Using a Bicycle to Cycle Your Way to Fitness

I am sure that when many people think of embarking on a fitness program, what immediately comes to mind is a vision of a gym, and exercise equipment such as dumbbells, treadmills, step machines and exercise bikes. However, to move towards a greater fitness level you have no need to buy, rent or borrow special exercise equipment. You have no need to spend your hard earned money on an expensive gym or even home exercise equipment.

Three of the best and healthiest forms of exercise are walking, swimming, and cycling. The great thing about all three of these forms of exercise is that they can combine fitness, enjoyment and pleasure. How many ordinary people really enjoy going to the gym, especially if they are getting on in years a bit, maybe not as slim as they were, and feel uncomfortable by the body builders, slender beauties and young handsome hulks hanging out to impress the girls? Not many, I am sure.

Cycling is a good aerobic form of exercise, and a normal mode of transport in many parts of the world. In busy modern countries, though, traffic can impair your enjoyment. Even so, with cycle paths in many cities now, there is scope even there to get out and enjoy some cycling. It may even be quicker than going by car in some places.

If you can get out of the city, though, then cycling can become a pollution free pleasure. If you live in a country area, or are prepared to drive outside the city with your bike on board. Cycling is not onle a superb exercise, it gives you the chance to get closer to nature, help you relax, and encourage you to appreciate not only your own life, but the natural world around you.

If you have, or can develop a hobby that you can enjoy while out cycling, such as birdwatching, photography, or wild flowers, then you will end up cycling for sheer pleasure, forgetting that it is exercise, and never thinking of going out on the bike as a chore, or a fitness essential

What is so Benefical to Health About Cycling?

Cycling is an excellent form of aerobic exercise, making it especially beneficial to lungs and heart. When you pedal, your lungs expand, allowing more air to enter your lungs. This encourages the heart to beat faster, pumping that oxygen around the body.

You can certainly attain a good level of fitness through cycling. Simply through several miles a day you will soon be feeling fitter and healthier, and you should even see your muscle tone start to improve fairly quickly. The muscles that benefit most are the thigh, buttock and calf muscles.

Cycling is a pleasurable way to burn calories, especially if you have a scenic route to take with little or no traffic to disturb your journey and choke you with fumes. Because you may burn up to 450 calories an hour on a flat road, and your metabolism remains raised even after you have stopped cycling, cycling is great for losing weight. It can therefore be used as part of a weight loss program, if your doctor thinks you are in good enough health to cycle safely.

Another major health benefit from using a bicycle regularly is the possible reduction in risk of heart disease. So, all in all, cycling comes out as one of the ebst forms of exercise for the ordinary person who does not want to be super fit and competitive, just generally feel, and be, fit and healthy.