Research demonstrating the health benefits of biking and cycling is as old as the hills. Still, many individuals are vaguely aware of the outcomes, and the catalysts for those perks can still confuse many who don’t practice biking.
Statistics show that biking reduces cancer rates, improves cardiovascular and respiratory systems, reduces anxiety and depression, and enhances numerous other aspects essential to maintaining good health.
Doctors can’t stress the importance of biking enough, but in order to leap on the vehicle, one should understand exactly how this sport improves one’s overall condition. This rundown provides all the necessary information you may need to make a change in your life, tackling the differences between biking and cycling and the pedal-assisted versus electric bike battle. Let’s commence!
Table of Contents
Improved mood and decreased depression
Increased awareness-raising and efforts to reduce mental health issues rise against a backdrop of growing depression rates among individuals of all ages. While depression has existed forever, people used to deal with their mood switches, blues, and pain in the ways they knew best to make them feel better. These days, things have changed for the better, for people are more aware than ever of the importance of maintaining their mental health and taking action when things go south. Around 20% of U.S. grownups were living with some mental illness type between 2019 and 2020, and data from Gallup, a global analytics provider, shows that 29% of U.S. adults were diagnosed with depression in 2023. These figures demonstrate that people are living with depression but diagnosing it at some specific points in their lives—or never.
Sport and physical movement are the first treatments psychologists and psychiatrists recommend for those with early or light depression. Study after study demonstrates how physical activity reduces anxiety and stress, boosting the brain’s endorphins production, or the neurotransmitters that make you feel good. Add that biking extends your physical fitness sessions and works as a therapeutic first-hand medicine, and you can understand how it decreases your body’s cortisol while speeding up your happiness neurotransmitter production.
Biking can unravel mental toughness that you may not even be aware you possess, so dare to discover you may have hidden your actual strength from yourself! From a Townie Go! to an Aventon Pace to a Dirwing Pioneer, the variety of Upway e-bike models have you spoiled for choice!
Lower risk of cancer
While numerous studies examine the connection between reduced cancer rates and increased sports activity, the latest findings highlight a more conclusive result. The mortality rates associated with cancer are reduced by 30% among bikers and cyclists, with emphasis on a few types of cancer, including lung, breast, and colon. When riding a bike, one’s position is the correct one that helps support your digestion, thus decreasing bowel cancer risks. On the other hand, biking stimulates breathing muscles and increases their strength, improving respiratory and lung capacity. Simply put, you may feel the oxygen flowing more efficiently, increasing your cardiovascular fitness and decreasing your chances of catching a cold.
While sports are synonymous with better general health, biking is more straining for your body from head to toe. At a casual biking level, where you don’t take breaks longer than two days, expect to see a slew of health benefits that will improve your overall mood and well-being besides your physical condition, which may require a bit of observatory work to notice.
A more toned body
Someone commuting by bike can see their legs toning and becoming leaner as their inferior muscles develop more, including quadriceps, calves, and glutes. The level to which they grow, however, depends on the cycling routine and whether extra fitness training exists or not.
While cycling is more straining for your body, especially the lower part, biking is the immediately better option if you can’t engage in competitive sports. These two terms are used interchangeably; the latter refers to travel-related or recreational bike use. Nevertheless, when done more frequently, biking can overshadow cycling if you realize you can only cycle once a week but bike to work or grocery shopping every day.
With the mainstreamness and progress of electric bikes, given the slew of advantages they bring compared to numerous other transportation modes, it’s only natural to wonder if they can provide the same health and body aspect advantages as conventional ones. And your answer is yes, it does!
Like pedal-assisted bikes, continuous pedal strokes put pressure on your hamstrings and quads, two of the largest body muscles. Additionally, electric bikes carry more weight to operate and provide the quality of material they do. You can easily see how riding an electric bike helps tone calf muscles and lose weight if you take a look at the first-rate offerings at Upway, disclosing the e-bikes’ weight, size, engine power, assistance type, and all the other details of interest.
Better sleep quality
It’s no shocker that heightened activity during the day will have you falling asleep faster at night and, depending on your respiratory health, even snoring. More restful sleep has always been linked to physical effort – it’s only that the correlation used to be perplexing. So, how is your bike helping you get more quality sleep, and how much should you use it?
Studies show that half an hour of powerful biking per day can significantly impact your sleeping cycle, duration, and quality. Assuming you habitually take your pedal-assisted or electric bike around the neighborhood right after you start your day, you’ll feel more energized and propped up to continue your tasks. On the other hand, if you engage in this exercise before calling it a day and retreating into your home, you’ll notice yourself wasting less time getting into your sweet night’s sleep.
Last words
Can you afford not to make the most of your day and night and get the highest-quality sleep you can? Or improve your physical and mental strength and see yourself radiating every day? Hopefully, not, so dare to ride your e-bike and become the best version of cyclist you can!
