You have a problem. Your lab results reveal you have elevated levels of everything, and your doctor says you must start exercising. You want to do that, too, but you’re not as spry as you used to be.
These days, you feel the joints and muscles you used to take for granted. Moving in an unexpected way or direction brings out a groan of discomfort, even pain. You can’t possibly jump, run, and lunge your way to fitness, can you? At least not yet, not now.
Here’s a solution. Go to Google search and type bicycle shop near me. Visit that store as soon as possible, find yourself a bike, and start cycling your way to better health.
Once you’re fitter, you can try other exercises. To start with, however, cycling is an excellent exercise to ease you out of a sedentary lifestyle.
What Makes Cycling an Excellent Exercise for Physical Fitness?
Adults must log at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercises (or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activities) every week to be fit. They must also engage in muscle-strengthening activities, exercising major muscle groups for at least two days every week.
Biking is a superb activity because it allows you to do both. It provides you with moderate- or vigorous-intensity cardiovascular exercise and improves muscle strength and flexibility.
It Provides Cardiovascular Exercise.
If you ride your bike at a little less than 10 miles per hour (that’s moderate-intensity cycling) for at least one hour every day, five days a week, you will log 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week. That’s already double the level of activity an adult must maintain to be physically fit.
Once you become better at biking and your endurance improves, you’ll probably go farther, faster. You may start challenging uphill tracks and trails. Even if you maintain your bike rides at one hour daily, five days a week, you will be registering 300 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week. That’s four times the required minimum cardiovascular activity to be fit.
Cycling Builds Muscle Strength.
Biking also builds muscle as it activates various muscle groups.
Obviously, you use your leg muscles to pedal. Your quadriceps femoris muscles, found at the front of your thighs, produce the power necessary to help you pedal and propel yourself forward. Your hamstrings help your knees remain steady. Cycling also engages your gluteal muscles for power and stability, while calves help keep ankles stable.
Biking uses your core muscles. Your abdominal muscles and erector spinae stabilize the upper body while you pedal.
The pectoral muscles support the weight of the upper body. The triceps brachii help support the same weight. The latissimus dorsi help push and pull the bike handlebars.
It Improves Flexibility and Joint Mobility.
Cycling requires you to engage in repetitive, cyclical motions. You lengthen your leg muscles and contract them in turn when you pedal. These movements allow your legs to go through their full range of motion and lubricate your joints as you go.
It Has a Low Impact on Joints.
For many young people, five sets of ten jumping jacks should not be a problem. Burpees? Make that five sets of tens, too. Easy. How about football line drills? Sure!
However, as you age and your joints become crankier, they start aching with every jolt and sudden impact. Jumping jacks? Your knees won’t be able to take that. Burpees? Forget about it. Even walking down three flights of stairs can be a problem.
This is what makes cycling so good as an exercise. It elevates your heart rate and improves muscle strength and flexibility but has a low impact on your joints. Even if you do it every day, it shouldn’t hurt your knees.
Note: Proper form is crucial, however. You should be careful to keep your knees straight and steady as you cycle fully. Naturally, you should warm up your joints before you start cycling.
Cycling Is Fun.
It’s fun to ride a bike. You can go as slow or as fast as you want and go farther than you can walk or run.
With a bike, you can go up hills and mountain trails, enjoying the challenge and the exertion as well as the lovely view from the top. The whoosh of the wind streaming through your hair and around your body, especially when you’re going downhill after battling the uphill climb, cools you down, dries your sweat, and feels so wonderful against your heated skin.
Cycle with family and friends, and cycling can become your bonding activity. You can ride together, cheer each other on, and chat as you go.
The Health Benefits of Cycling
Cycling exercises the heart and lungs. It builds your muscles and improves your flexibility. The cyclic movement also lubricates your joints.
Cycling thus promotes better health. The following are some of the health benefits you can enjoy when you cycle regularly:
Note: These benefits are not unique to cycling. You can enjoy them as long as you exercise regularly.
Weight Control
If you cycle intensely and long enough, you can help your body burn more calories than you consume. Cycling can thus sustain your efforts to keep your body at a calorie deficit, which can support long-term weight-loss goals.
Note: Diet plays a crucial role in attaining weight goals.
Lower Risk of Diseases
Cycling works out your heart, lungs, and blood vessels, which means regularly engaging in this activity improves your cardiovascular health over time. This translates to stronger heart muscles, better respiratory function, and improved blood circulation.
All of these have secondary health benefits. Blood fat levels decrease, and your organs get more oxygen and nutrients. These reduce your risk for cardiovascular diseases.
Your body works better, too. It becomes more efficient at cleaning out waste, detecting threats and contaminants, protecting your body from pathogens, improving your body’s insulin sensitivity, and allowing it to use sugar more effectively.
Bike For Your Health
If you want to become physically fit, start exercising. Try cycling.
Get a new bike. If you already have a bicycle, get it checked by a bike repair service in the UAE to ensure it is road-worthy, and start cycling your way to better health.
