Should i go biking

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Keeping active. Home Keeping active. Cycling - health benefits. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Cycling for health and fitness Health benefits of regular cycling Cycling and specific health issues Hand cycling and health Where to get help Things to remember.

More information here. Physical activity, Heart Foundation. Give feedback about this page. Was this page helpful? Yes No. View all keeping active. Related information. Support groups Keeping active. One solution never fits every situation. Move closer to work. Or work closer to home. Move closer to work…. But you will bitch and moan and find some excuse, so just keep supporting the Saudis and misogyny , environmental destruction and sloth.

Enjoy working until 70, I am retiring before 50, already saved over 1 million by not having a car. Yeah, move closer to work. Pack those people into cities and suburbs. Expand those housing developments. Pave that farmland. A ridiculous suggestion. The tools and equipment are feasible though!

A growing number of businesses tool-heavy and otherwise are looking to cargo bikes to cut down on transport costs while getting some fresh air and exercise in the process. You can carry a surprisingly large amount of equipment by bicycle if you plan it well. While we would never say congratulations on being in a traffic accident, happy to hear it got you on your bike.

My son Andy is a daily bicycle commuter. He is 16 and rides everyday to school. He has been doing so since kindergarden.

When he went to pre-school, we rode there together on a trail-a-bike. News , Advocacy , How To , Opinion. Written by: Momentum Staff. Canada United States Other. We hate spam as much as you do. You have our promise not to sell or share your email address, ever! Please read our Privacy Policy. December 26, Aaron Lal. October 26, Pingback: Cycling To Work? Women who commute by walking or biking at least 30 minutes each day also were found to have a decreased risk of breast cancer.

Daily exercise has been found to increase energy and reduce fatigue. Even a single minute bout of exercise can improve reaction time, memory, and creative thinking. When given a questionnaire, men who increased their daily bike commuting saw improvements in their overall mental health.

All that newfound mental health could result in newfound confidence—which may or may not be a good thing. Men who exercise six or seven days per week have been found to self-report their sexual desirability as above average, or much above average. Women also reported increases, but not as drastic. Exercise has been shown to lead to increased sexual drive and decreases in sexual dysfunction, to a point.

Too much of a good thing can drive down testosterone levels in men, but just 20 minutes of vigorous exercise can make women more sexually responsive. Regular cycling also helps you relax a little about what you eat and maintain your weight —sort of.

Cycling burns calories : between and an hour, depending on intensity and rider weight. Of course, there are other factors: the make-up of the calories you consume affects the frequency of your refuelling, as does the quality of your sleep and of course the amount of time you spend burning calories will be influenced by how much you enjoy your chosen activity.

Assuming you enjoy cycling, you'll be burning calories. And if you eat well, you should lose weight. The resistance element of cycling means that it doesn't just burn fat: it also builds muscle - particularly around the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves. Muscle is leaner than fat, and people with a higher percentage of muscle burn more calories even when sedentary.

To be clear - you won't end up with quads like a track sprinter unless you invest a serious amount of time at the squat rack. But you will develop a nice toned derriere. If you decide to cycle to work , you've got a great excuse to add a couple of guilt free snacks to your day. Since a half hour ride to work should be burning between and calories, you've got a license to enjoy a smug second breakfast at your desk. If you're serious about burning fat , you could do your morning ride fasted sans breakfast - but that's mainly a habit reserved for the most dedicated of nutters.

You won't be alone if this point seems contradictory to common sense. But a recent study suggests that people who ride a bike are actually exposed to fewer dangerous fumes than those who travel by car. A study by the Healthy Air Campaign, Kings College London, and Camden Council , saw air pollution detectors fitted to a driver, a bus user, a pedestrian and a cyclist using a busy route through central London.

The results showed that the driver experienced five times higher pollution levels than the cyclist, as well as three and a half more than the walker and two and a half times more than the bus user. Long story short: the cyclist won. Cycling raises your heart rate and gets the blood pumping round your body, and it burns calories, limiting the chance of your being overweight. As a result, it's among a selection of forms of exercise recommended by the NHS as being healthy ways to cut your risk of developing major illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

New evidence was presented in the form of a study conducted by the University of Glasgow , earlier this year. Researchers studied over , individuals over the course of five years - and found that cycling to work can cut a riders risk of developing heart disease or cancer in half. The full study can be read here. Many of the upshots we discuss when we talk about the benefits of cycling are exercise related.