful cardio workouts for all sorts of fitness levels. Be that outdoors or indoors, cycling uses primarily the lower body muscles: quads, glutes, calves, and hamstrings. Moderate cycling for a sufficiently heavy person of about 70 kg can burn around 400-600 calories in an hour, while vigorously pushing the limits in uphill rides could actually torch more calories, around 900 at least!
Apart from burning calories, it builds the strength of the legs, promotes cardiovascular fitness, and increases lung capacity. Being a low-impact exercise, it is easy on the joints. Cyclists can easily combine commuting, working out, and simply having fun.

Swimming: The Overall Body Calorie Crusher

Swimming is a power-packed exercise for almost all major muscle groups; all strokes work the arm and shoulder muscles, core, and legs to tone and strengthen the whole body. Freestyle burns 500-700 calories per hour, while more vigorous strokes, including butterfly and backstroke, could burn about 900 calories.
The very buoyancy of the water makes swimming one of the most gentle on the joints, making it, therefore, excellent for such conditions as recuperation from injury or, otherwise, merely low-impact activity. Moreover, the coolness of the water acts as a coolant for the body, thus permitting longer hours of workout sessions devoid of weariness.

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Which One Should You Choose?

When it comes to maximum calorie burn and muscle engagement, swimming has a slight edge over cycling. It is a full-body workout, offering a fresh and intense experience. Cycling, however, takes the cake in terms of accessibility, convenience, and sustainability.
For the best results, do a little of both: Cycle for endurance, swim for strength and flexibility. The bottom line is the best workout is one that you actually enjoy doing and can continue to do in the future.