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I am considering this question specifically:

Why does walking/jogging seem to do so much more for you than only bicycling?

When a question get into the mechanics of physical exercise choices or perhaps something like the merits of one exercise over another, I think we're starting to get away from the expertise of "health-related questions" and swerving into something that might be a better fit for our Physical Fitness site.

Certainly questions about how exercise affects health are on topic; and yes, we do allow some overlap of scope — but I'm not sure the specific expertise/focus of this site is best equipped to answer questions about exercise routines specifically.

I probably would have directed this users to ask their question on the Physical Fitness site… but I wanted to ask here first.

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  • Please suggest how I could make it more appropriate for this site as well if need be.
    – user147
    Commented Apr 8, 2015 at 19:57
  • 2
    @Roombatron5000 - I'm not sure that you could really make that on topic, unless you specifically talked about the physical adaptations. Comparing the exercises really belongs on PF. When we go public we will have to define the edges of reality, so to speak as to what belongs where.
    – JohnP
    Commented Apr 8, 2015 at 21:12
  • @Roombatron5000 I think the main issue is the comparing, it sounds like you are asking which is better. Maybe rephrase to "which is best for the cardiovascular system"?
    – Tim
    Commented Apr 9, 2015 at 12:38

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I agree that the question should be migrated to Physical Fitness.SE. It is a health related question and I'm sure it would get good answers here, but I definitely think it is a better fit for Physical Fitness. There is sure to be some overlap between Health and PF, but we do need to define a line of where the overlap stops.

One question that I feel could be on Physical Fitness, but is a good fit here at Health.SE, is this, Can breaststroke be harmful for the back? This is asking for the effects of an exercise and how it affects your health. The question being discussed here, Why does walking/jogging seem to do so much more for you than only bicycling?, does not really seem to be asking about how an exercise affects your health, but rather if something is better than something else.

I think that the line between Physical Fitness and Health should be when people stop asking about a certain exercise or workout can affect your health (which is on-topic as you stated) and instead ask for comparisons of multiple workouts.

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I upvoted michaelpri's answer because the way he rationalizes seems logical to the point it seems intuitive to agree with him. But on second thought he's basically saying "if some exercise hurts then it is a health concern if it doesn't then it is fitness".

But in reality, the scope of the question should be evaluated for the kind of answer the person who asked needs.

So, is @Roombatron5000 interested in the exercise that will make him more fit (stronger, last longer), or is he interested in the health implications of jogging vs bycicle? If it is the later, I'd say it's on topic.

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