You probably knew it already: that cycling is, without question, good for your health. Cycling daily will keep you fit and healthy, and also help release those lovely endorphins that interact with your brain and get your body pumped and reinvigorated.
But there’s a whole lot more you can get from your cycling sessions, whether you ride indoors or out. We’ve compiled a list of SEVEN awesome ways cycling will improve your life, and you’re going to love each and every one…
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Cycling will help you sleep better
If you’re an insomniac or generally struggle to get a good night’s sleep in, you will definitely benefit from a 20-30 minute daily bike ride. And don’t just take our word for it, this was the conclusion reached by researchers in the Stanford University School of Medicine, who conducted a study whose subjects were insomniacs. When their subjects cycled, it cut in half the time taken to fall asleep and also increased the overall amount of time spent asleep time by as much as an hour.
Cycling will make you look 30 years younger…
OK, so we exaggerated. Knocking 30 years off might be a bit tricky if you’re only in your 20s or 30s…but rest assured, putting in some cycling sessions, will help increase blood circulation and increases the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the skin cells. It flushes toxins faster and reduces the signs of aging. So yes, forget about those anti-aging creams – get on your bike!
Cycling helps prevent illness
Cycling even just moderately will help stimulate the immune cells, making them more active in fighting all those dreaded bugs and viruses our bodies have to contend with on almost daily basis.
Cycling is great for your heart
Exercise is great for your cardiovascular system, and cycling is definitely going to help your heart pump better, faster, and more efficiently! Cycling, even just moderately, will increase the heart rate and make the lungs work harder to deliver more oxygen to the body. Like other muscles, the increased activity strengthens these organs and makes them function better.
Cycling helps you lose weight
For many of you out there, an indoor training session will be your main source of exercise to combat any of those extra pounds we accrue, especially over the holiday season. Just so you know, exercise from cycling increases the metabolic rate of the body for a few more hours after you have concluded your workout. This means you burn more fat and calories during and after every ride.
Cycling keeps you fit – cheaply and (almost) effortlessly
You really don’t have to splash out on a really fancy bike, if all you’re after is to stay in trim. Decent bikes can be purchased relatively cheaply these days, and there are also some good budget trainers (if you’re looking to cycle over the winter months). There is no gym membership fee to pay and you do not need special outfits and fancy footwear. And, of course, if you buy one of the many trainers we review on this site you have the advantage of being able to exercise indoors when the weather turns bad.
Cycling lets you live longer!
Of all the benefits of cycling, this one might just be the clincher…a study conducted by the King’s College of London with 2,400 identical twins as subjects discovered that those who engaged in 45-minute cycling sessions three times a week were found to be biologically younger than those subjects who were sedentary. If you want to look at the real positives of this, it basically means that the effects of cycling go beyond our muscles to our cells and body organs…wow!
If you haven’t got on your bike recently, what’s stopping you??
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