It’s a well-known fact that exercise is an important part of keeping fit. Lack of exercise can lead to a plethora of physical health complications, put you at risk of developing mental disorders, and generally keep you unmotivated.
If you want to make a big difference in your lifestyle and break the vicious cycle of apathy and constant stress, then it’s time to quit making excuses and get your regular dose of exercise.
There are so many ways to get fit. But if you want to gain the most benefit out of a fitness routine, then one of the most recommended forms of exercise according to health professionals is cycling.
Aside from cycling being a great physical exercise, health benefits of cycling extend to the social and mental aspects of your daily life. Read on and find out why getting on your bike is one of the best personal investments you will ever make.
#1. Cycling Improves Your Mental Health
Mental fatigue, anxiety, depression, and many other mental diseases can inhibit your productivity and significantly maim your appetite for life. These affect your social relations, your career, and the people you love.
It’s a difficult form of illness simply because it remains poorly understood and there are no sufficient policies set in place yet to help people suffering from it.
However, there are studies that show how practicing an active lifestyle can positively help people get out of a mental rut. When you’re cycling, you are exerting physical effort and maintaining proper focus that’s enough to get your mind off things that usually worry you.
The physical effort also triggers your body to release adrenaline and happy hormones called endorphins. Endorphins help balance your body’s stress hormones and help you put in a great mood.
Being able to go out there and commune with nature, enjoy the views, and maybe enjoy a few refreshments with your new cycling buddies can do wonders to your mental health.
#2. Cycling Is Good for Your Joints
A low-impact exercise such as cycling is an efficient form of active physical activity for people with arthritis and joint pains. The repetitive motion of the knees, while you’re pedaling, encourages the production and flushing of fluids through the joint, which provides lubrication that washes away waste products.
#3. Cycling Improves Your Heart Health
The heart is the body’s most important muscle and plays a key role in keeping you in good health. A strong heart increases blood flow, which helps deliver the maximum amount of oxygen needed by various parts of your body to function well, especially the brain.
A healthy cardiovascular system also stimulates energy production, which means that not only will you have eagle-like focus to do the things you need to do but you will also have the energy required to get it done.
Most importantly, it mitigates the risk of developing chronic heart diseases, which are fatal.
#4. Cycling Tones Your Muscles
There’s a great deal of physical exercise that goes on with cycling. To keep the vehicle running, your calves and thighs are constantly engaged. Your arms, shoulders, and entire upper body also have to constantly shift to keep the bike in balance.
This steady muscle work conditions your muscular system and helps increase its flexibility and fitness, which ultimately leads to toned muscles that feel and look good.
Of course, if you’re new to the sport and have just accomplished your first laps, it’s common to experience muscle pain. Don’t be discouraged. There are excellent pain-relieving products in the market today that can help you manage the soreness pretty well. Once you’re over that stage and have settled into a routine, you will start reaping the well-rounded benefits of the exercise.
#5. Cycling Builds Your Confidence
Maintaining an active lifestyle sometimes requires a good amount of determination to stay loyal to your routine. It’s a test of will, more than anything. Keeping to your exercise schedule makes you feel good and accomplished.
For instance, some serious cyclists constantly try to beat their own personal records by measuring their power output with Power Meter City meters. Testing your own limits and accomplishing it help build your self-esteem.
Additionally, having a fit body also contributes to your confidence as well. The combination of physical fitness, feel-good hormones, and personal milestones all create a sense of tenacity that will make you win life in so many ways.
#6. Cycling Is Good for the Environment
Cycling’s benefits extend beyond the individual. Its collective benefit as an eco-friendly mode of transportation profits the biosphere and the whole planet.
By opting to bike when it’s feasible instead of running your gas, you reduce your carbon footprint. More people deciding to do so would help reduce environmental pollution especially in big urban settings. Consequently, diseases caused or complicated by pollution will also be diminished.
These are little decisions that make a great impact.
Final Word
Cycling is an excellent hobby and sport that offers all the fantastic benefits you can look for in any physical activity: physical and mental fitness, social gain, and environmental advantages. So get on your bike today, and start reaping these benefits.
