Does riding my bike leisurely around the neighborhood really count as me exercising?

[hoodycandy]

I'm trying to gain weight and I want to do it in a healthy way so I don't put myself at risk for any health problems. I can only ride about a maximum of 20 minutes for now but once I keep doing it every day I should be able to ride for longer right? Will it help my legs not to be so stick-leggy? Like does it still count as exercise if I'm not doing heavy duty biking? Or should I not ride my bike at all since I'm trying to gain weight?
(Also sorry if my wording isn't great...)

[xobrowneyedbeauty]

it's good to be active so keep riding your bike! but it sounds like what you want to do is gain muscle, and the best way to do that would be through muscle building strength exercises - squats, lunges, that kind of stuff. you could probably google "strength exercises for legs" and get some great ideas from that. keep riding your bike but unless you're riding up hills, it's probably not going to build muscle but it will keep you healthy and build endurance.

[Umm_april1]

If you are trying to gain weight you need to worry about lifting weights. That's how you gain weight.

[Cosytoasty]

You really need to get the heart rate up and be panting to consider it exercise.

It's better than nothing, but you want to ride hard for 1 min then take it easy for 2/3/4 then hard again and easy etc. You'll get much more out of your time than going along at the same pace.

[OverseasCanadian]

Well you'll burn calories 🔥 but not a lot. It will definitely give you leg muscles if you ride enough 💪. Not a good way to lose weight in my opinion.

[hoodycandy]

I'm trying to gain weight

[OverseasCanadian]

Make sure you just eat more protein then. Just don't eat too much to avoid getting fat. Use IIFYM calculator to find out how many calories you should eat to gain weight.

[hoodycandy]

Thanks

[H2OBearer]

Gain weight? Consume more calories than you're burning, and consume a lot of fat from whole foods. To gain muscle, which is heavier than fat I suggest upping your intake on protein as well and ride your bike more vigorously for 30 minutes minimum. Add some weights to your routine and avoid much aerobic exercises since these tend to slim you down rather than bulk.