Benefits of Bike Exercise

Bike riding for a weight loss exercise is wonderful for people who have difficulties doing other types of exercises.

If you are in an area where the weather is good, bicycling can be a year round enjoyable way to get your exercise as well as getting around in a way that has minimal impact on our environment.

One of the benefits of bike exercise is that it can be done indoors, in the privacy of your own home with a small space exercise bike.

You don't have to go out and get an incredibly expensive commercial exercise bike. You can pick up a simple unit for a couple of hundred dollars that takes up little space and can be used while catching up on your television watching.

There is a wide variety of exercise bikes available with all kinds of bells and whistles. From a basic model with only 8 or 10 levels of resistance that costs a couple hundred dollars if purchased new, or much less at a yard or estate sale. All the way up to a commercial exercise bike that costs thousands of dollars that is programmable for varying workouts that can randomize the resistance so that no two rides are the same. Some of these units will build workouts for you based on the amount of time you have and your target heart rate, modifying the program based on information it gets from a monitor that you wear, and what it knows about previous sessions.

Just like bicycles, these bikes come in 2 basic styles...
The classic upright bicycle, and the slightly less common recumbent style.

Both of these give you the benefits of bike exercise without having to go outside.

Benefits of bike exercise

Excellent Aerobic workout: Bike exercise is very high repetition exercise at relatively low weights.

Great Cardio Workout: Gets the heart pumping at an increased rate in a short period of time for whatever length you want to do it for.

Good Caloric Burn: Riding a bike with light effort at 10 or 11 miles an hour burns more calories than walking at 4 mph (a very brisk pace) And riding at 14 or 15 mph is a vigorous exercise that burns more than running at 6 mph (a 10 minute mile) for the equivalent amount of time.

Full Body Workout: Bicycling exercises not only the legs, but all of the core muscles in the process of balancing to stay upright. It is great for the abdominal muscles, and even has some upper body benefits as well.

Decreased Stress: Well, actually this isn't just one of the benefits of bike exercise, it is a benefit of any exercise. Improved physical fitness has been shown to decrease stress. And doing light exercise give you a time to unwind as well.

Recumbent exercise bike benefits

One of the Greatest benefits of bike exercise is that it can be combined with getting from place to place, and as such doesn't have be be scheduled as extra time in your busy schedule.
Riding a bike to work can give you a great exercise workout, and in many cities can even decrease your commute time in heavily congested traffic since you can ride right through the congestion.
It is even a great way to get to the store for those short trips where you are only picking up a small number of items a few times per week.

The information found in and throughout The 7 Habits of Weight loss (www.7habitsofweightloss.com) is not intended as a substitute for the advice or treatment that may have been prescribed by your physician.

Information found here should NOT be construed as definitive or binding medical advice and is NOT intended to diagnose, prescribe, nor endorse any brand of products or services. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new weight loss or exercise regimen or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.