You can get a tough workout regardless of your skill level if you have a rideable bike laying around your garage or apartment; research (PDF) gathered in 2015 estimated that 42 percent of households do.
This is a handbook to help you embrace the cycling lifestyle, regardless of your level of experience or desire to improve performance.
Cycling: What Is It?
Cycling is basically about getting on a bicycle and going for a ride. Whether you ride that bike for a century or just a few laps around the block, any pedaling counts as exercise. Naturally, your degree of fitness determines how hard or easy a bike ride is for you to complete.
Although this kind of exercise generally focuses on aerobic activity, it helps improve strength, especially in the lower body muscles like the quadriceps, according to Milwaukee-based Paul Warloski is an ACE-licensed personal trainer and cycling instructor certified by USA Cycling.
According to him, this implies that you’re strengthening your cardiovascular system because aerobic exercise trains your body to use oxygen more effectively and pump blood more forcefully.
He continues, “There’s not much of a performance or benefit difference between an outdoor bike and a stationary bike.” Some people find that working out indoors is more convenient since it eliminates the need to worry about things like finding new routes or remembering to bring water, food, and a repair kit. As a result, you may be able to work out longer and more intensely.
Having said that, if their bikes depended on it, a lot of supporters of outdoor cycling wouldn’t give up those comforts in favor of riding outside. “There’s nothing like riding outside and connecting with your surroundings,” Warloski asserts. “Add a fun group, a good place to stop and rest, and you’ve got an amazing day out.”
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Bekah Rottenberg, a Hood River, Oregon-based personal trainer and teacher licensed by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the Professional Mountain Bike teacher Association, notes that although riding a bike can be your only source of exercise, most passionate riders don’t spend all of their fitness time on their bikes.
“It’s really important to incorporate both aerobic and strength work into any fitness routine,” she states. “Strength and resistance training has tremendous benefits, from increasing bone density to improving mobility.”
Furthermore, she says that because it gives you more time to recover between rides, cycling every other day as opposed to every day or even just a few times a week can help you perform better. She believes that’s particularly crucial if you’re just starting out and getting used to increasing your riding time.
The Health Advantages of Cycling
Cycling, like most forms of exercise, has numerous advantages for both physical and mental health. These are a few to be aware of that are specifically related to cycling:
Quality of Sleep A meta-analysis comprising fifteen research was released in the Sleep Medicine issue in December 2021. Studies examining the impact of various exercise regimens on the quality of sleep revealed that cycling was generally the most beneficial to individuals.
Quality of Sleep Cycling was shown to generally help participants the most in a meta-review of 15 research that examined various forms of exercise and its effects on sleep quality. The meta-review was published in the December 2021 edition of Sleep Medicine Reviews.
Heart-related Conditions Indoor cycling has been shown to enhance blood pressure, lipid profile, body composition, aerobic ability, and blood pressure (a meta-review published in August 2019 in Medicina).
Mood and Brain Health According to a research published in PLoS One in February 2019, after eight weeks of three times a week cycling, older individuals’ views of their well-being and cognitive performance both improved. The fact that this held true regardless of whether participants were riding conventional bikes or e-bikes with motors to assist with pedaling led the researchers to hypothesize that cycling had mental health benefits in addition to its physical benefits.
Is Cycling Effective for Losing Weight?
According to Rottenberg, weight reduction can be impacted by any aerobic activity, such as jogging or cycling.
Indeed, studies have shown that regular cycling can aid in weight loss, especially for those who are overweight. According to one study, following a 12-week indoor cycling program helped overweight and sedentary women lose weight—despite the fact that the women’s diets remained same.
How to Begin Training on a Cycle?
As with any new fitness effort, make sure to consult your doctor first if you have any worries or if you have any chronic or other health conditions that could make it unsafe for you to work out, like joint problems or cardiovascular disease.
When everything is okay, Garret Seacat, CSCS, a USA Cycling-certified cycling coach based in Manhattan, Kansas, advises starting with short rides of 20 to 30 minutes a few times a week.
