What does cycling every day do to your body?
Cycling on a regular basis strengthens and improves your heart, lungs, and circulation, lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease. Cycling helps to strengthen your cardiac muscles, lowers your resting pulse, and lowers blood fat levels. It also increases the flow of blood to your legs and brains, which is necessary for healthy thinking and feeling behavior. Regular cycling can help reduce your risk of developing diabetes by improving your body's sensitivity to insulin. This is particularly important for people who are overweight or obese. Cycling is great exercise for your brain too. Studies have shown that regular cyclists tend to have better concentration and memory than non-cyclists. Maybe this is why cyclists are often called "cagers" or "bike riders". Cycling is very efficient exercise for burning calories. In fact, you can burn more calories in one hour of cycling at a moderate pace than if you were to run or walk at the same speed. That's because it requires more energy per kilo of body weight to ride a bike than to walk. And since most people are not made for running, they need to be careful not to overexert themselves when riding a bicycle. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that adults include two days a week of moderate intensity activity such as walking or bicycling to improve health and prevent obesity.