10 Important Health Benefits From Cycling

Cycling is for everybody, from four year-old young ones to old pensioners. Not only is it an excellent way to have some wholesome fun, but it also has numerous health benefits.

1. Bye-Bye Calories.

As you probably know, cycling is a superb way to work off the calories and shorten the waistline. When you cycle for extended periods of time, the effect is similar to jogging (although it's not quite as calorie-burning as jogging). Steady cycling can burn as much as 300 calories per hour.

2. Muscle Tone.

Although you can hardly expect your arms to look any different, your legs certainly will. Not only will you be losing fat, but you will also be packing on hard muscle in the quadricep, glute, and hamstring areas. Your legs will soon become noticeably toned. Your core (lower back and abs) also get exercised if you stand up while pedaling. For optimal results, cycle in the highest gear or on an upwards slope.

3. Joints.

Since the pedaling motion is a constant, up-down-around motion, your knee and hip joints also get a workout. The motion both lubricates and strengthens the joints.

4. Cardiovascular.

There's no point denying it, cycling tremendously improves your overall cardiovascular fitness as well as your endurance capabilities. The heart steadily pounds at a high rate. Statistics prove that you can experience up to 7% increase in endurance after a month of constant cycling.

5. Coordination.

Cycling not only improves overall muscle development, but it also helps to coordinate those muscles due to the constant motion. Especially if you spend much time in heavy traffic cycling in and around of other vehicles, you can expect your body-to-eye coordination to gradually increase.

6. Stress Reduction.

Almost any and every physical activity is a proven stress-reliever and cycling is no exception. The constant exercise, the muscle fatigue, the calorie-burning all contribute to reduce overall stress levels.

7. Sleep Well.

Due to the extensive physical activity you experienced during the day, you're likely to be able to spend better quality time with your pillow and bedsheets. Scientific studies showed that insomniacs who cycled more than 30 minutes per day when to sleep in half the time of those who didn't.

8. Decreased Disease Risk.

Overall, you will also have excellent health, illness and disease free. This is mainly due to the fact that cycling helps heart health, so the risk of cardiovascular disease is decreased by a significant margin.

9. Motivation Boost.

Nearly any physical activity you engage in will boost your overall energy and motivation levels. Especially when you're a prolific cyclist, you feel more confident and able, due to the fact that you were able to cycle for longer periods of time than you could prior to starting out as a new cyclist.

10. Positive Hobby.

Instead of booze, gambling or nights at the pub, you now have a more productive hobby that you can engage in over and over again without hangovers or any other negative effects.

Comments