Riding a bike is a great way to relieve stress and prevent depression. Stress-plagued people and those at risk of burnout should definitely give cycling a try. It clears your head and gives you a feeling of freedom.

Cycling not only has a positive effect on mental health, but also on physical health. Regular cycling reduces the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes by half. Cycling has positive effects on the whole body and is, therefore, a great and healthy full-body workout. Regardless of whether it affects the airways, joints, or muscles, cycling has numerous benefits for physical health.

Warning: Before setting out for any cycling activities, make sure to check your brakes and your tires for safety. If your tires need changing, consult Bike Mountain for the best bike tires that are compatible with your bike frame.

Health Benefits of Cycling

• Strengthening of the respiratory tract: The respiratory muscles are strengthened and the ventilation of the lungs improves, since the rhythmic pedaling while cycling fills the lungs evenly with oxygen. In this way, cycling prevents infections and respiratory diseases.
• Effective weight loss training and muscle building: Even if you want to lose weight, you should cycle regularly. Because the sport boosts our fat metabolism, reduces cholesterol, and burns around 400 kilocalories per hour. This makes cycling ideal for preventing obesity. This is also due to the fact that biking promotes the development of muscles throughout the body. The more muscles a person has, the more energy is then burned at rest. Additional plus point: strengthening the back muscles helps to stabilize the spine and can also help with back problems.
• Gentle training of the joints: cycling is preferable to sports such as jogging, especially for overweight people. Because the greatest weight of the body rests on the saddle so that the joints, tendons, and ligaments are only slightly stressed when cycling. In addition, all articular cartilage is supplied with oxygen. When jogging, on the other hand, the joints have to absorb two to three times their own body weight with every step – this is very damaging to the joints in the long term, especially in the case of overweight people.
• A strong heart: Anyone who pedals regularly also strengthens and enlarges their heart muscle and manages to reduce their resting heart rate. This reduces the risk of a heart attack by up to 50 percent. The circulation is also stimulated, which counteracts cardiovascular diseases such as strokes. Because biking improves the entire blood circulation and ensures that the vessels dilate and become more elastic.

Read also: Cycling: Good for Health and Environment

Cycling has positive effects on the health of the whole body. A long-term Danish study even found that people who cycle three hours a week have a 40 percent lower mortality rate than people who do not cycle.