I have to admit unicycling is really good exercise. I have now done this for three months and I have noticed my calves have grown. I also feel that when I go bicycling I can go faster for much longer periods. It must be because while unicycling you pedal all the time, but when biking you rest your legs while going down hill and eventually while going on flat ground.
Comparing B*king to Uni as exercise
Hi:
I too have found unicycling to be quite a bit harder workout that b*king the equivalent distance. Regarding downhills, I think you expend perhaps 60% of the energy you needed to get up the hill to get back down the hill (if you don’t have a brake).
I have a computer that monitors heart rate, but unfortunately it can’t get the signal when it is mounted under the seat. Has anyone compared the energy expended on a b*ke trip with the same trip on a uni?
Phil
Re: Unicycling as exercise
joona <joona.ufewe@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>I have to admit unicycling is really good exercise. I have now done this
>for three months and I have noticed my calves have grown. I also feel
>that when I go bicycling I can go faster for much longer periods. It
>must be because while unicycling you pedal all the time, but when biking
>you rest your legs while going down hill and eventually while going on
>flat ground.
The typically higher gears in bicycles versus unicycles is probably a
much bigger factor in being able to go faster for longer periods.
For example, when one wants to maximize average speed on a bicycle, one
simply can’t coast (rest). One must apply the optimum power at all
times, shifting gears to account for variations in grade and air
resistance. Remember that the goal for a bicycle time trial is at least
40km (24.85 miles) in one hour, so coasting on level ground is simply
not an option due to the strong air resistance at 40km/h (24.85 mph).
Level coasting starting at 40km/h will drop the speed rapidly down to
about 28km/h (17.40 mph) due to strong air resistance at air speeds
exceeding 28km/h.
The use of shifting gears on bicycles is clearly indicated to maintain
an optimum cadence of the rider which is often 80-100, but can be much
higher (maybe 100-120 or more) when trying to maintain a high average
speed.
Of course, when going down steep hills on a bicycle the speed generated
by converting potential energy into kinetic energy is so great that
there is little advantage to adding energy from the legs since the
cadence is usually insanely high (unless one has extremely high gears)
and thus the additional gain in speed is marginal (if any) and one might
as well rest one’s legs.
Of course joona’s point about resting while coasting on a bicycle is
quite valid for more casual speeds (around 28km/h) on bicycle which
still exceed (probably) the best speeds on a unicycle for a one hour
time period or more.
Sincerely,
Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com>
three hours of practice yesterday morning and i woke up aching today. legs, arms, back, and my stomach was the worst. unicycling is the best all in one excercise i’ve come across, and i love to do it so it works out well.
I have Unicycled regularly for seven years, and my calves are not large. You would be more likely to increase your muscle mass by doing weights, I’d say Unicycling is more likely to tone than gain bulk. I hardly notice that Unicycling is excercise, because it is disguised as fun, otherwise I would probably not bother. When I first started riding, I noticed that I had sore muscles in my lower back, probably stabiliser muscles that are not commonly used in other activities. I don’t often feel sore from Unicycling, unless it is saddle soreness or injuries, or the occasional tired legs.
Ken, yes I get your point. I don’t usually bike long distances, but I still try to keep the cadence about 90-100. It really helps especially if I’m biking with a friend who just uses a slow cadence with biggest gears.
Rowan, by unicycling as exercise I didn’t mean that I would unicycle to gain more muscle. I do it for fun. I just meant that while having fun you can also exercise to be in better shape. Fortunately I also can unicycle quite a lot without getting my muscles sore.
By the way Rowan, I was searching through some older posts and you seem to like your Gazzaloddi tyre quite a much. I also bought one (yes, the god-like 24x3) yesterday and just hope my new unicycle will arrive soon so I can take it the woods and downhill tracks near me.
It was rowans advise that swayed me to get a 24X3 gazza for my KH24, i have NO regrets, its an awsome tire! and the only thing i have had it slip on is super slippery tree roots!
i have not been unicycling long enough to notice a muscle size difference but after a long muni ride my legs are sore as hell and after a few hours of trials my right arm burns like crazy- there is no doubt of the great excersize one can get from unicycling.
Most of my riding is steady cruising on bike paths on my 29 (10- to 20-mile rides fairly regularly), or around the neighborhood on my 24. This has given me better endurance over distances, but not much in the way of brute cranking strength on the uphills. On the flat I am taken down by saddle-soreness long before my legs give out, but steeper hills wear me out pretty quickly.
My trainig on unicycle is at the moment mostly hopping and lots of it. I also try to idle but the results aren’t too good. I can do about 10-30 (depends on how lucky/concentraited I am). How do you count these? I count them so that one back and one front rock together are one idle.
I do like the Gazzaloddi, and other three inch wide tires like the Duro. They look so cool when you bounce on them with low pressure and the rubber ripples and trembles. I think hopping must be a good aerobic excercise. I only started sidehopping a short while back, and I found myself getting tired pretty fast while practising climbing staircases. As you get better you find it takes less energy to hop, but then you usually start hopping up bigger things, expending more energy.
Count the idles however you like, you could double your productivity just by counting back and forth as seperate idles. I think 10-30 is sufficient for idling as a useful skill, eg. for waiting at traffic lights or at a pedestrian crossing. Perhaps if you practise one footed idling on either foot, when you come back to normal idling you might find yourself able to go almost indefinitely.
Maybe I should try idling wiht left foot down before I try idling with one foot. Also backwards driving would be nice… and after that one footed driving… and backwards with one foot… and ofcourse one footed wheel walk backwards… and the list goes on and on and on. And some MUni with the new unicycle … I have to stop writing, NOW!
how much time unicycling a day do you reckon is good exercise to keep you fit and in shape?
Treepotato wrote:
I don’t know but it depends a lot on what you do with your unicycle. For example when I go and do alot of hopping practise on curbs and stairs, I can do it for about an hour and then be completely exhausted if the trainig was hard. Doing this every day would keep you in shape. But like weeble said he does long trips with his unicycle. This takes more time but in the end you could be just as exhausted as after the hopping practice. With long periods and steady pace you will keep in good fit but in a different way.
Hi.
I have noticed that unicycling is good exercise.
I started unicycling about 2 and a half years ago, and now my legs (top and bottom) and much more muscular and powerful. My arms have got quite strong too, but I am 15 and so obv my body is getting bigger naturally.
I have noticed my stomach getting stronger too. Six pack and a half here. lol
The best work out for:
Stomach – Trials (jumping about)
Legs – Muni (up and down hills)
All over – Unicycle Hockey (fast and slow riding, quick turns etc)
I am much fitter than most of the people I know, and I guess its because unicycling is such a good work out, and I eat healthy too!
Joe,
hopping for my arms
I’ve noticed that since I learned how to do hopping perfectly and at greater hieghts, my arm muscles, fore arm and triceps and biceps, have actually become larger, more toned, and far more stronger.
I also know 'cause all the girls won’t stop pointing it out . . . hee hee . . .
i unicycle a lot everyday, as it is my only form of excersize.
I usually ride anywhere from one to four hours daily, with an average of one and a half hours. the four hour muni rides are the best excersize!
Re: Unicycling as exercise
Actually, if you bicycle properly, you never stop pedaling, but use your
gears, and keep a cadence.
And if you use clipless pedals, then you work the legs in the entire
rotation. However, you use your muscles to slow and brake on a UNI, and you
only have one gear, so you work harder!
“joona” <joona.ufewe@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:joona.ufewe@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> I have to admit unicycling is really good exercise. I have now done this
> for three months and I have noticed my calves have grown. I also feel
> that when I go bicycling I can go faster for much longer periods. It
> must be because while unicycling you pedal all the time, but when biking
> you rest your legs while going down hill and eventually while going on
> flat ground.
>
>
> –
> joona
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> joona’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4436
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/27959
>
Yes Defender. I know that. I usually do pedal all the time and just change the gears, when I ride a bke. Clipless pedals would be good for exercise but the shoes and pedals cost too much for my taste. And in addition my bke is just too crappy for those.
I rode a bike offroad recently and was surprised at how tiring it was. Much more than doing the same ride on a unicycle.
I just went about twice as fast, kept pedalling, kept a cadence up and didn’t stop working for 3 hours solid. Whereas on a uni I’d have had an easy ride on the flat bits, had to walk the really steep up bits etc.
You can get a much more consistent level of exercise on a bike and it’s much more tuneable.
Joe