So I have been alternating between taking an hour long deep water h20 excersise class and spending an hour on the bike at the gym. I enjoy the bike more but I am continueing with the water class because along with my weight issues I also have social issues and really need to get out and be around people. My question is....do you think these two activities have the same health benefit or is one more effective than the other??

With water aerobics you can also get an upper body workout that you don't get on the bike.

They both have their benefits.

Do you get your heart rate up and keep it up during both?

Well i definitely get my heart rate up during the cycling...and its for a continous hour. The water aerobics does work my upper as well as lower body but it is not as cardio intense. There are times when my heart rate is barely above normal. I know I should be worried about my overall health but my main concern right now is weight loss and I am thinking that the cycling would be better for that since it is harder cardio?? When I just do the cycling I also do weight training every other day so I am working both. By the way thank you for the quick reply!

personally, i would say to stick to both. the social aspect of the water arobics will probably give you a boost of self confidence! If you start using only the bike your body will get used to the routine as well.. you could ask your arobics instructor for modifications to make the moves harder?

Further to my last post.. i do agree that the bike is probably the better work out so why not do one less session of water arobics/week and replace it with the bike. That way your getting both of the exercises and uping the intensity once a week... just a thought. good luck!

Woah....I did water aerobics one time with my godmother and let me tell you, it kicked my butt! But seriously, everything I've ever read about weight loss says that the best fitness programs for shedding pounds incorporate BOTH cardiovascular excercise and weight or resistance training. With cycling, you have your cardio and with the water aerobics, you definitely have your resistance. Good luck!

Keep up both I say... some days if you can do both on the same day that'll kick up your metabolism...

Heck yeah, do both! I'd love a kick-butt water workout. The one at my gym is lame...really, really lame.

I don't see why you have to choose unless time is an issue. How many days a week do you spin? I spin three days a week and love, love, love it. Adding swimming too gets you off the couch just that much more.

Another vote for doing both. My feeling is by mixing up the types of exercise your body doesn't have as much a chance to learn to work more efficiently at doing the particular exercise. When it comes to burning off calories, this is one time I don't want to be efficient!

Problem is the bike is in the gym in my condo building so all I have to do is walk down the stairs and I am there, the water aerobics class is across town. Plus I am having a hard time motivating myself to excecise andfor some reason I just really enjoy the bike more than the class.

Then it`s not a problem, do the bike... Do whatever YOU like and whatever will make you stick to an exercise and active lifestyle plan

Maybe you can just do the class once or twice a week? If you like getting out and around people though, you can also try just doing laps at the pool. I find that laps give me good cardio as well and switching swimming styles keeps it interesting. I guess that all depends on what you don't like about your water aerobics class though.