HEALTH BENEFITS OF CYCLING
1. Cycling can help you lose weight
Let’s begin with the biggest, most sought-after benefit of cycling. No points for guessing, we’re talking about the weight-loss aspect of this wonderful form of exercise.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, cycling can make you burn up to 260 calories in 30 minutes. That’s not all! Cycling can also help you build muscle, boost your metabolism, and help you burn more calories even while you’re resting. What more do you want from life?
2. It’s a blessing for your joints and legs
Since cycling is a low-impact exercise, it does not burden your joints as you strive to get fitter. According to Harvard Health Publishing, “resistance activities such as pushing pedals, pull on the muscles and then the muscles pull on the bone, which increases bone density.”
In fact, as per a study published in the journal The Physician and Sports Medicine, it can strengthen and tone up your leg muscles, namely, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
3. And your core will thank you for it
If you think a toned booty and stronger legs is all you get out of cycling, you’ve got to know that it also works your core muscles including your back and abdomen—provided you keep your back upright and tight while at it. Doing so will require strength from your back and abdominal muscles, which will result in toning.
4. It can boost your mental health
Go for a high-intensity cycling session if you’re looking to vent out that pent-up aggression. In fact, your regular way to cycle can also make you feel better in times of stress, grief, and depression. The easy-breezy nature of this exercise can up your endorphin (happy hormones) levels, lower your cortisol (stress hormones) levels, and help you feel happy and good about yourself.
5. It can help you keep lifestyle diseases at bay
According to a study published in the journal PLOS Medicine, cycling can help prevent diseases like heart attacks, hypertension, and type-2 diabetes—which stem from living a sedentary lifestyle. If practiced regularly, cycling can even help you treat or control the pre-existing lifestyle diseases as well.
