What are the Benefits of Cycling? Here are the 10 Advantages!

1. How Healthy is Cycling? Prevent Illness!

Every sport stimulates your health. Cycling is no different. It reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. It also has a positive effect on your blood composition. This is due to the many movements you make while cycling. And due to your increased heart rate, blood flows faster. This results in flexible blood vessels that stay strong and are less likely to clog. This is stated by a research physician from the Leiden University Medical Center.

2. Cycling and Healthy Weight Loss: Combat Obesity

The pedals are healthy for every body type: you can easily build endurance by cycling more often. But it’s also an easy way to combat excess weight. With 10 minutes of cycling, you burn up to 97 calories. It’s a low-impact workout that you can do on your way to work. It barely strains the joints due to the smooth and steady movements. This is especially nice if you’re on the heavier side. Most weight rests on the saddle, so you barely stress your knees and ankles. And yet you get sufficient exercise.

3. Bike and Muscle: Choose Muscle Building

We all have our reasons to get on the bike. Endurance, preventing obesity, or what else cycling is good for: muscle building. You don’t just use your legs and feet to pedal, but also your hands and arms to steer. You also keep yourself balanced and use extra force while cycling. When you cycle regularly, you’re working on muscle development. Half an hour to an hour per day is already enough to build good endurance and strong muscles.

4. Get the Feeling of Freedom

Cycling equals slowing down. This gives you a sense of freedom. For example, when cycling back from work, you have time to clear your thoughts. You can reach the most beautiful places by bike. This allows you to discover new cities or landscapes in a peaceful way. You have no obligations, can stop and park wherever and whenever you want, and you stay active.

5. Enjoy the Outdoors in Nature

Being outdoors has a positive influence on your (mental) health. When cycling, you discover even more beautiful places within the Netherlands or even across the border. In a car, the landscape quickly passes by, but on a bike, you’re surrounded by flora and fauna. Regular time in nature improves your mood, reduces negative thoughts, and decreases stress. This reduces mental fatigue. Being outdoors also ensures sufficient vitamin D intake. And all this in one bike ride.

6. Stimulate Happiness

Even a short bike ride already has a positive effect on your body and mind. Your body and breathing calm down and your head clears. It reduces stress symptoms and increases the production of endorphins and serotonin. These contribute to feelings of happiness. Another reason why cycling is beneficial.

7. Better Sleep

Being outdoors leads to a better day and night rhythm. When you regularly take the bike and make a round in daylight, you can sleep much better. With just 30 minutes of cycling per day, you fall asleep an hour earlier AND sleep easily an hour longer. Daylight helps you regain your natural sleep rhythm. Sunlight also helps reduce the stress hormone cortisol. This results in better night’s rest.

8. Stimulate your Social Health

Besides physical and mental benefits, cycling is also great for your social life. You can cycle with two people or in a group with like-minded individuals. You relax and can chat, listen, and laugh together. Think about children cycling to school together through all weather conditions. They build stronger bonds with each other and learn to rely on each other. It can also work for people who want to get out for a while. These social contacts are important for humans. Will the next neighborhood activity be a bike ride together?

9. Impact of Cycling on the Brain

The most important mental effect is the brain effect. Your brain is also active when you cycle. It influences blood flow. This provides more oxygen to our brain. As a result, more proteins are produced to create new brain cells. Additionally, a bike ride influences the communication between different parts of our brain. This increases the cognitive capacity of the brain. It leads to improved insightful skills, which relate to thinking ability, understanding, intellect, and human core capabilities.

10. Cycling is Possible Anytime and Anywhere

Another benefit of cycling is that you can easily incorporate it into your daily or weekly routine. Cycling is very accessible. Because it’s so easy, you’re more likely to take the bike. For example, to pick up a package or for groceries. You can use bike rides for moments when you’re going out anyway. This way you get enough exercise without spending much extra time traveling. You can reach many more places by bike than by car. There are up to 35,000 kilometers of bike paths in the Netherlands. Still plenty to discover for everyone.

Example: Cycling to Work

Taking the bike can be easy when going to work. This is an example of a ride you make every day anyway. Need to cycle a bit longer? Then choose to go sustainable by bike with an e-bike. This quickly improves your health if you cycle to work every day – or just on dry days.

And this doesn’t have to be expensive! Did you know you can easily request a lease plan through your employer? Cyclis offers you a lease plan where you can configure your bike including accessories. You could get more colleagues excited about cycling. Through your employer, you can lease a bike more cheaply than buying one yourself. And this while you can visit your local bike dealer.

Interested in the lease plan? Or want to know more about bike leasing and which bikes you can choose from? Then request information or the bike lease plan without obligation.

 

Interested in the Lease Plan?

Or want to know more about bike leasing and which bikes you can choose from? Then request information or the bike lease plan without obligation.