Benefits of Cycling

Cycling can be both a hobby, adventure, and one of the best ways to lose fat and gain strength and stamina. Involving yourself into cycling can be one of the best decisions you can make for yourself. This can be riding your bicycles on the outdoors, or simply the stationary biking at the comfort of your home. Though both provide equal benefit but going for a bicycle ride outdoors does have some advantages over riding an exercise bike in your home, but of course, there are also some benefits to the stationary bikes as compared to the outdoor ones.  Not to forget a bicycle is also a means of transport and is used heavily in several countries and in particular in Japan. One of the reasons the Japanese are very healthy and young even till late ages.

​We have decided to compile a list of some of the best benefits of cycling that can help you get started today. We hope the list will be convincing enough to help you jump onto a bicycle and start reaping the benefits right away.

​Cycling is one of the best workouts for your legs, quads, hamstrings, glutes, and every other muscle that happens to reside in the lower part of your body. While doing normal cycling will definitely help you with building up your strength on a slow and steady rate, but you can always push it to the higher levels by riding up the hill or going on short sprints every now and then. You can look into our guide for buying the best cycle for indoors.

​Consistent cardiovascular workouts are keys to fat reduction, and what better cardio than a bicycle ride that is also fun, travel, adventure, and social activity all at the time? If you are high in fat and want to see quick reductions then cycle for an hour on a daily basis or at least 4 times a week and you will see massive benefits within a couple of weeks.

​The more you push your body, the more your mind becomes focused at the task at hand as it needs to balance your breathing and blood flow to support your activity and keep your body in a healthy state. Hence, as you tire yourself while cycling, your focus switches to the activity of cycling and your mind are no longer stressing on any thoughts or problems. Prolonged cycling sessions can be almost as beneficial as meditation is.

​Cycling is known to have very little impact on the knee joints, instead, it facilitates Knee health through the movements without exerting too much pressure. Hence, it’s not only beneficial to cycle and get better knees, but that also means that you can keep cycling even through your old age or take up cycling at any age.

​Studies have confirmed that by adopting a routine of regular exercises, one is least likely to fall in depression. While aerobic and cardiovascular exercises are known to bring improvements in the mood. This is even more beneficial as we age. Not to forget, cycling often means traveling and adventuring, and once can even setup cycling missions and adventures to their favorite places with friends. All of these combined can definitely impact mood and well being on a major level.

​Studies have linked cycling with stress reduction. It is known to alleviate stress by up to 40% in levels, thus curbing anxiety and leaving your mind free to think of better things. The formula is simple when you are focused on what’s ahead of you, and your mind is also busy managing your body movements and facilitating the levels of exertion. The stress levels can only go down.

​The body movements which are involved in the process of cycling are directly related to several lower body muscles. Which include glutes and hip flexors, two of the important muscles directly responsible for maintaining a good posture. If these two muscles are weaker then one ends up experiencing what we refer to as an “anterior pelvic tilt”. Which is mostly present in most of us who are spending most of our day sitting on a desk. Hence the movement and stretching of these muscles improves the overall range of motion and flexibility of the body and facilitates muscle strengthening.
It’s also a good idea to stretch these muscles right after a cycling session to maintain the strength of these muscles.

​Lack of physical activity is directly related to insomnia. Ensuring a fitness routine and maintaining the shape of the body can definitely help with getting better sleep. Cycling, while already linked with managing stress and anxiety, also helps with maintaining ideal body weight and fat ratio, which in turn fixes any problems with the sleep.

​Cycling has been found to reduce the risk of heart diseases on its own, apart from the cardio benefits. Studies have shown that regular cycling sessions can cut the risk of heart diseases by as much as 50%.  Studies have also shown that cycle riders who do a mere 20 miles in a week have only a half of the risk of developing any heart diseases compared to those who never involve themselves in exercises and fitness training.

​Cycling like many cardiovascular and aerobic exercises is known to use up the glucose in the muscle cells, which in turn help in regulating the blood sugar throughout the body. Which is also very useful for those diagnosed with diabetes, as they can take care of poor circulation of blood in the lower body through cycling.

Cycling is often recommended by the doctors to be one of the best activities to improve blood pressure as it helps to regulate the flow an circulation of the blood from the lower body areas and back to the heart. Constant high blood pressure often leads to heart attacks, hence hoping on to a bicycle and pedaling away your blood pressure problem is quite an easy fix. You can use both a stationary bike or an outdoor bike for this activity.

Studies have shown that if there is improved circulation of blood then there is a constant flow of nutrients to the skin cells. While the toxins are also being flushed out quickly. This helps the skin to look younger and fight against the UV radiation of the sun.
Cycling like most activities, especially when done as a HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workout with quick bursts and sprints followed by slower ones, will be increasing the development of HGH (Human Growth Hormones) in the body. These hormones are vital in maintaining the youthful features of the skin and the whole body.​

​As you exert pressure on the pedals, there are many muscles which are being pushed to do some work. These muscles in return put pressure on your bones which then slowly strengthens these bones. This affects the overall bone structure and can help maintain and improve the density and strength of the bone mass and structure as a whole.

​Studies have shown a direct link between exercising and reduction in overall fatigue. People who are cycling on a daily basis have been found to feel almost 50%+ less fatigue than those who don’t cycle or never do any other activity.

Cycling helps your body posture as its constantly targeting and training muscles that are directly related to poor posture. People who suffer from an anterior pelvic tilt can use cycling as an easy activity to strengthen their glutes and hamstrings, which in turn directly affect their stand-up posture. The hunchback and forward-leaning head posture can also be improved by learning and maintaining a proper cycling posture, which then puts pressure on the muscles in your neck and on your shoulders and helps them grow stronger.

​Cycling does not have to be an activity aimed only at fitness and exercise. Your training on a cycle can easily help you adopt bicycle as a means of transport. You do not need to hop into your car to travel the short miles which can easily be covered on a cycle. This not only helps you stay healthy and enjoy the travel in a whole new way while connecting with your surroundings but also cuts on your fuel bill. The reduction in fuel consumption then plays a major role in fighting global warming and CO2 emissions. How about using a cycle to your work?

​Vehicles are noisy, and there is no road that cannot be heard from quite a distance. By hopping onto a cycle and using it as your go-to means of transport. You are helping cut out the noise pollution.

Cars and the need to park them is quite a mess on its own. Not only can you park your bicycle anywhere in your own house, but also have no problem finding a parking space. While looking for a space to park your car can take ages some times.​

​Most of the time, half or even more time we spend in the travel is usually taken by the traffic jams.  Cycling your way around is the easiest way to avoid any traffic situations and reach where you want, when you want and plan.

​Thousands of animals become victims of cars every month, and the number keeps growing as we keep building new roads and buying more cars. A cycle is a much lesser threat to a human or an animal, it can injure one at most and even that can be avoided most of the time.

​Bikes are far cheaper than cars, and with fuel savings, you are buying a means of transport that will take you anywhere for free.  The cost is only fatigue on your end, and the body fat you burn. But then again, isn’t that very fatigue and fat most of us spend hours in the gym and planning our meals for?

​Car insurance is mandatory in every country and can cost up to several hundred or even thousands of dollars every year. Which is usually even more than the whole cost of buying a whole new bicycle more often. So why need to enslave yourself to a debt cycle and a rat race while you can simply skip out on the whole process by opting not to go for a car.

​Whether you got a stationary exercise bike at home, or whether you use one to move around. You don’t need a gym membership, as all of your important muscles, strength training, cardio and aerobics, and fat reduction is happening with a simple machine that has been around for ages. Who needs to hit a gym when you got an easy, fun, and adventurous solution to all your fitness needs

​A car simply won’t go everywhere. There are laces only you can walk to or ride a bicycle to. So why not go on a mountain trail with your mountain bike, or go and off-road and countryside adventure while riding your bicycle. It’s faster than what you can cover on foot, and helps you carry your luggage as well. And you can stop when you want, where you want, and get moving as it comes.