Commuting to work is a daily activity for millions of workers around the world. We use all kinds of transportation to get us to work on time. Some countries like in China, they use bicycles to commute to work. In Japan, amidst the” ban of bikes to work, '' 9% of the workers still use bikes to commute “(Kidd, B. 2013). There are several reasons for doing so and one of them is that biking to work costs less and reduces air pollution in the city. Some opined that cycling is also a form of physical activity that promotes physical fitness. Workers in other countries too, believe that biking to work is more than an economical advantage. It is also good for physical health.
Benefits of Biking
According to health studies, biking has several advantages for physical health such as:
● Cardiovascular diseases – diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels such as coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease
● Prevents weight gain
● Reduces diabetes risk
The study also shows that biking as a physical activity is related to mental health. A book about cycling confirms that cycling has to do with an individuals' psychological health such as “preventing and treating anxiety and depression” (Pucher, J., Buehler, R., 2012). Thus, cycling does not only boost our physical well-being, but also our mental wellness.
Biking can be done for different purposes, not for commuting to work. It is a means of transportation in going to the supermarket or grocery and other errands, visiting our friends in the neighborhood, and a lot more reasons why we use our bicycles. The good thing is that it also reduces air and noise pollution in the city.
It is also effective when we do our pedaling or cycling with our stationary done indoors when the weather does not permit us to go outdoors for some reasons. We can exercise outside our homes with a stationary bike so we could do our exercise regularly. We can sweat it out even inside the comfort of our home.
As I have mentioned before, cycling or biking is generally good for our physical and mental well-being. Regular exercise with a stationary bike is as effective as doing it outside the home and it is particularly beneficial for us for some reasons such as:
● sleeping quality is better
● produces pleasant mood
● stress is reduced
● our immune system is improved
● reduces weight
● safety from possible road accidents
● burns fats more easily
It was also found with experiments involving elderly women that stationary biking improves balance and therefore reduces the risk of falls among the female elderly.
As stationary bikes are getting more popular, especially these days that we avoid going outside as much as possible, and weather is more unpredictable than in the past, more people are buying stationary bikes to tone their bodies and improve wellness.
Physical activity such as exercising with a bicycle also strengthens our immune system to fight diseases. With the pandemic still around, we have to maintain our health so that we could fight coronavirus in the best way we can. We don’t want to be a victim of this dreadful disease.
A Beginner Bike Trainer
When you are a beginner and you want to go on bike training, weather changes will hamper your training because you can do it inside the living room or any part of your house which has sufficient space for your training. A bike trainer is an equipment that holds the rear axle of your bike and pushes a resistance roller against the rear tire. In doing so, you can use the bike in place.
How Do You Start with Your Bike Trainer?
● Just like any other physical exercise, you need a warm out to start the work-out around 10 to 15 minutes will be fine.
● Start off with the workout with pedaling at a low force for five to 10 minutes
● Change the force for five minutes
● Switch to higher force for one to two minutes.
If you are going to use a stationary bike, be sure that you get familiar with it before you start with your physical fitness regimen. These are some tips that might help you to jumpstart your bike exercises: An online fitness article has some good advice for a beginner.
Stand next to the upright bike. For your information, an upright bike is similar to the road bike in that you have to be on the seat upright and take hold of the handlebars while doing the exercise.
● Slightly bend on your knees down to the lowest part of the pedal stroke
● Make some adjustments on the handles, pedals, and seat to match your height and grasp.
● Adjustments on the resistance should also be learned during the training as you will need them as you go along with the training.
If you would have some back problems and you still opt to do stationary cycling, you can use another kind of bike which is called a recumbent bike. Using an upright bike may give some back discomfort but with a recumbent bike, you do the cycling in a reclined position.
The recumbent bike lets you do some other activities while you exercise such as watching your favorite videos or checking your emails on your smartphone. Thus, it gives you a more enjoyable atmosphere while doing your exercise.
For a beginner, you can choose the upright stationary bike or the recumbent bike. It is your option which one is better for your lifestyle. What matters most is the regularity of your exercise, that is, you do it at least three times a week. And of course, the time devoted to exercise should be at least 30 minutes. Well, it all depends on you. Just think of your fitness goal that you have to accomplish.
If you need a bike trainer stand that is smart and awesome, you can purchase it from FlexiSpot. It is one of the most trusted brands in the world for manufacturing ergonomic home and office furniture and also physical fitness equipment that would surely match your needs such as the Smart Bike Trainer Stand BT01. It is the smartest choice for you.