Cycling is one of the best cardio exercises for people of all age groups and all body types. It not only helps burn calories and keeps weight under control, but also helps build stamina and increases muscle and bone strength
In today’s fast paced deadline-centric times, the lives of many urban professionals are spent negotiating from meeting to meeting, and driving plush automobiles from one destination to another. So much so, that many ‘corporate robots’ spend days without getting a whiff of fresh air.
While a large number of urban people in India have given themselves up to sedentary lifestyles, those who realise the importance of physical workout often take to the gym, but many a time fail to keep up with the workout routines.
If you are one of those people who are in search of a worthy workout mechanism, pick up a bicycle and see how it changes your life. A few years back, I cancelled my gym membership and decided to turn to cycling every day in pursuit of a healthy body and a stress-free mind; and the humble two-wheeler did not disappoint me. Cycling can be the best medium of workout and stress busting.
And if you find the normal two wheeler lacking in glamour quotient, just step out into the market and you will find a whole new range of suave and hi-tech cycles, capable of taking you easily to distances while actually adding up to your style statement.
Doctors and health experts say that sedentary lifestyles are the biggest threats to our health today. The rise in the incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity is directly attributable to physical inactivity. Some also suggest that the risk associated with some forms of cancers is higher in people with sedentary lifestyles.
With mechanisation taking over our lifestyles, our levels of daily physical activity have drastically reduced as compared to 20 years back.
Stairs have made way for elevators; with home delivery becoming the norm, we hardly walk to the neighbourhood grocery stores. According to World Health Organisation, insufficient physical activity is one of the 10 leading risk factors for death worldwide, and a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
The WHO also recommends that adults aged 18-64 years should indulge in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week. A daily cycle ride of just 20 minutes is sufficient to achieve this target.
Cycling is one of the best cardio exercises for people of all age groups and all body types. It not only helps burn calories and keeps weight under control, but also helps build stamina and increase muscle and bone strength. Being a low impact exercise, it is soft on the joints and unlike hard gym training sessions, doesn’t put you at risk of overuse injuries or sprains. This is why it can also be taken up by elderly people who have arthritic joints.
At the same time, cycling is also a major stress relieving exercise, especially when undertaken in a congenial environment such as a park or a non-congested road. People who take up cycling as a daily activity will tell you it is also addictive. And there’s nothing like getting addicted to a healthy practice!
With the rising popularity of fitness bikes, cycling is gaining currency in urban centres especially among the youth. Many fitness enthusiasts and outdoor sport aficionados have also taken up cycling as a leisure and adventure activity. This is evident from rising sales of premium fitness bicycles in India.
A new emerging category of upper middle class urban professionals are providing a fresh boost to the fitness cycle category, taking up to the environment-friendly two wheeler for multiple reasons — health, reducing carbon foot-print, recreation and hassle free rides.
Interestingly, the culture of urban cycling has been given an impetus by young professionals who have travelled to European countries and returned with an eye-opening exposure to the rampant cycling culture there. In cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Barcelona, corporate honchos and CEOs ride to work every day like millions of other commuters.
While it is yet to become a norm, a new culture of cycling to work can certainly be seen on the horizon in some Indian cities, especially those which have concentrated IT and corporate hubs such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Gurgaon.
It is not uncommon today to see corporate executives riding to work in these cities, combing their daily commute with their fitness regime. In fact, IT company Infosys’s Mysore campus is cycle-friendly with most employees riding the two wheeler across campus.
Overall, adopting cycling into your fitness regime is likely to be much more sustainable than usual exercise initiatives like gyms as being a mode of transport it can be incorporated in your work life. People who have converted to cycling will tell you how a 20 minutes ride can change your life.
(The writer is chairman and managing director of Hero Cycles)