Cycling vs running: Which exercise is better to reduce belly fat?

Belly fat, the fat stored around your stomach, is not just about your physical appearance. You should get rid of it, as it can have a negative impact on your health. It may increase the risk of heart disease as well as diabetes. When your stomach keeps growing, it means you probably need to make lifestyle changes. Apart from changing your diet, make sure to engage in physical activity. Cardio exercises like cycling and running can help to get rid of belly fat. Both can burn calories and improve your heart health. But between cycling vs running, is there a winner?

What are the benefits of cycling?

Here are some of the benefits of cycling:

• Good for the heart: When you cycle, your heart rate goes up. “This improves your heart health by increasing blood circulation and oxygen flow,” says fitness expert Abhi Singh Thakur. It may also have a positive effect on total cholesterol, which is a risk factor for heart disease. A review, published in Medicina, showed that cycling may boost High-Density Lipoprotein (good) cholesterol levels while lowering Low-Density Lipoprotein (bad) cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
• Helps with weight loss: “Cycling can burn at least 300 calories per hour,” says the expert. This helps with overall fat loss, including belly fat, when combined with a good diet.
• Gives your stronger legs: It mainly targets your thighs, glutes, hamstrings and calves. If you cycle uphill or increase resistance, your leg muscles will work even harder and grow stronger.
• Easy on the joints: Since cycling has no heavy impact on the knees or ankles, it’s a great option for people who are overweight or have joint pain. A study, published in Medicine And Science In Sports And Exercise, showed that participants who did cycling had a lower prevalence of frequent knee pain.

What are the health benefits of running?

Before moving on to the cycling vs running debate, let’s check out the benefits of running:

• Good for weight loss: “Running is a high-impact cardio exercise that can burn around 400 calories,” says Thakur. During a study, published in The Journal Of Sports Medicine And Physical Fitness, it was found that when novice runners ran for more than 5 km per week for a year, they saw a reduction in fat mass. They combined running with a targeted diet change.
• Makes the heart strong: Running pushes your heart rate up quickly. “This makes your heart stronger and improves your blood pressure, blood flow, and lung function,” says the expert. With regular running, your overall heart health improves fast.
• Improves bone strength: Since your body hits the ground while running, your bones get denser over time, especially in the legs and hips. This helps you stay strong and reduces the risk of bone problems later in life.
• Tones muscles: It tones your muscles, especially your legs and core. Your quads, hamstrings, calves and abs all get involved while running.

Cycling vs running: Which one is better for belly fat reduction?

Confused between cycling vs running for belly fat reduction? It turns out that both are effective. During a study, published in Medicine And Science In Sports And Exercise, researchers found that both cycling and running helped in decreasing body fat, including abdominal fat, in overweight or obese participants.

Here’s a comparison between cycling vs running:

Running:

• Burns more calories.
• Builds stronger cardio fitness faster.
• Works the whole body but puts more stress on the knees and ankles.

Cycling:

• Easier on the joints, safer for beginners or people with extra weight.
• Burns slightly fewer calories, but you can do it longer.
• Builds strong legs and glutes with less injury risk.

“If you are overweight, have knee pain or haven’t worked out in a long time, cycling is the safer choice to start your fat loss journey,” says Thakur. If you are already active and want fast fat loss, better cardio endurance, and more intense training, running will give you faster results. Instead of choosing between cycling vs running, you can mix both. You can cycle 3 days a week and run 2 days. This keeps the training fun, targets different muscles and avoids burnout while sweating it out.

Cycling vs running: How to perform these exercises to reduce belly fat?

How to ride a bicycle:

• Push off the road with one of your legs to move forward.
• Start pedaling at moderate pace for 30 to 60 mins.
• Mix slow and fast cycling (intervals) to burn more fat.
• Do it 4 to 5 times a week.

How to run:

• Warm up with light walk and joint mobility.
• Pick up speed and run at steady pace 20 to 40 minutes.
• Mix jogging with sprinting 1 to 2 times per week.
• Running 3 to 5 times a week is enough for weight loss and other health benefits.

To reduce belly fat, you need to burn more calories than you eat. Cardio like cycling or running helps with this, but you also need to fix your diet, sleep and activity levels. While choosing between cycling vs running, remember that no one exercise can target only belly fat. You lose fat from your whole body, and abdominal fat reduces as part of that process.

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