Benefits of Indoor Cycling

• 1. Cycling improves mental well-being - Feel Better

  • It is well established that physical exercise can act as a mood enhancer. A study by the YMCA for example showed that people who had a physically active lifestyle had a wellbeing score 32 per cent higher than inactive individuals. There are so many ways that exercise can boost your mood: there's the basic release of adrenalin and endorphins, and the improved confidence that comes from achieving new things (such as completing a challenge, or getting closer to a goal such as riding your first century, or half-century).

• 2. Cycling strengthens the immune system

  • Want to suffer with fewer colds? Cycling could be a great way to make that happen. A study at Appalachian State University by Dr. David Nieman and colleagues looked at 1,000 adults up to the age of 85. Exercise, they found, had huge benefits on the health of the upper respiratory system and reduced incidences of the common cold. Nieman said: “People can knock down sick days by about 40 per cent by exercising aerobically on most days of the week while at the same time receiving many other exercise-related health benefits.” Elsewhere researchers at Kings College, London showed that exercise helped prevent the gradual lowering of infection-fighting T-cell production as we age, with active participants showing similar T-cell levels to much younger participants.

• 3. Cycling can help you lose weight

  • Weight loss is one benefit of cycling. Cycling can help support healthy weight loss. If you feel your health would benefit from dropping a kilo or two, cycling can be a great way to support weight loss alongside a rounded and healthful diet. Weight loss is, broadly, a question of burning more calories than you consume – and cycling is a bit of a secret weapon on that front, using up between 400 and 1,000 an hour, depending on intensity and rider weight. There are other factors at play though – the make-up of the calories you consume will affect overall health, your performance on the bike, as does the quality of your sleep. On-bike fuelling remains important too, especially for long or intense rides that can otherwise leave you hungry and craving midnight snacks. If you eat a healthy diet that creates a calorie deficit (one that is controlled and, crucially, does not put you at risk of long-term health conditions) you should lose weight.

• 4. Cycling builds muscle

  • Cyclist legs and bike. Cycling can be a great muscle builder. It goes without saying that cycling doesn't only use your aerobic system – it uses your muscles too. Ergo, cycling is going to build muscle – particularly around the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves. Anyone recoiling at the idea of trying to drag a bodybuilder-style physique up the hills need not worry – you'd need to spend a lot of time in the gym with heavy weights before ending up with quads like a track sprinter. But you will develop a nice toned derriere. Another benefit can be that more muscle burn more calories even at rest – one 2022 study found muscle burned 15kcal per kilo per day. Not much, but still around seven times more than fat.

• 5. Cycling means you can eat more

  • Let's talk about the benefits of riding. As you probably guessed by the title of this section, they extend beyond even the fitness, health and economic advantages. Focus on eating the right kind of foods, low in carbs that will quench, appease, fulfil, relieve, or gratify hunger. Yes you can eat more and still be losing weight. Given your half hour ride should be burning between 200 and 500 calories, you'll want to eat something beforehand. If you're serious about burning fat, you could do your morning ride on a simple cheese omelette and then cool down with a nice coffee and some toast. Don’t ride on an empty stomach, especially if you are into fasting. This can cause more harm than good.

• 6. Cycling improves lung health

  • Cyclist riding in traffic. Well we all know how congested the roads are and this makes riding indoors a way better option than breathing in car fumes. Of course, if you’re riding indoors, you'll encounter little to no exhaust fumes at all.

• 7. Cycling cuts health risks

  • Up your heart health and life expectancy by bike. Cycling raises your heart rate and gets the blood pumping round your body, and it burns calories, limiting the chance of your being overweight. No wonder it is recommended by the NHS as being a healthy way to lower your risk of developing major illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. In a 2017 study conducted by the University of Glasgow, researchers looked at over 260,000 individuals over the course of five years - and found that cycling can cut a rider's risk of developing heart disease or cancer almost in half. Dr. Jason Gill of the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences commented: “Cycling was associated with substantially lower risk of adverse health outcomes."

• 8. Cycling is low impact

  • Cycling is a low impact form of exercise. As we've alluded to above in this article, your health will benefit from exercise, full stop. But – just in case you were thinking of just going for a quick run instead – we're pretty convinced that cycling sits among the top branches of the exercise tree. One key thing to recommend it is that it's non weight-bearing, which makes it superb when it comes to avoiding injury or recovering from it. In one study that compared long distance runners and cyclists, scientists found the runners experienced 133-144 per cent more muscle damage, 256 per cent more inflammation and 87 per cent higher DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Whilst cycling is less likely to result in an overuse injury, that doesn't give you carte blanche to go crazy – build up your riding sensibly. A professional bike fit is a good idea if you're at all unsure about your set up. YES we can arrange this also as part of our service to you. Cycling's non weight-bearing nature also means that it does not do as much to increase bone density as other sports – so adding some resistance training to your routine is a great idea.

• 9. Cycling indoors saves time

  • As well as being free of charge (once you've bought the bike of course), workouts by bike can often get your fitness where you need to be, way quicker than using a gym or cycling outdoors. Think about it – no traffic jams, no road rage, no bad weather. What's not to love?

• 10. Cycling indoors lets you ride all over the world

  • Without doubt, the reality of cycling APPS like Rouvy let you ride all over the world. You can ride with new riders or your friends. It will track everything you have done and build up detailed information allowing you to track your progress. This is why we provide you with a free trial on Rouvy to experience one of the best APPS on the market today.

• 11. Cycling can improve your sex life

  • Cycling could improve your sex life!!!Its official – cycling is sexy. And we're not just talking about all that skin-tight Lycra. Numerous studies have shown that cardiovascular exercise can improve sexual function in both men and women, which is not only great for your relationship but great for your overall health, too. One 2014 study asserted that "frequent sex can improve… general quality of life and may even extend our life by years." Elsewhere Dr Matthew Forsyth, an urologist and cyclist from Portland, Oregon, says: “All these muscles [worked on the bike] are used during intercourse. The better developed these muscles The message is clear – get on the bike and ride.

• 12. Cycling helps you sleep better

  • If you think you're getting better sleep thanks to cycling, well, you probably think right – that much has been proven by science. Researchers at the University of Georgia studied men and women aged 20 to 85 over a period of 35 years, and found that a drop in fitness of 2 per cent for men and 4 per cent for women resulted in sleep problems. Dr Rodney Dishman was one of the lead authors, and commented: "The steepest decline in cardiorespiratory fitness happens between ages 40 and 60. This is also when problems of sleep duration and quality are elevated." The study authors suggested that the possible reasons for the sleep improvement could include exercise's ability to reduce anxiety. Cycling also protects against weight gain with age, which is another cause of poor sleep.

• 13. Cycling boosts your brain power

  • Whatever you think about going for a ride, there's a good chance you'll think it better once you've actually saddled up and got on the bike. That's because exercise and brain health go hand-in-hand. A 2019 study showed that older cyclists improved their cognitive function in just eight weeks thanks to outdoor riding, while a study in 2013 demonstrated that during exercise, cyclists' blood flow in the brain rose by 28 per cent, and up to 70 per cent in specific areas. On top of that, blood flow stayed elevated by 40 per cent in some areas, even after exercise. Improved blood flow is good because the red stuff delivers all sorts of goodness that keep us healthy. The study concluded that we should cycle for 45-60 minutes, at 75-85 per cent of max 'heart rate reserve' (max heart rate minus resting heart rate) four times a week.

• 14. Cycling improves spatial awareness

  • There are numerous technical elements to cycling that require constant use of your spatial awareness and adjustments to your balance. Yes even indoor cycling helps. This aspect of bike riding often goes completely overlooked, and yet it is a major plus-point and super important for health. Better balance is associated with significantly improved longevity, according to a 2022 study published in the British Journal of Sports and Medicine. The great news is that – according to a separate Australian study – cycling just one hour a week was associated with significant improvements in balance.

• 15. Cycling means new friends

  • APPS like Rouvy allow you to ride alone, and sometimes practicalities dictate that you need to. But in our experience, the best and most memorable rides are those done in good company. It is so easy to arrange a ride with staff in our Taiwan office and the Manchester office at the same time. There are even online cycling clubs now that you can join. Clubs are a great way to learn about indoor riding, but there's more to them than that. They can be a great social base, with new friends, social events and even trips away to get to know each other.