Cycling the Stress Away

In the modern world, people are facing more stress than they can handle on a daily basis. Mortgages, unstable job market, financial difficulties, and the chaos brought by life in the urban environment are some of the most mundane problems one is facing every day. Add to this the imminent paranoia surrounding global epidemics, natural catastrophes, as well as a looming disaster of an emerging global war and you still don’t get the full picture.

This being said, the only people who can remain sane in this kind of environment are those who have an exhaust vent and lead a safe and healthy life. Some people collect rare items, others watch movies or play video games, some find a way to incorporate workout into their daily activities, but more and more people are finding their salvation in the idea of cycling. Reasons behind this are numerous and here are some of them.

Exercise reduces stress

Before we even start listing all benefits of cycling in battling stress, it is vital to mention that this hobby helps in two ways: directly and indirectly. When it comes to the direct ways in which it helps, a lot of people know that physical exercise has a calming effect.

The reason behind this is quite simple. You see, when your body is under a physical hardship, your adrenaline starts pumping and you are ready to face the danger head on. In the distant past, life-threatening danger and physical activity often went hand in hand (for example, during the chase by a predator). In these situations, their body would start pumping hormones to calm them down and in this way increase their chances of survival. During exercise, however, your body still gets to pump these hormones, only this time without the imminent threat. In this way, it isn’t that uncommon that a lot of people feel pleasure from engaging in this kind of physical activity.

Getting outside

Another direct way in which cycling helps keep stress at bay is by being an outdoors activity. Sure, this may seem a bit stretched but a life of an average city-dweller mostly takes place indoors. One gets up in the morning, gets into their car or onto a public transportation (again closed environment) and then goes to work. There, they sit for 8 hours (or more) only to get home and do the exact same thing. Those accustomed to this kind of sedentary lifestyle usually have no energy for anything else than to watch movies or hang out on social networks for the rest of the day. On the other hand, cycling is a perfect activity to break this vicious cycle (no pun intended) and spend some quality time outdoors.

Ability to tune out

People who have to spend most of their day focused may feel the need for something repetitive and mentally undemanding. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can actually tune out during your rides, seeing how you are still an active traffic participant and encouraging such a behavior would be incredibly dangerous. Still, there is a great difference between taking a casual ride across the town and complicated paperwork your daily tasks may involve. When it comes to this, there is nothing quite like cycling.

Making you healthier

Next thing you should consider is a fact that a healthier body has an easier time coping with stress. Ancient Romans even had a saying – a sound mind in a sound body. Aside from this, being discontent with your bodyweight or overall health can also be a root of stress or simply be yet another thing to feel stressed out about. All of these things are something that cycling can help you out with. And even if you're not on your bike, you can invest in quality shoe inserts for standing for increased comfort during the whole day. 

Saving money

As for the indirect ways in which cycling can help you fight stress, frugality is always an effective method. While some may argue that a quality bicycle is a hefty investment on its own, it definitely doesn’t have to be this way. First of all, you can browse through a bikes online store and in this way, save quite a bit while acquiring a personal vehicle of high quality. Next, riding a bicycle actively helps your budget by not requiring you to purchase gas.

In Conclusion

As you can see, by cycling regularly, you are not only blowing off some steam but even actively solving some of the problems that elevated your stress levels in the first place. While some may argue that any kind of physical activity might give similar effects, cycling also has a practical value of being an ultimate mean of the urban commute. On top of it all, it is also an incredibly fun activity, one that you can incorporate alongside having fun with your kids.