Cycling is a great way to lose weight, but that is not the only health benefit that it will give you. It is a great way to improve your all round health, and help your body and mind keep in tip top condition. Whether you are taking advantage of one of the cycle to work schemes (for information visit http://www.cycle2work.info/) and have purchased a bike to travel back and for work, or you are a serious cyclist training for competition, you are improving your health in ways you may not even realise. Using your new bicycle as your transport to work really will improve your health, and here are some of the ways it will do so without you knowing.
Heart
Your heart will benefit greatly once you start cycling; so much so that cycling 20 miles a week will reduce the chances of suffering coronary heart disease by a massive 50%. It will also help you to reduce cholesterol levels and reduce your blood pressure. As long as you are making your heart pump blood around your body, you are exercising it; and pumping your legs will get your heart pumping for all the right reasons. Lowering cholesterol or blood pressure are things that most cyclists don’t even realise are happening, but they are vital to your overall health.
Mental Health
Cycling to work is a great way to relieve the stresses of our lives, and many psychologists believe that exercise is a better way to treat depression than medication. Exercise releases endorphins in your body, and they are the body’s own way of coping with stresses and anxiety, and making you feel better. Cycling for a mere 20 minutes is enough to release some dopamine and serotonin for your body to take advantage of which will help you relax on your way to work, and forget the troubles of your working day.
Strength
Taking advantage of a good cycling regime and using some cycling tips to improve your health will have the added benefit of increasing your strength levels all round. It is not only your legs that will become stronger (though they most certainly will), it is your whole body that will become stronger as your cycling increases the strength in your arms, shoulders, and back too. However, there is another strength that can develop when cycling; an inner strength that comes from being fitter and happier. People find themselves walking tall and developing a new found confidence, which add to the feeling of well-being that most athletes enjoy.
Joints
Your joints may not improve when you are cycling, but they certainly won’t become as injured as they can be in other sports. Cycling is a low impact exercise, and as such, causes much less damage than exercises such as running, basketball, or football. Perhaps you don’t think that this is a benefit to your health, but an impact injury will stop your exercise in its tracks, and if you are injured, you are far from healthy.
Cycling to work may only take you 10 minutes a day, but that is enough time to benefit from it. If you are cycling for 20 minutes you will also benefit from the feel good factor of the release of the endorphins that exercise gives you; so why not join the revolution and get on your bike?