The Best Things About A Bike!
Whether you’re getting out to enjoy a sunday bike ride with your family or you’re a professional mountain bike rider, riding a bike can offer many benefits to your health, well being and finances.
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What’s clear is that to maintain a healthy lifestyle, you need to be physically active and whilst there are many forms of exercise, cycling is a low impact, non weight-bearing activity that causes less strain than other forms of exercise (such as running), and comes with as many benefits as the sights you could be exploring on them!
From improved heart health and joint mobility, to weight control and zero carbon emissions, here are 8 reasons you should choose a bike!
Heart Health
Cycling, like many other forms of exercise, is a great way to strengthen your heart muscles, increasing cardiac output and lowering your resting pulse. Better Health Victoria says regular cycling improves circulation, as well as stimulating and enhancing the overall health of your heart and lungs, reducing your risk of cardiovascular diseases.
A 2016 study in the journal ‘Circulation’, shows that those who cycle regularly have 15% less heart attacks than those who don’t cycle, and suggests that as little as half an hour of cycling a week is linked to lower rates of heart disease, so why not put on some sunscreen and get on your bike!
Weight Control
It may come as no surprise that to control or reduce your weight, you need to be physically active, and cycling is the perfect form of low-impact exercise, to help you do just that.
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Better Health Victoria suggests that cycling builds muscle, burns fat and increases your metabolic rate, and better yet, it can be done at varying levels of intensity to suit your needs.
Better Health Victoria recommends burning 8,400 kilo-joules (2000 calories) per week through regular physical activity, and says that cycling burns approximately 1,200 kilojoules (300 calories) per hour.
Vitamin D Exposure
Getting outdoors is a great way to maintain healthy vitamin D levels, through sensible sun exposure. Vitamin D is a hormone that assists your body in the absorption of calcium, strengthening your bones and improving overall muscle health.
Low vitamin D levels can cause rickets (soft bones), osteoporosis and muscle weakness, but you can easily prevent these issues by cycling regularly - just make sure you put on some sunscreen before you ride!
Save Money
Just as cycling promotes a healthier and happier lifestyle, it’s also kind on your wallet.
Whether you drive or catch public transport, the costs add up...from on road costs such as insurance, licencing and registration, to other costs such as depreciation, running a car is an expensive undertaking.
A 2020 survey by the RACV suggests drivers are spending an average of $770.16 per month running light cars and an average of $1804.61 per month running all terrain vehicles (four-wheel-drives).
And according to the Australian government, it costs Australians an average of $30-$60 per week to use public transport, so it may come as no surprise that many Australians are choosing to saddle up for the commute to and from work, so why not do the same and ride your bike!
Save The Planet
Studies by the University of Central Florida (UCF) report that Globally, on average, a person is three times more likely to die from air pollution than in an auto accident, and that almost half of all air pollution around the world is caused by automobiles.
Bicycles, on the other hand, emit no pollutants into the atmosphere, and according to the UCF, if just one percent of the driving population switched to bikes, it would translate to a two-four percent reduction in automobile carbon emissions.
What’s also clear is that it isn’t just the air that’s affected by carbon emissions - airborne pollutants fall to the earth with the rain, polluting groundwater and cropland, says the UCF, so why not help clean up our air, land and water, by switching to a bike!
Decrease Stress
Getting outdoors can be great stress relief and according to a study by the YMCA, people who are physically active have a well being score 32% higher than those who aren’t.
Not only that, cycling can elevate your mood with a release of endorphins - endorphins are chemicals produced by the body during exercise, that relieve stress and pain, leaving you with a feeling of euphoria! So if you’ve been stressed, why not explore the great outdoors on your bike!
Low Impact
Cycling is a low impact sport and is not weight bearing (unlike other sports such as running), so Better Health Victoria suggests that it causes less strain that most other forms of exercise. Better yet, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced cyclist, you can vary the intensity of your ride, from speed to incline, to suit your individual needs. So if you’re looking for a gentle workout that you can alter to fit your mood and experience level, cycling is the sport for you!
Improved joint mobility
Do you suffer from arthritis and joint stiffness? A gentle cycle can loosen up the joints and reduce the swelling associated with conditions such as arthritis, alleviating pain and slowing joint degeneration. So if you answered yes, a bike may be the solution for you!
