Biking For Health And Fitness

To keep yourself fit and healthy, you need to follow an active lifestyle. Regular physical activity of some sort can help you protect from serious diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, hypertension, diabetes, and arthritis. Riding a bike regularly is one of the best ways to fend off the health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle. It’s an enjoyable low-impact, a healthy exercise that is good for people of all ages, from young children to older adults. It is also a fun-filled, cheap activity that is good for the environment. You just need to have a bicycle and some comfortable sportswear to start this great workout. 

Additionally, using your bike for going to work or shop will be a very time-efficient way to combine regular exercise with your everyday routine. According to a survey, about one billion people ride bikes every day for transport, recreation, or sport. It means cycling is one of the most trending physical activities. In short, the benefits of cycling are almost as endless as the country lanes you could soon be exploring on your bike. Want to learn more about the health benefits of biking, read on to the next part of this fact sheet. 

Obesity and weight control:

Obesity has become one of the major concerns of the whole world because around one-third of the total population is dealing with the problem of either overweight or obesity. An active lifestyle and healthy eating are the only solution to this problem and if you weigh cycling against other potential activities, then you will find that cycling is hands down the best option. It is a good way to control or reduce weight, as it raises your metabolic rate and burns body fat.

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Strengthen your immune system by cycling

There is no doubt that biking is a low impact aerobic exercise that offers a wealth of benefits. You can change the intensity of cycling to a level that best suits you. Additionally, this joyous exercise can strengthen your immune system. Studies found that exercise had huge benefits on the health of the upper respiratory system, thus reducing instances of the common cold. Biking causes a change in antibodies and white blood cells (WBC). WBSs are the body’s immune system cells that fight against all diseases. These cells circulate more quickly when you are exercising, this is why they detect illnesses earlier than they might have before.

Boosts mental health:

Like any other physical activity, cycling can ease feelings of stress, depression, anger, low self-esteem, and anxiety. When biking you focus on the road which helps develop concentration and awareness of the present moment. This will surely help take your focus away from the mental chatter of your day. If you find yourself feeling lethargic or listless, hop onto your bike and paddle for at least 10 minutes down the road. It will release endorphins (feel-good chemicals), which in turn helps you feel better while lowering stress levels.

Cycling builds muscle:

While pedaling a bike, you use the gluteus muscles (muscles of the buttocks), the quadriceps (muscles of the thighs), and the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in the calves. Besides building these muscles, cycling works other muscles of your body like abdominal muscles, arm, and shoulder muscles too. Hence, almost every muscle of your body gains mass with this exercise.

Cycling cuts heart disease and cancer risk

Cycling helps in shaping a healthy lifestyle, both physically and mentally. It aids in checking heart-related diseases and some types of cancers. Riding a bike enhances your heart health and life expectancy with it. It gets the blood pumping around your body more quickly. A study reveals that cycling to work can cut a rider’s risk of developing heart disease or cancer in half.

Bone injuries, arthritis, and cycling

Lastly, cycling improves your strength, balance, and coordination. It is very useful for older adults as it helps in the prevention of falls and fractures. Furthermore, riding a bicycle is an ideal form of exercise if you have osteoarthritis (a disease of bones that can damage any joint) because it is a low-impact exercise that places little stress on joints.

They say if you know how to ride a cycle, you will never lose this skill, so maybe it’s time to climb aboard a two-wheeler and enjoy the health benefits of cycling.