Welcome and thanks to Ron Fritzke, guest author of this article. ~BB
Editor's note: "Cardiovascular" refers to the heart, lungs and circulatory system.

Cardiovascular Sports: Cycling

When thinking about the classic cardiovascular sports, we usually think of walking, running, swimming, and sometimes riding a bike. While there's an advantage to 'minimalist' cardiovascular activities that don't require equipment other than running shorts or a Speedo...riding a bike for fitness has its advantages as well.

Not everyone has access to water that's appropriate to swim in, and the impact of running can result in injuries that preclude it from being an activity that contributes to cardiovascular fitness training.

Enter the bicycle.

While there are innumerable health benefits which make cycling one of the top cardiovascular sports, we'll cover three of the most powerful.

1. Cardiovascular Fitness Training

Cycling has excellent benefits as a cardiovascular activity Photo by Pereric (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

You'd have to have been hiding under a rock (or on your couch with a hand in the potato chip bag) to not be aware of the health risks associated with neglecting the health of your heart and lungs. While tossing the chips aside is a start, getting off the couch and onto a bike can be a cardiovascular activity that contributes to longevity.

When cycling, the gluteal (butt) muscles, quadriceps, and hamstrings (large muscles of the front and back of the thigh) demand much more oxygen and nutrients than when at rest. That's where the heart and lungs step in...they have to work hard to supply that oxygen.

An important principle of exercise physiology is that a demand on a body part (in this case, heart and lungs) followed by appropriate rest, results in a strengthening of that body part.

Presto...cycling climbs up the ladder of cardiovascular sports, since it provides great cardiovascular fitness without the impact of running, or the inconvenience of swimming.

2. Obesity Isn't For Royalty Anymore

It's hard to believe that a few centuries ago it was an honor to be obese. Only royalty and the wealthiest citizens could corral enough food to get fat. The rest of the serfs had to suffer from a healthy BMI (body mass index).

If you take a look at the crowds in a current day mall, you'd think it was a gathering of kings and queens. Thus, the modern preoccupation with weight loss.

Spending regular time on a bike, or even on an indoor bike trainer when the weather's foul, can gradually burn off enough calories to lose the kind of weight that comes off and stays off.

3. Pedal away stress

Your body has a problem with the 'fight or flight' response. In short, it doesn't know what's a mental threat and what's a physical threat. Most of our present day stress is mental, but it plays out in an inappropriate body response.

Cycling provides an outlet for the fight or flight (certainly the flight part of the equation if you get going fast enough) response. It clears the playing field of accumulated stress...the kind that takes away the ability to focus, as well as the sense of well being that we all crave.

Summary: Three Important Cycling Benefits

So in addition to being one of the top notch cardiovascular sports, cycling offers two additional critical benefits to holistic health. It's very effective in the formula for long term weight loss, and it's an excellent combatant against the daily mental stress that plagues us in our society.

Not that I'm biased...but cycling rocks!

About the author: Ron Fritzke is a cycling product reviewer with a passion for ‘all things cycling’. A former 2:17 marathoner, he now directs his competitive efforts toward racing his bike…and writing about cycling gear...from Sidi shoes to Kurt Kinetic Road Machine indoor trainers.

Return to Health Related Fitness from
Cardiovascular Sports: Cycling

[Return to the top of the page]