Have you ever considered cycling to work? It’s a well-known fact that regular physical activity can work wonders for one’s well-being and there are multiple health benefits of cycling in particular.
This low-impact exercise is good for the environment, cheap, fun, and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. If your workplace isn’t too far, bike riding will provide you with the most efficient way to combine your everyday routine with regular exercise. What’s more, you’ll be improving your health on a daily basis!
Here are the most significant health benefits of cycling to work:
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It Improves Mental Wellbeing
Having a physically active lifestyle boosts one’s mood on a daily basis. Everyday release of endorphins and adrenalin improves mental wellbeing. It also improves confidence, which comes with achieving new things.
Cycling to work combines physical exercise with exploring new views and being outdoors. If you decide to ride solo, you’ll have some alone-time to process your worries and concerns. Riding with a group, on the other hand, will broaden your social circle. It’s a win-win situation! This is one of the most unknown health benefits of cycling.
It Promotes Weight Loss
When it comes to weight loss, the simple equation goes like this – “calories out have to exceed calories in”. In other words, losing weight requires burning more calories than consuming them.
This is precisely where cycling comes in. This type of physical activity can burn up to 700 calories per hour. If you decide to use your bicycle for commuting to work, you’ll be burning a lot of calories daily. It’s an easy and efficient way to lose weight.
It Builds Muscle
Cycling to work won’t just burn your fat. The resistance element of this activity can also build your muscles.
By riding your bicycle to work every day, you’ll be building muscles around your calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. You’ll have a higher percentage of muscles than before and burn your calories even when sedentary.
Developing quads like those on track sprinters requires spending a lot of time at a squat rack, though. However, everyday cycling to work will help you develop a nice, toned derriere.
It Improves Lung Health
With most cities having bad air quality, this point may seem contradictory. However, a recent study has shown that bike riders aren’t as exposed to fumes as people traveling by car.
Conducted by London’s Healthy Air Campaign, the experiment saw air quality detectors fitted to a cyclist, a pedestrian, a bus user, and a car driver. All of them had to go via a busy route in the central part of London.
It turned out that cycling isn’t only the quickest way of transportation through London. It is also the one that exposes you to the lowest pollution levels compared to riding a bus, driving a car, or walking.
The only downside of this is that people in buses and cars don’t have to worry about the weather so much. If you decide to commute with a bike, invest in a good cycle bag to keep everything dry.
It Cuts Cancer and Heart Disease Risk
One of the top most health benefits of cycling is that it limits the chances of being overweight and gets the blood pumping around the body. It does this by burning calories and raising your heart rate. It’s no wonder that this type of activity is recommended by so many health experts.
A study conducted in 2017 examined the lives of over 260,000 individuals. It found that active bicycle commuting decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Therefore, another significant benefit of cycling to work is that it can cut your risk of developing a major illness.
Nowadays, it’s almost impossible to get lost. All of us have our smartphones with maps in our pockets and the navigation devices in our vehicles. Finding out how to get anywhere takes mere minutes, if not seconds.
The downside of this is that there’s no incentive to sharpen one’s natural sense of direction. Getting out and exploring the lanes can easily solve this issue. By taking different routes to work every day, your navigational skills are bound to improve over time.
It Improves Sleep Quality
This one is a no-brainer – tiring yourself out on the bicycle makes falling asleep a lot easier and this again is one of the unknown health benefits of cycling. It’s a well-known fact that a drop in fitness can lead to poor sleep. Staying active takes care of this issue.
Moreover, a reduction in anxiety caused by daily exercise can elevate one’s ability to sleep. And, as we said, cycling to work prevents weight gain which can also lead to sleep dysfunction.
It Strengthens the Immune System
Daily exercise is very beneficial for the health of the upper respiratory system. In other words, it can reduce your risk of catching a common cold.
This strengthening of the immune system occurs through increased production of essential proteins. Daily exercise also wakes up the lazy white blood cells and puts them to work.
Why choose cycling to work as exercise? It will free you from the confines of trains and buses infested with germs. Reduced time of the daily commute is an added bonus.
It Improves Spatial Awareness and Handling
Riding the bike isn’t just about going breathless and raising your heart rate. This exercise includes a number of technical elements. Cornering, descending and climbing can teach an individual to use his or her body weight to direct the bike.
Gaining these skills provides a huge confidence boost. By learning how to manage these technical elements, your spatial awareness will be improved.
It Improves Sex Life
An added bonus of everyday cycling to work is a better sex life. How is that possible? – you may be wondering.
As it turns out, cycling builds some rather crucial muscle groups. Worked on the bicycle, these muscles are also used during intercourse. The more developed these muscles are, the more unforgettable intercourse will be.
If you live too far from your workplace, consider cycling to a bus, subway, or train station that takes you to work. Even in smaller amounts, everyday cycling can bring all these health benefits and can greatly improve your mental and physical health.
