Why you should cycle

To begin with I want to say that I am not talking about steroid cycling or creatine cycling, I am talking about the cycling you do on a bicycle. I wrote a post on jogging yesterday but I also stated that I’m not a fan of jogging and would choose cycling anyday, and everyday over jogging. Cycling has pretty much the same benefits as jogging but it has a few extras that make it, in my opinion much better than jogging. In addition to what I have just written, I would like to say that I prefer cycling on a real bike that moves, not those bikes at the gym even though they are convenient and have a few advantages too.

1.
You ride for long distances

– since the bike is faster than jogging and if you are fit enough, which you will be once you get used to riding, you will be able to go far and take the scenic route if it suites you.

2.
Can be used as an environmentally safe mode of transport

– Instead of using your car to go to the super market or to work and school if its not too far, you can ride your bike there, and you get to exercise doing something you would have done anyways, So you have done alot all at once, gotten a workout, free transport (except for the initial investment of buying your bike), and contributed to saving our environment.

3.
It is very good form of cardio with multiple intensity levels

– Most bikes except for bmx bikes have gears which change the difficulty of your ride, and aid you in climbing steep areas. Depending on which level you choose and how hard and fast you are pedalling you can have yourself a very intense cardio session, and a great leg workout with a lasting effect.

4.
There is alot of variety

– you can choose to do mountain biking, or just ordinary cycling on tar roads, or you can go extreme with bmx cycling. You can join cycling clubs and have a community involvement, you could sign up for a cycling race and aim at finishing at a certain time to give yourself a target to shoot for.

5.
It is a safe exercise

– especially if done in the gym, less harmful impact on knees than jogging, less risk of injury but even if you are cycling outdoors its safer than a car even though you can get injured if you crash or you don’t look after your bike. Invest in a helmet and knee and elbow protection if it makes you feel safer or better, especially if you are interested in extreme version of cycling.

That is all for today, I will be posting on other cardio exercises/activities you can do in the coming days/weeks.