We spend a lot of our time indoors, and even more than that, we spend time sitting down. It’s not only monotone, but it’s bad for our health. We’re missing out on fresh air, the benefits of sunshine and we’re putting some serious strain on our backs. To put it simply: our bodies were never meant to spend as much time sitting as we do now. But, there is one simple solution to fix both problems: change your commute. More specifically, instead of driving or taking public transport to work: go by bike! There are so many benefits to this, but there are also some things that you need to be careful about:
Health benefits
To get obvious out of the way: doing anything active instead of sitting inside the car is better for you. However, there is more to biking than just being active and burning calories. For starters, you are engaging some muscles – primarily in your legs – that don’t usually get that much workout, unless you’re doing a lot of squats. Secondly, you are raising your heart rate, opening up your veins and allowing your bloodstream to get more oxygen. It is only a half an hour of light (or moderate, depending on the speed) exercise that we need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Biking improves your breathing, and since you are spending time outdoors, you’re getting more fresh air.
Distractions
We all know that most accidents on the road happen because of distractions. It’s not too hard to see why: unless you’re a beginner driver, it’s easy to get bored while driving, and turn to other distractions to entertain your mind. The same thing can happen to people who are riding their bike, since it requires even less focus to perform the actual action. When you are riding a bike, try not to reach out to entertainment on your phone mounted in front of you, because that can distract you and make you pay less attention to your surroundings. You should also stay away from headphones because they block out sounds which can give you vital information about your surroundings.
Pick a route
You can reach every destination by taking different routes, and it’s important to know that the fastest one isn’t always the best one. If you have to go uphill on your route, then you should have a bike such as these Sydney electrical bikes that will help you get up and over the hurdles faster so that you won’t have to get off and push your bike. You should also choose a route that has a bike lane all the way through, or smaller, empty roads where you will be safe from traffic. You should also think about where would you like to be. If a five-minute longer ride takes you through a beautiful park, you should opt for it, not only because it’s prettier, but because you will be breathing better quality air. If you have to go through a pedestrian zone, make sure you are allowed to bike through it, or calculate the time it will take you to push your bike.
Be safe and comfortable
If you’re going to be spending a lot of your time on your bike, you should make sure that you take it to a shop to get everything checked up and tightened up at the beginning of every season, or whenever you notice that something’s not right. You should equip your bike with everything you need: a comfortable seat, front and back baskets, a bell, a water bottle holder, chain guard to keep your pants clean and perhaps some carrier bags on the sides. If the bike is supposed to replace your car, you want to make sure it can get you from A to B in the same way. You might also need a child seat or two if you’re taking the little ones with you.
Biking to work is a small change you can make to improve your health greatly, and it’s a change that you can make today. It’s an important skill and habit to instill in children as well, so we can all live a healthier life.
