Did you know that you can burn about 400 calories an hour with cycling? It doesn’t matter if you are indoors, outdoors, or on a trail. That’s why indoor cycling has gained such immense popularity recently. It’s because the benefits of cycling are too many to count.
If you are considering purchasing an indoor cycle or going to a cycling class at your gym, read on to see what the various health benefits of indoor cycling are and how it can help you live a healthy lifestyle.
1. Increases Your Feel-Good Hormones
As with any kind of workout, be it outdoor, indoor, stationary, or mobile, your endorphin levels are boosted. That’s what gives you that ‘high’ after working out. Not only that, but you can let your brain zone out and relax while biking away in your cycling class for 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
Also, the faster you get on your bike, the more confident you will feel in yourself. That in itself will make you feel better in your skin and want to continue with your indoor cycling sessions.
2. Makes Your Quads and Glutes Lean and Toned
Are you annoyed because no matter what you do, your thighs and glutes don’t seem to get smaller or more toned? That’s why indoor cycling is such a boon to all pear-shaped people. It can help you become more toned and lean, of course, because you burn so many calories during your session. But also over time, you will notice that all that cycling will get you a svelte midsection.
This is because you are recruiting the muscles in your quads and glutes while indoor cycling and they get the most stimulation during your sessions, getting them activated and stronger.
3. Helps You Burn Calories and Lose Weight
Of course, you won’t just get a svelte midsection, but also a svelte and toned body. This is because depending on how long you spend in your cycling class, you will end up burning a ton of calories. And as you very well know, weight loss is all about either reducing your calorie intake or increasing the calories you burn.
It might be hard for you to restrict yourself when it comes to eating delicious foods. But you can definitely up the ante on burning and smashing those calories consumed.
4. Improves Your Posture
Are you spending hours and hours hunched over a laptop computer and wondering if you are forever going to be hunched over in this manner? Too many people nowadays due to increased computer usage, too much sedentary living, and not enough exercise or movement, have terrible postures.
Indoor cycling can help you neutralize your posture because your indoor cycle has been set up to do that. That’s why instructors spend so much time getting you to sit properly before starting the cycling class. Cycling will also increase the strength of your back and that will help you sit straighter wherever you go.
If you are interested in a comparison of the best 75 indoor bikes on the market, check out Cycle From Home.
5. Reduces Your Health Risks for Heart Disease and Diabetes
Any kind of cardio exercise will help reduce your risk for various chronic diseases, like heart disease and Type II Diabetes. There are many reasons for this, but mainly it’s due to the reduction in LDL cholesterol, increase in HDL cholesterol (the good kind), and an increase in glucose tolerance (less insulin resistance).
If this is too technical for you, the basic idea here is the more you go cycling indoors (or outdoors), the healthier you will be and the longer you will live.
6. Increases Your VO2 Max
Essentially, VO2 (volume of oxygen) max is your body’s ability to supply oxygen and nutrients to your muscles through increased blood flow. The higher your VO2 max, the better the blood flow and the more nutrients your muscles can receive.
Also, an increased VO2 max means you can increase the intensity of your workout as time goes on. This is because your body becomes more efficient at delivering oxygen and nutrients and utilizing them. You might not huff and puff as much as you did before.
You might be wondering if this really matters to you if you are not an elite athlete, but an increased VO2 max is a good indicator of overall health and longevity as well.
7. Motivates You to Try Other Fitness Techniques
The great thing about getting good at one fitness technique or one way of working out is that it gets you motivated, and excited to try other modalities. Also, the stronger you get, the more confident you will be in going outside your comfort zone. Maybe you might start considering an activity like surfing or Dragonboat racing – something you would never have thought of before.
Also, the better you get at indoor cycling, the easier it would be for to you cross-train for other sports.
The Benefits of Cycling Are Too Many to Ignore
Are you getting excited to try a cycling class now that you’ve read about the myriad benefits of cycling? It’s not surprising. As more and more people start working out at home or indoors, because of pandemics or other health concerns (or perhaps you are just an introvert who loves being at home), cycling will keep gaining in popularity.
Don’t forget to take it slow at first. You don’t want to overdo it, and then give up on your cycling class because you pulled a muscle or hurt yourself in some other way. Your body needs time to adjust to the unique posture in indoor cycling and the increased strain on your quads and glutes.
Enjoyed this article? Don’t forget to check out other fitness-related articles on our website and keep cycling!
