Cycling or bike riding is considered to be outdoor sport and for environmental friendly reason there are a lot of people who are switching their current mobile transportation with bike. However since bike is no longer functioning as transportation but also as an exercise tool, some people who don’t have enough time to do outdoor exercise prefer indoor cycling as their regular exercise. Besides that, some studies have found that those who are doing regular cycling in the young age could decrease the risk of some chronic diseases when they reach senior age.
Speaking of the benefits of indoor cycling and then the benefits is not that different with outdoor cycling however surely there are some differences and not entirely the same. Below are some reasons why people decided to go to indoor cycling instead of outdoor cycling and then followed by the health benefits you could get from indoor cycling.
Reasons why People Prefer Indoor Cycling than Outdoor Cycling:
Actually indoor cycling could be done from home or from gym; it is just in the matter of choice. Surely, from home you should invest the indoor cycling tools yourself and you should make sure that your house has enough space to install the bike while in the gym you just need to pay for the membership monthly or annually and use the membership to do others exercises as well.
Cycling from Home:
Below is some reasons why people prefer to do the cycling from home though some of the reasons also could be applied if you are choosing to do it from the gym.
- Don’t need to deal with air pollution
Benefits of Indoor Cycling could be best exercise to avoid air pollution. Air pollution is one of the problems that mostly faced by people who are living in the big city. It is true that by doing outdoor cycling you could enjoy the fresh air but how about the air is already contaminated by dangerous substances like carbon dioxide and dioxin? Face mask is just one of the way to prevent the dangerous chemical entering your system in short term but you cannot make sure that those dangerous substances will not affect your body if you are doing it in long term. That’s why indoor cycling sounds like the easiest solution available.
- Avoid direct exposure from UV ray
Besides air pollution, UV ray is also one of the reasons why people prefer to do indoor cycling than outdoor cycling. Sun ray may be good for your skin but not in a long term while the UV ray could cause some damages with your skin cells. Though there are a lot of products that have been claimed to be effective in prevent the harmful effect of UV ray but still staying in the safe side is much more recommended.
- Safety matter
Safety is also one of the important matters especially for those who are currently living in environment with safety issue. Your main goal may be good by doing outdoor exercise but if it could put yourself in danger then there is no point at all. That’s why some people decided to just do indoor cycling because of the safety reason.
- Much more practical
It is true that doing indoor cycling is much more practical than doing outdoor cycling. Since you are doing all the exercises inside your house you don’t need to worry about how to clean your bike, shoes or yourself from dirt or mud you got during your cycling. Your only problem perhaps is only getting rid of the thin dust that covering your bike if you don’t have time to do the exercises. Besides that you don’t need to worry about getting problems with your bike spare part during the cycling like broken tires.
- Saving time
You don’t need to worry about how much time you should take during exercise. Usually when you’re doing outdoor cycling you should measure how much time you have to do the exercise and how far the distance you should take so you could reach your home on time. Surely it could be a problem if you are doing outdoor cycling every morning just to find out that it is not efficient at all because you will be late to go to work.
- Better way to spend your time
When you don’t have any idea what to do to spend your spare time or there is no place for you to go as well, indoor cycling is a much better way to spend your spare time. Besides that you could do multi tasking during indoor cycling like watching your favorite movie or doing some cooking while exercising. If you could handle it, you are also able to read your favorite books during indoor cycling.
- Good addiction
Cycling is not only fun but also having a lot of health benefits. Some people found cycling could be an addiction and it is actually a healthy addiction which is not harmful for environment as well as good for you.
- Can be conducted by everyone including the elderly
The best thing about cycling is this kind of exercise could be done by almost anyone from young up to old people could do it. In other words, just by investing one indoor bike you could do it for the rest of your life.
- Cheap and easy exercise
It is true that investing in indoor bike is not cheap at all but compared to the money you should spend for gym membership and then you will find that indoor cycling is not only providing you a cheap exercise solution but also easy exercise solution that you still could do even when you have reach senior age.
Cycling from the gym:
Actually point number 1-8 also could be applied for those who decided to do the indoor cycling in the gym but surely there is one more benefit you could get if you are choosing indoor cycling in the gym:
- Socializing
If you are doing the indoor cycling in the gym you will have a chance to socializing with the other members.
Those are the ten main reasons why people prefer to choose indoor cycling instead of outdoor cycling. If you are currently finding out cycling is a fun and easy activity but somehow difficult for you to find the right time to fit it with your schedule perhaps considering indoor cycling is a good idea. Besides that, cycling also has been proven to have several health benefits that you should know.
- Good for Maintaining Immunity System
Actually what you should do to maintain your immunity system is just simply doing regular exercises and indoor cycling is one of the exercises recommended since it is easy and could be conducted by anyone.
- Good for Muscle Health
Believe it or not but the movement as simply as pedaling could contribute in overall muscle health because it is not only the legs’ muscle but also waist and back section.
- Good for Skeletal System
Since it is good for muscle so it is also good for your skeletal system because the simple movement is not only good to exercise the skeletal system but since the pedaling movement is not required to support your body weight so the effect could be optimal.
- Good for Joints
There are a lot of types of exercise like jogging, squatting or jumping but those are required your joints to work harder by supporting your body weight. If you are already weak in the joints perhaps exercising by doing the cycling regularly could aid in the improvement but at the same time don’t put too much force to it.
- Reduce the Back Pains
The simple movement of pedaling is actually able to help those who have back pains issue by stretching the back section muscle and reduce the symptoms caused by the condition.
- Good for body Postures
Balance or good body posture could not achieved in instant way but cycling which combining all the movements that required your body, tendons, muscles, skeletal system and ligaments to work together could contribute in balancing the body postures.
- Good for Respiration System
You have problem with respiratory system so jogging is not really in the option but it is not the reason so you are not doing any exercises. Well, another cheap and easy exercise for you to do is indoor cycling because the energy usually used to support your body weight could be reduced during cycling and good for respiratory system.
- Good for Heart
Inactivity of muscle could reduce its strength and it is also applied to heart muscle. Cycling is considered to be a light exercise that is good for heart because during cycling heart muscle is also being exercised.
- Good for Mental Health
The stable movement of pedaling has a relaxing effect for those who are currently in stress or depression stage. That relaxing effect is effective to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- Aid in Body Weight Loss Program
If you think intensive workout is too much and somehow hard to deal with. Cycling is actually a fun way to lose some body weight. You will be surprised that something as simple as cycling could give some much benefits to your life.
- Aid in Cholesterol Control
Cholesterol problem is closely related to weight gain. If you could control your diet and do regular exercises then the cholesterol level will be under controlled. Cycling is one of the recommended solutions of exercise for those who are currently facing weight gain problem.
- Aid in Blood Pressure Control
Lack of exercises could disturb the regulation of blood in your body and that condition will lead to a serious blood pressure problem. If you find it difficult to find time to exercises, indoor cycling is one that is recommended. Just doing it 10 – 30 minutes per day will give you all the benefits you could get for your health.
- Possible to Fight Cancer
Recent studies also found out that cycling is also possible option to fight cancer. Why? Because the activity will maintain your healthy cells and healthy cells means lower risk of the development of cancerous cells.
- Good to Maintain Stamina
It is not applied to cycling but all kinds of exercises could contribute in maintaining the stamina though surely it should be done regularly as part of the daily routine.
- Improve Sleep Quality
All kinds of routine exercises could provide in improving the sleep quality but some studies have proven it scientifically that cycling 20 – 30 minutes regularly could aid in dealing with insomnia.
- Good for Brain
Brain will function better if the regulation of blood to brain is functioning optimally so brain will get enough oxygen. Regular exercise like cycling could maintain the blood regulation to work optimally and making sure brain is got enough oxygen and nutrients required to function optimally as well.
- Good for Digestive System
Intestine muscle is also required regular exercise to maintain its health and cycling is one of the exercises that are recommended in this matter.
- Good for Sexual Life
Healthy sexual life means you have healthy vascular system. Cycling is one of the best exercises for your vascular organ.
- Good for Pregnancy
Since cycling is considered to be a low risk activity so it is safe for a pregnant mother to do the cycling though surely it is supposed to be consulted first with the doctor to make sure that it is okay because the mother’s physical condition is different from one to another.
- Build Athletic Body
Cycling is considered to a healthy lifestyle that could give you a better body postures. Healthy body and good posture will automatically give you an athletic body.
- Fighting Diabetes
Diabetes type 2 occurred when their body cannot absorb insulin optimally due to body weight issue. Cycling is an easy but beneficial exercise for those who are currently facing body weight issue. Besides it could be conducted anytime.
- Low Risk of Injury
The perk of indoor cycling is this exercise is considered to be a low risk injury type of exercise. However, though it is a low risk exercise but during the exercising all muscles, tendons, skeletal systems and ligaments will move together that makes this exercises a wonder.
- Good for Skin
Do you know that the sweat produced by your skin is actually part of the detoxification mechanism? During that detoxification process your skin cells will be oxygenated that will give you healthier skin.
- Recommended Physical Exercise
Why it is recommended? Well, compared to other type of exercises, indoor cycling is much easier to do even by those who don’t know how to ride a bike.
- Having a Better Lifestyle
Doing regular exercise such as indoor cycling is not only giving you all the benefits as mentioned above but also make you a better person by having a better lifestyle.
Disadvantages and side effects of Indoor Cycling
Well, generally indoor cycling is good choice for you who don’t have enough time to do exercises or not interest to do intensive workout session. However, below are some points that you should take into consideration as well if you are about to choose indoor cycling as your regular exercise:
- If you prefer to do it at home and then you should buy the cycling tools to be installed in your house. You should know that the price of indoor bike is not cheap. So you have to consider this as long term investment. That’s why making sure that you are using it regularly will give you all the benefits you need from indoor cycling.
- If you prefer to do it in the gym then you should pay the regular membership fee. Though surely the fee is not only limiting to the cycling, you could use it to try some other exercises whenever you feel like to do it.
- Since it is indoor activity like inside your house or inside the gym, surely you will miss all the fun that you probably get with outdoor cycling like meeting new people, enjoying the beautiful scenery and many more. But since you don’t have time to do the outdoor cycling then perhaps it is the best choice you have for exercising.
- Over practice is one of the things you should aware also since you could do all the exercise rightly from your home at any time you want. It is true that stress condition could drive this over practice situation that will lead to several problems like joints and muscle soreness or dehydration. However, over practice is also able to happen to anyone who is doing other exercises not only indoor cycling. But if you do it in the gym at least you have someone to supervise you if somehow you are over practicing.
Indoor cycling is one of the best solutions for you who currently don’t have enough time to do outdoor cycling or perhaps any exercise. Just by installing one indoor cycling in your house you will have a long term investment though perhaps you could also be able to enjoy indoor cycling in the public gym. However, for practical and economical reasons surely installing indoor bike in your house is highly recommended.