One of the most popular exercises is cycling. And the good thing is, cycling is a lot of fun. Besides being an enjoyable activity, cycling is very beneficial for your health.
Cycling is a great way to stay fit and improve health, especially cardiovascular health. It can help you reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. The key to getting the most out of cycling is to make sure you are cycling regularly. In this article, we will share nine ways that cycling can improve your health.
In this article, we will share nine ways that cycling can improve your healthWhat is Cycling?
Cycling is riding a bike. Whether you ride it around the block or all over town, or participate in marathons, it will do you good. And for exercise purposes, cycling also includes pedaling on a stationary bike at the gym or at home. An exercise bike is a piece of exercise equipment that is used for indoor cycling. It has a saddle, pedals, and handlebars like the ones found on a bicycle. You can even buy a trainer to convert your regular bike to an indoor bike.
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Exercise bikes are easy to use and come in many different designs and arrangements. In addition, exercise bikes are now equipped with innovative technology. Besides setting and recording your pace and counting calories, these bikes can now measure your heart rate and blood pressure, among other health metrics. You can even connect to the internet to share your progress with others and keep track of your goals.
Spin classes have attracted massive attention over the past few years. These classes provide group cycling exercise classes that are popular among older people because cycling is low-impact and so beneficial.
Types of Exercise Bikes
There are two main types of exercise bikes used for cycling; let’s take a look at what they are.
- Upright Exercise Bikes: These allow for more variety of movement, such as riding while standing or sitting. Those with osteoarthritis may find the upright bike’s forward-leaning position most comfortable for their condition.
- Recumbent Exercise Bikes: These bikes have backrests that provide extra support. Those with degenerative disk disease might find the bike’s back support and reclining position more comfortable.
You can check out https://cardioonline.com.au/ for amazing exercise bikes and other cardio equipment to ensure you always get the best out of your workouts!
Nine Ways that Cycling Benefits Your Health
Cycling is not just for youngsters. You could be 18 or 80, and cycling will stll be incredibly beneficial for your health, especially your heart. Let’s take a look at nine ways that cycling could improve your health.
Getting out in nature on a bike is one of the best ways to improve your health. And it’s fun too!Health Benefit # 1: Transports Oxygen to the Heart and Other Organs
Cycling is an aerobic activity, so when you’re pedaling at a good pace, more oxygen is transported via your blood to the heart. So not only will your heart benefit, but also your lungs, blood vessels, and brain!
Health Benefit # 2: Reduces the Risk of Heart and Other Diseases
Research has suggested that physical activity, even as little as 30 minutes daily, makes you less likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke. Cycling also helps regulate high blood pressure and diseases such as obesity and diabetes. It can even help to prevent cancer.
Health Benefit # 3: Reduces High Blood Pressure
Aerobic exercise such as cycling can help delay the development of high blood pressure. In addition, it helps control high blood pressure in those who already have elevated blood pressure.
Health Benefit # 4: Cycling Helps to Regulate Obesity
Diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and a sedentary lifestyle all tend to go together with obesity. Cycling can help with all of it! Regular cycling helps reduce levels of LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein) cholesterol or bad cholesterol levels and increases the levels of good cholesterol or HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein).
Cycling also reduces the risk of harmful triglycerides building up and clogging the blood vessels. It counteracts diabetes, obesity, and heart diseases. With only 20 to 30 minutes of regular cycling, cycling can significantly reduce the risks of obesity and help you to keep your weight in check.
Health Benefit # 5: Cycling can Make your Immune System Stronger
Cycling increases blood circulation in the body, which strengthens immune cells. It also helps strengthen your antibodies, which helps them to fight foreign bodies better.
Health Benefit # 6: Cycling Improves the Posture
Cycling regularly can help correct your posture. Since you’re spending a lot of time holding yourself in an upright position, your core strength is improved, which can improve your posture. Poor posture can cause spinal problems, back pain, poor breathing, and joint problems. So cycling for even 20 to 30 minutes regularly can help with all those issues.
Health Benefit # 7: Cycling Enhances Cognitive Functions such as Memory and Mood, and Improves Sleep
The brain reduces in size as people age, which results in memory decline, loss of balance, and mood disorders. However, just 20 to 30 minutes of cycling every day can help improve cognitive functions significantly.
Cycling can also help improve the quality of sleep significantly. This is because cycling decreases your stress hormones (cortisol), helping promote undisturbed and uninterrupted sleep.
Cycling can also improve your sleep quality by producing endorphins. The activity of cycling can cause you to release endorphins, which can reduce anxiety and regulate mood disorders.
Outdoor cycling has a greater chance of improving your mood, so dust that bike off and hit the road!
Health Benefit # 8: Cycling Reduces the Risk of Cancer
It might sound too good to be true, but cycling does reduce the risk of cancer and/or cancer mortality. In addition, endurance cycling for an hour daily can help reduce the risk of getting cancer.
According to several studies, cycling can help reduce the risks of perimenopausal and/or breast cancer in women. It has also been shown to significantly reduce the risks of colon cancer.
Health Benefit # 9: Cycling Increases Life Expectancy
As it has so many benefits for the body, there’s no question that cycling will increase life expectancy. Any type of cycling or biking you prefer, endurance or stationery, will contribute to the improvement of the health of your body and mind.
How to Get Started With Cycling
You can get started today if you want! Whether you want an exercise bike or have an old bike in the shed, you can start your cycling journey anytime! Keep these things in mind before you hit the road or the start button in the gym.
- Remember to warm up before you start any kind of cycling, indoors or outdoors.
- Start slow. If you’re on an exercise bike, don’t speed up immediately. And if you’re biking outdoors, increase your pace slowly. Also, don’t aim for the mountains right away; ride around the block to get the hang of it first.
- Keep a helmet and water bottle close by if you’re cycling outdoors. Keep the water bottle close when you’re cycling indoors too.
- Cool down afterwards, and take breaks in between. Don’t go too hard on your first time; let your body ease into it.
- The most important tip is to be consistent. Don’t cycle for a day and then give up. Even if you’re feeling a little low, get on the bike and ride slowly. If you’re indoors, sit on your bike and pedal slowly while watching something on your phone. No excuses!
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Conclusion
There you have it! Nine great reasons to start cycling today! Consider getting in just a few minutes of cycling each day and become a fitter and healthier you. You won’t regret making cycling a regular activity. Share this post with your friends and family and let them in on the benefits of cycling as well!
FAQs
Question 1: How Do I Choose a Good Exercise Bike?
Answer: We hope we’ve convinced you enough to jump in on the benefits of cycling. If you’re in the market to purchase a good exercise bike, here’s what you need to know.
- Choose a model according to your usage. If you know you will bike regularly, get one with advanced features to make it more fun. Consider a great racing bike for the road, or a smart trainer for your home.
- But if you think you would only cycle occasionally, start off with a cheap model with minimal features.
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Question 2: What are Some Good Cycling Exercises?
Answer: While any type of physical activity should be enough to get the heart rate and blood pumping if you want to incorporate some exercises with cycling, then more power to you! Here are some exercises you can do with both indoor and outdoor cycling.
- Tabata: This is high-intensity physical training with very short bursts of highly demanding activity followed by shorter bursts of rest. Within just a few minutes, you’ll feel the burn! Tabata is basicaly a kind of HIIT (high intensity interval training), but with shorter and more rigidly defined workouts,
- Sprint training: Another highly effective and high-impact exercise, this type of training can be done outdoors or indoors.
- Race simulations: These are a mix of 3 to 8 minutes of exercise and can be physically demanding. But you can take it down a notch and do some low-impact climbing workouts, speeding up with each set.
Related Post: How to Get Fit Really Fast: Our Complete Bike Training Plan
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Svatkova, A. et al. Physical Exercise Keeps the Brain Connected: Biking Increases White Matter Integrity in Patients With Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls. Alena Svatkova , René C W Mandl, Thomas W Scheewe, Wiepke Cahn, René S Kahn, Hilleke E Hulshoff Pol.
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