There are many activities that one can resort to to keep oneself fit and healthy, cycling is one of them and it is the cheapest and easiest form of exercise. Even if you don’t know how to cycle, it is not very difficult to learn cycling. Cycling is one area where there is no age bar nor any gender bar. Anybody and everyone can learn the art of cycling!! You can ride a bicycle almost anywhere, at any time of the year without spending fortune.

Many people discontinue other certain activities due to monotonous boring routine, or maybe because certain level of skill is required. But with cycling one gets addicted to it, the more regular one gets with cycling, the more he enjoys! Most of us know how to cycle. You never forget how to cycle even if you have learnt it during your childhood days. Half an hour of cycling for couple of weeks is all you require to get hang of it and gain confidence!!

Contrary to the normal belief that cycling concentrates only on the legs, no, cycling is a holistic exercise which involves every part of the body. It gradually improves the general muscle function with very little risk of over strain. Regular cycling strengthens the leg muscles and gradually improves the tonicity of the muscles of the legs, thighs, and buttocks, with ease, which no other kind of exercise can give!! Cycling eats up the extra calories, steady cycling burns approximately 300 calories per hour!

Cycling improves the cardiovascular fitness, as it uses the largest muscles of legs thereby raising the heart rate to benefit stamina and fitness! Cycling reduces stress and depression and improves your self esteem and confidence level. Cycling outdoors in the early hours of morning is a good way to be one with the nature, the earthy smell, the firewood burning smell, the chirping of birds, and the unpolluted fresh cool air followed by the cool warmth of the rising sun rate takes one’s mind away from everyday stress of life and rejuvenates the mind!!

Cycling has an upper edge over other kinds of exercises. Swimming could cause skin allergy, respiratory infection,or ear infections due to high chlorination and bad managed pool water. Aerobics, dance, gym, etc can have high impact on the knees and back, or can also cause some major injury if nor practised under expert guidance. Whereas cycling needs no assistance, no guidance and also one can explore beautiful scenic places alone and still enjoy being alone!

Ladies specially should take up cycling. Ladies find it very difficult to make time for themselves. The attitude is everything is over whom should I look good for now, am married have a wonderful family, now it is only my family, my husband and my children there is no “me” in their story after marriage, it so happens that they start lovingly foster the fat in their body!! Then comes the pregnancy more fat is stored, the very stubborn fat follows it gets accumulated in the abdomen, thighs and buttocks after childbirth, due to hormonal changes, followed by the rich postpartum diet they are forced to follow for the so called body repair following delivery trauma, which cannot be burnt out once they start with the regular household routine work which they feel is sufficient to reduce their weight, but that is not the case the body gets used to the routine. They find aerobics or other kind of exercises stressful because of weak back and leg muscles because of lack of proper exercise.

Cycling and yoga religiously followed should bring them back their fitness to their pre pregnancy days!
Cycling helps overcome obesity, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and mental ailments. It also reduces the risk of getting cancer especially breast and colon cancer.

If one finds it difficult to take time out for cycling, one can fit it into the daily routine by either commuting to their place of work, or riding to shops to buy groceries, or to the market.

With right kind of safety gadgets like front and rear lights, helmet, and most importantly following traffic rules, cycling can be an enjoyable and exhilarating sport and exercise activity!!!!