Body Blog: Go Ride a Bike!

By SarahFit

Happy National Bike week, everyone!

Sound like a holiday you’d like to celebrate? Did I just hear a “hell no!”?

Ok, I get it; biking is an acquired liking. Some argue their butts don’t fit on the seat; others say it’s just too hard. But the butt pain (and trust me, there will be butt pain) is well worth all the benefits of taking up biking. Bikes not only provide great exercise, but they are also an incredibly practical piece of sporting equipment because they can be used for exercise or transportation. Extremely cheap transportation.

Why ride a bicycle to work or class? The most immediate result you will see is the money you will be saving when you don’t have to pay for gas or parking meters. And who can forget the fresh air you can breathe in by eliminating all that carbon your car would have dumped into the air?

If that won’t convince you, how about the health benefits?  Think about it; instead of sitting in a car moving your foot from left to right, you could be pumping those legs to burn calories and build muscle. In fact, for a 135 lb woman, an hour of leisurely biking can burn about 300 calories! Three hundred! Imagine how quickly you could tone your body up by simply switching up your ride to class!

If you are looking to burn major calories, Spinning is a must. Ok, so you can’t really spin to class, but it is one of, if not the most, intense exercise classes you can ever partake in. You can burn as many as 800 calories in a single hour! Spinning is no joke and an extremely difficult full body workout. This interval class allows you to burn some serious calories while also toning your legs, working your core, and building endurance. And that is the kind of workout that can only be done on a bike.

Don’t have 60 minutes to spare?

Try this four minute cycling workout using a fan bike. It will burn up to 800 calories AFTER you finish! Pretty awesome, right? It’s called a Tabata Interval and the combination of rest and intense bursts of cardio elevate your heart rate for the hours after you finish your workout. Now you don’t have the option of saying you don’t have enough time to workout. You just need 4 minutes!

Wanna know what bike is right for you? There are a variety of kinds that are geared towards commuters, mountain bikers, street racers and leisure riders. Check out this cool women’s bike site to get started finding one that is right for you. Be careful, though; bikes can get pretty pricey. They can be as expensive as two thousand dollars, but there are also many affordable options, especially if you buy something used.

It’s finally warm out, so give up that gym membership for the summer and hop on a bike. You’ll enjoy the weather and scenery so much, you might even forget you’re working out.

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