Holy shit! I had no idea that my extremely muscular and well toned brother (no chicken legs) who is married and has 2 kids and lives in possibly one of the worst places to live for a gay person (Alabama), was actually gay. I need to let him know that since he purchased his eliptical machine, no closet can hold him. He needs to admit that he is gay and move to a more gay friendly area.
Won’t he be relieved. 
Others of us who had no idea that it was a joke in a movie only see **Trunk ** as an idiot. I do have to admit that the line about the shoes did throw me a little, but perhaps that was a reference to Henry the VIII that I missed as well…
Excuse me? Have you ever ridden a bike - stationary or otherwise? I run, and bike, and have even swum laps at times. I have absolutely NO problem getting my heart rate up and going into oxygen debt on a bicycle.
I’ll give it to you that some of the cheap-ass stationary bikes make it more difficult to get a good workout, but even those can typically be set to simulate an incline and get your heart rate up. Put your ass on a spin bike or a real bike, and you’re working just as hard as a run. Trust me. I have a spin bike in my basement and even at the peak of my running fitness, when I was running 45 minute to an hour every other day or so, the spin bike could still kick my ass.
I actually cringed when I read “gay” in the OP because I knew some twit would try and say it was the same as “nigger”. We all know, however, that “faggot” is the homosexual analog.
All this talk of running gay guys reminds me of the Kids in the Hall bit about some gay Daniel Boone type. The background song chorus: “Run you faggot, run you…run you faggot, run you…Run you faggot running freeee…”
Hahahahaha! I can’t stop reading this/laughing. You made my day 39.51% better, Tristan. 
To those who posted about spinning… you’re right, I’ve never taken a class, so I couldn’t possibly comment on it. As for outdoor biking, though, speaking from experience, what I said is correct. When I was at the peak of my running, I would mountain bike some pretty advanced trails, and no matter how big the hill was and no matter how long, you always had more to give on a bike. I never said you couldn’t get your heart rate up, I just said you couldn’t get into oxygen debt as easily. I guess my point was, once you’re in shape, running and swimming are the exercises that will be the ones to better push you for endurance. (Unless, of course you’re trying to build up bike endurance.)
TeaElle Indoor tracks, no matter how rubberized, are still super thick concrete underneath, and as such will crush your knees. I was speaking of outdoor tracks.
Athena, take it easy. When I was in peak shape I would run 10 miles in under an hour on a given Sunday, and then go mountain biking with my friends as relaxation. We would average 12 mph or so on rock and dirt trails that were pretty advanced. I’m pretty sure my credentials on both foot and bike are such that I can safely comment. But I can’t “trust you” that biking is as hard as running. As far as being an aerobic exercise, running trumps biking by quite a bit.
http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/best-aerobic-exercise.html
from the article
It’s source is in the article… I’m trying to find the actual source so I can see the numbers. If I find it, I’ll post more.
I guess it’s all body type then. Although I’m not too hardcore of an athlete, Mr. Athena has spent a good deal of his life both racing bicycles, and running. He used to train for bicycle races with some of the big names in bike racing - at the time, he lived in Boulder, CO which had a pretty damn serious bike racing population.
He also ran marathons for many years. We’re talking some fookin’ hard marathons, up and over mountain passes in Colorado.
When I mentioned this thread to him and your comments, he laughed his ass off. He certainly never had any trouble getting into oxygen debt with a bicycle. Neither have I, although my credentials aren’t nearly as uber.
He can laugh his ass off all he wants, but that doesn’t make him right. If he was doing anaerobic threshold workouts designed to specifically put him in oxygen debt on a road bike, goody for him. I never said it was impossible, I said it wasn’t nearly as easy. This isn’t a pissing contest as to “I’m a better athlete then you are.” I was saying that for the purpose of a gym workout, one is better than the other for a specific reason. We’re talking about people who go to the gym every day and are in pretty good shape, but not semi-pro athletes. Those people will find that the bike won’t do as much for them as running will, especially in the short amount of time the average person spends at the gym. Saying it has to do with body type is ridiculous. It has to do with intensity of workout, and what your goal is at the end of the day.
Anyway, your attitude is shit, and you’ve now really pissed me off. First you ask me if I’ve ever even been on a bike, and then when I say I have, you tell me a “real” biker is laughing at my inferior knowledge. I ran seriously for almost 10 years, was a counselor at a major national running camp and trained under a world class miler who was also a world record holder in the DMR. I know a thing or two about working out. I also know enough not to compare my track workouts to that of someone running 3 days a week for 20 minutes. I used my mountain biking experience as an example only because you asked if I’d ever been on one.
I’d be interested to see what your husband has to do to put his legs in total oxygen debt. I would bet it involves some pretty serious mountain intervals, or a ton of sprint intervals. I would also bet that he could ride a Century averaging 17 to 20mph and never once go into oxygen debt. You can not compare his experience with that of a person at the gym looking for nothing but fitness. It’s apples to oranges and the advice that comes from it will do absolutely no good to someone just trying to maintain a waistline.
The article is mislabelled. It’s actually from a 1996 JAMA, not 2001. Link to Abstract. Does not appear that gay chicken leg machines were tested. 
You know, after reading this last bit of expert testimony, I’m getting the distinct impression that you and Diogenes the Cynic are randy bed-mates.
I don’t know 'bout that. I teach aqua aerobics and dance. And for my own program I do several different types of “guerilla cardio” (high intensity interval training), and weight training. Cariovascularly I’m in excellent shape, at least according to my last company physical. But the bike, either at the gym, or a regular bike about KILLS me. In every way. In 30 seconds my lungs are burning and I’m hot, and my legs ache all over.
The darn things kill my butt, and no matter how I change it the leg position always feels uncomfortable. After about 20 minutes, I can halfway breathe, but any time I speed up just a little, or hold a steady pace for longer than a half a mile or so, I about pass out from gasping.
I am admittedly a very crummy NOT accomplished bike rider, though I love most other forms of cardio and weight resistance type programs (from yoga and pilates to Billy Blanks ;D). But I must not be biking “right” because I just can’t keep it up for very long at a time without about keeling over. And this from a person who’ll do a 45 min high intensity stairmaster and then onto the treadmill for high incline speedwalking for another half an hour or more, and who can teach a two hour nonstop dance class.
What am I doing wrong? I mean, I like biking as transportation, but I hate the bruised butt that lasts for two weeks, and the fact that it kicks MY butt in 30 seconds flat breathing wise and leaves me hacking and struggling for breath for most of the ride.
<shrug> OK, Llama, you win. I’m tired of arguing with you. You’re obviously the expert here, and those of us who find biking at least as good, if not better, a workout than running are simply misleading ourselves.
Wow, tired of arguing after only 2 posts? Maybe if you were running instead of biking, you’d have more endurance.