Peddle Your Way to Fitness
Friday, February 6th, 2009Whether you ride a mountain bike, a road racer or a city hybrid bicycle, chances are you’re health conscious. When you adopt a regime of outdoor biking for both exercise and commuting, you’ve found a life-enhancing solution that will keep you lean, healthy, and happy.
And it can all be done on a bike. Cycling is as good as running and swimming as an aerobic (meaning “with oxygen”) exercise that will elevate your pulse rate and increase your cardio-vascular activity. Sports medicine specialists often prescribe cycling because it causes less wear and tear on the joints and muscles than running, while still building endurance and alleviating stress.
Cycling, both road and mountain, tones many of the same large muscles of the lower body as hiking does. You’re working the quads, hip flexors, and calf muscles when pushing the pedal down; and the hip flexors, hamstrings and calves when pulling the pedal up. But it’s an upper body conditioner as well since the muscles of the torso, as well as the arms and shoulders, are very active while riding. (more…)