Reasons to take up cycling - Physio Cambridge

Maybe you’ve thought about it, but just never had enough of a reason to make that final push onto the saddle. Let’s take a look at some of the overall benefits to being a cyclist. 

1. You’ll go faster

Yeah it’s an obvious and kind of stupid point, but hear me out! It’s the city taxi drivers who complain about traffic, not the cyclists. If you’re commuting to work via car in the city, then you should make yourself aware of the advantages of the cycle to work.

Studies show that the bike hits twice the speed of the car in city centers. If you spent 30 minutes in traffic in London you’d be lucky to hit 7mph, whereas average cycling speed is 12-15mph.

2. Sleep better

It’s a fact that regular exercise gives you a better nights sleep. One study asked insomniacs to take up cycling 20-30 minutes a day and see what happened to their sleep patterns. The result? They took half the time to get to sleep and slept an hour longer.

3. Look Younger

Once you start pounding the pedals you’ll see a dramatic increase in blood circulation. Harley Street doctors will tell you that this increase in circulation delivers oxygen and nutrients to the skin more effectively, whilst removing the toxins with the same efficiency. Cycling can literally be part of your beauty routine.

4. Aid digestion

Physical activity like cycling helps to reduce the time that food spends in your digestive tract, meaning you absorb less water from it and feel less bloated. Additionally, increased breathing and heart rate stimulate the muscles in your intestines helping to keep the system moving and healthy as well as preventing bowel cancer.

5. Increase Your Brain Power

An increase in fitness is an increase in brain power. Studies have shown that a 5% increase in your cardio-vascular fitness led to an improvement in mental tests by 15%. The increased blood flow helps to build cells in the hippocampus, responsible for memory.

Concerned about sports injury? Physio Cambridge with all the answers

Okay we are halfway through! Are you concerned about sports injury? Have you been out of sport for some time but you are secretly aching to get back into it? Get some top tips from The Sports Injury clinic. These guys know their onions! You can get in touch with a physiotherapist in Cambridge by calling 01638 389671. alternatively just keep up to date with their website blog. It is always full of handy tips for anyone looking to get back into sport in the safest way possible.

6. Defeat Illnesses

Keeping active wakes up all the cells in your body, including those that are working hard for your immune system. Once they’ve perked up, they’re much more effective at fighting off infection. People who underwent two and a half hours of cycling a week took half as many sick days as couch potatoes.

7. Live Longer

In a study that compared identical twins, those who were riding 45 minutes three times a week were biologically nine years younger than their counterparts, even when other factors such as body mass index and smoking had been discounted. The regular exercise from cycling reduced the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and obesity.

8. Save The Environment

Katie Melua sang “There are nine million bicycles in Beijing”. Whether that’s statistically accurate or not is anyone’s guess, but you could park 9 million bicycles in the space of just 450,000 cars, it would only take 5% as much raw material to make them and they emit absolutely no pollution.

9. Improve Your Sex Life

It’s true! While you’re pedaling away on that bike, you’re increasing your vascular health. This has the knock on effect of increasing your sex drive. Studies have shown that male athletes have the sexual prowess of people 2-5 years their junior while females can stave off the menopause for a similar amount of time.

So, you’re wasting less time in traffic, you’re sleeping better, you look younger, you’re more intelligent, less prone to illness and digestive problems, living longer, having more sex and saving the environment.

10. Dude, take up cycling!