Health Benefits Of Riding A Motorcycle
It’s no secret — you love to ride your motorcycle any chance you get. Whether you’re cruising around town, taking a backcountry ride, coasting along an ocean-side highway or commuting to work, you’re enjoying that feeling of freedom and that surge of adrenaline that accompanies every twist of the throttle. You may recognize that motorcycle riding is good for your soul, but did you also know there are some health benefits to riding a bike, particularly over driving a car?
Your friends here at Interstate Cycles in Lake City, Florida, have pulled together these health benefits of motorcycle riding for you, just in case you needed more reasons to take your bike out for a spin!
Engages Your Mind
When you’re driving a car, you’re generally sitting still in a seat that’s not unlike a comfortable recliner and your mind and body are only passively engaged. You hit the gas and brake pedals and turn the steering wheel and remain vigilant to your surroundings, but you aren’t really paying full attention or getting a lot out of the experience. You’ll even find your mind wandering and you’ll forget parts of your journey due to the sheer monotony.
However, sit astride your motorcycle and you’ll be 100% engaged in the ride from start to finish. Because of the heightened danger due to not being in an enclosed vehicle, you must be much more vigilant and attentive to potential threats on the roads. Potholes, puddles, ice and rough roads create more problems for motorcyclists over drivers. Balancing your bike also takes some mental effort, so you’ll get all your synapses firing and feel much more alert and lively on your bike than you would in your car.
Releases Feel-Good Chemicals
Remember that sense of delight you get when you strap on your helmet and straddle your bike? Doing something you love releases endorphins, those “feel good” chemicals in your brain that are activated by pleasurable activities. You’ll feel your mood lifted and buoyed while you ride, and the nice part is that the positive effects will last for hours after you’ve stopped riding for the day.
Riding can also help to reduce the amount of stress chemicals like cortisol in your system. When you’re tense and anxious, your body produces protective chemicals that can do real damage to your system and unbalance your body’s equilibrium, disrupting your focus, your digestion and your nervous system, making you emotional and anxious.
Stress is an extremely common cause for many health issues, so anything that you do to reduce it is a good thing. If that includes taking a spin on your motorcycle, then ride to your heart’s content and feel your stress and anxiety melt away.
Works Out Your Muscles
Obviously, motorcycling isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of fortitude to ride, and it also takes some physical strength and endurance. When you’re balancing your bike as you ride, you’re engaging all your core muscles, as well as those in your shoulders and back so you can maintain a good riding posture. Steering your bike engages your leg and arm muscles.
This makes motorcycle riding similar to a full-body workout, but you don’t have to go to the gym to work on stationary bikes or lift weights. You get to be outdoors heading towards the beach or the next town over while doing low-impact strength exercise!
If you’re itching to put these benefits to practice, but don’t have the bike of your dreams yet, come visit our dealership in Lake City, Florida. We carry an impressive stock of new and used motorcycles by leading industry brands so you’ll have plenty to choose from. Interstate Cycles is located near Gainesville and Jacksonville, serving the cities of Valdosta and Sanderson, Florida.