6 Important health benefits of electric bikes
If you are wondering why there is a sudden surge in the interest and sales of electric bikes, then you are being left out on the incredible bunch of benefits that they boast.
Besides the long string of general benefits that they bring you such as saving on commuting costs, saving on time and helping you take care of mother nature by going green, electric bikes, commonly known as e-bikes bring you something even better, and that is better health.
Today, such bikes are no longer considered a mere form of recreation but an essential part of leading a healthy lifestyle. If you’re still in the dark till now, take a look at some of the vital benefits that you accrue when you purchase an electric bike.
What’s an electric bike?
Before taking a deep dive into the benefits, it is essential that you understand what electric bikes are and why people are making such a fuss over them.
Without further ado, e-bikes are just what the name suggests; traditional bicycles equipped with electric motors or motorized bike to enhance the riders’ experience by making pedaling much effortless.
Most people perceive e-bikes as cheating, but they are entirely genuine. You see in as much as the motor makes movement smooth, you have to pedal for the bicycle to move thus you are utilizing strength in the process.
The motor comes in handy in rough terrains as it eases your way through such areas but does not make bicycle riding a dime easier as you still have to use strength for the motor to work.
Essential health benefits of electric bicycles
1. E-bikes enhance and offer moderate aerobic exercise which is good for the health
If you’re reading this in the 21st century, then there is no doubt that you are well informed about the impact of exercising and working out on your health. There’s a lot of information wherever you turn to emphasizing on the importance of exercising and in fact, scientists and health experts now refer to exercises as miracle cures as they help you keep so many diseases at bay.For instance, obesity is currently increasing concerns across the world with more cases being reported in each dawn. To be more precise, the rate of obesity and overweight has increased by 27.5% among the adults aged 33 years and above, and 47.1% among children and adolescents.
Collectively, the data collected in 2013 reported that 671 million people across the world were obese.
Overweight is a healthy condition to worry about as it associated with other health risks such as insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart attack, and High cholesterol famously known as hypercholesterolemia.
Riding an electric bike helps you alleviate the chances of contracting such diseases as it not only helps you shed the extra flab fat without having to try so hard but also improves the circulation of blood throughout the body.
That goes a long way in ensuring that all your muscles and organs receive enough oxygen supply and all the nutrients they require to function correctly. As a result, your body’s immune system is strengthened thereby enabling your body to counter such diseases and illnesses.
In respect to that, health experts recommend that every Average Joe undergo at least seventy-five minutes of vigorous aerobic workouts or 2.5 hours of moderate aerobic exercises to keep the doctor away.
Thanks to their tight schedules most people rarely get the time to hit the gym or go for a morning run to keep up with this recommendation.
Fortunately thanks to electric bikes, everyone can now inch closer to healthy living as e-bikes boast the potential to enable anyone seeking better health to attain the recommended 2.5 hours of moderate intensity workouts or even more every day.
2. Helps you achieve mental clarity
We live in an era where mental disorders such as depression, stress and anxiety cause more deaths than most chronic illnesses.
Even though many antidepressants are being sold over the counter, they still haven’t helped suppress the rising numbers of suicide deaths. This is because they end up being addictive or do not work at all.
However, studies show that the simple act of riding an electric bike can help one achieve mental clarity by easing stress and depression.
For instance, using a group of people taking antidepressants, a particular study revealed that riding electric bicycles helps inhibit the production of a stress hormone known as cortisol and promotes the release of the happy hormone known as endorphins thus easing stress and making you more content.
Their mental clarity improved even more thanks to the healing power of nature.
Other findings show that spending time in nature helps reduce stress and significantly decreases depression and anxiety by calming down the hyperactive brain neurons which cause such disorders and there is no better way to spend time in nature than by cycling.
3. Prevents cognitive decline that comes with age
As we age, our bodies undergo a series of changes and this changes also take part in the brain. For instance, Parkinson disease, Alzheimer, and schizophrenia are some of the conditions which commonly affect older people.
Fortunately, if your golden age clock is ticking away fast, you don’t have to worry about such conditions as there is a way for you to avoid them and age way gracefully. How you ask?
Well, you see our brains usually have a protein called BDNF, in full, brain-derived neurotrophic factor which is responsible for the maintenance and creation of neurons.
BDNF also plays the role of the middleman between brain health and physical activity, and when this protein starts wearing out, the aging individual becomes more prone to neurological disorders like Alzheimer.
They no longer can coordinate their activities like before, remember people and generally suffer cognitive decline.
Fortunately, those who ride electric bikes can enjoy improved cognitive functions as an experiment conducted on a group of people with a cluster of medical conditions revealed that after a few months of regular bicycle riding helped increase the levels of BDNF significantly.
As a result, they developed better physical and mental health.
4. Electric bikes help you achieve your fitness goals
Waking up early in the morning or leaving work an hour earlier just to hit the gym is something most people are unable to do.
At the start of the year, most of them will make resolutions of how they will work out and achieve their fitness goals only to notice that the year flew away without them lifting even a single finger.
Electric bikes make it possible for you to achieve your fitness goals without necessarily having to hit the gym. For instance, as mentioned earlier, they offer low impact aerobic exercise, and by riding one to work every morning, you can get two things done at one time. You will not only save on time but also on the costs of fuel and at the same time undergo exercise thus enabling you to achieve that summer body you’ve wanted so bad for years without spending too much time in the gym.
Nevertheless, an e-bike is no magic pill and won’t just help you lose weight if you ride it once a week. You need to be consistent for you to achieve excellent results.
5. Gives you a sense of belonging and makes you happy
As an e-biker, there is no doubt that you will come across electric biking communities within your neighborhood and social media.
Owning one and being able to use it well will automatically becomes your ticket to events organized by other e-bikers not only within but also outside your community.
This improves your socializing skills thus giving you more friends and more life.
Therefore, if you were an introvert suffering from depression or any other emotional disorder having friends who you can turn to and do something you like with will give you a sense of belonging, improve your socializing skills, and make you happy.
How is this a health benefit? Well, when you are happy, then you are less likely to suffer from emotional and mental disorders making your life more fruitful.
6. Forever young
By riding e-bikes regularly, you get to enjoy all the above benefits.
From keeping chronic and cardiovascular diseases away to improved mental clarity and cognitive functions.
This, when combined with the fact that you can achieve your fitness goals even at the age of eighty without straining too much and also, makes you happy helps you look and feel ten years younger.
Even though it does not make you immortal, e-bike riding definitely deserves being on top of any to-do list as the benefits it accrues you surpass the normal.
Bottom line
The health benefits of electric bikes are so many that we can’t really exhaust them all.
Nevertheless the above gives a sneak peek of how owning one would change your life, and as you continue riding it, then you will realize even more benefits thus making it worth every dime that you spent on it.
Don’t be in the dark anymore, join the bandwagon of e-bikers today and thank us later.
