You probably already had an idea that there was some kind of connection between your mental and emotional health and exercise. Still, the idea of physically straining yourself isn’t an inviting way to target your stress, your anxiety, and your pain. What is supposed to make bicycling different?
In this article, I’ll go over not only why biking is an excellent option, but why using an electric bike is even better! You don’t have to be stuck in a vicious cycle of fatigue, irritability, and pain. Everyone can use an electric bicycle whether they are young, old, healthy, or impaired. Here are 5 mental benefits of choosing this forgiving ride.
Decreases Stress
When you are stressed, cortisol is released in your brain to help control your blood pressure and reduce inflammation. However, too much stress produces too much cortisol which in turn causes problems like:
- Insomnia
- High blood pressure
- Anxiety and/or depression
- Gained Weight
- Fatigue
- Intestinal issues
- Irritability
- And more.
Not good. Thankfully leisurely exercise has been linked to the decrease of stress, and therefore cortisol. Intense exercise will actually increase it because you’re putting your body through physical stress. Stress will also cause your muscles to tighten up, which is one reason why you feel so sore all of the time. Biking will release endorphins that will kill pain and relax you.
Biking has an advantage over other forms of exercise as you can compound the leisurely activity with beautiful and peaceful surroundings, particularly on trails. Electric bikes are even better because they make it much easier to make sure you don’t overwork yourself and just have fun.
Controls Anxiety
Naturally, relieving your stress will be closely followed by being able to control your anxiety. Your anxiety decreases for at least two reasons:
- The endorphins I mentioned earlier
- Your controlled breathing
As you bike and start releasing those good ol’ endorphins, you will also practice regulated breathing at the same time.
Now, we’ve all heard “take a deep breath,” when we’re feeling anxious, and there is a good reason for it. Deep, regulated breathing will bring more oxygen into your blood and brain, triggering the parasympathetic nervous system that calms you down.
Now, the regular breathing that we all do doesn’t really have this capability. It has to be focused, purposeful breathing, which biking forces you to do so that in addition to increased oxygen, your mind is taken away from distracting and disturbing thoughts.
Improves Sleep
It isn’t difficult to imagine that having less stress and anxiety will give you better sleep. Automatically, you will have better sleep because of the physical effort you put into your ride. However, there’s more to this benefit of the electric bike than that.
Using your electric bike on a regular basis combines your lowered cortisol levels, the effects of your purposeful breathing, and the energy your body produces and uses naturally once you start biking to begin a healthy sleeping pattern at the end of the day.
By the time your ride is over, you should feel a healthy rejuvenation of your body as well as healthy fatigue. This is to say, fatigue that isn’t caused by stress and anxiety that just continually eats away at your mental well-being and saps your physical strength, but fatigue that knocks you out completely so that you don’t have the chance to worry about tomorrow.
Combats Depression
If you are someone who can’t ride as well as you used to, or have a pretty significant injury, it’s awful not being able to do what you were once able to do. As much as you appreciate and love your friends and family, it’s a poor feeling to have to rely on others because you’re forced to be dependent.
An electric bike is wonderful for giving you back some independence because of its electric boost. As you ride, not only do you avoid hurting yourself by not having to work as hard, you’re able to keep up with your friends and relatives.
Out of numerous studies showing the connection between exercise and mood regulation, a study in 2018 performed by a team of doctors of psychology showed that of their 33,908 volunteers, 12% of their depression cases could have been completely avoided with 1 hour of LEISURELY exercise every week.
You can’t get much more leisure than out of trail biking and gaze at beautiful scenery with the people who matter to you. And those same endorphins I mentioned earlier will also improve your mindset balance.
Initiates Mindfulness
The crosses and chaos of life will inevitably cause you to suffer from distractions and dwell on what might be going wrong or what could go wrong. As you can imagine, if you can’t stop dwelling on your problems – real or potential – you can get stuck in a depressing downward spiral.
This is where mindfulness comes in. Mindfulness techniques and exercises are frequently recommended to those who are struggling with depression, but Mindfulness is more than a focused state of mind.
Being mindful means you are present in the here and now, where you don’t have a chance to fret about the past or future. This is important because being mindful allows you to better manage your thoughts, manage how you’re feeling, and helps you be aware of both, thus enabling you to deal with them.
This is possible with an electric bike because the physical movements and the requirement to be focused on what you’re doing keep you mentally in the present. You are free from unpleasant thoughts or worries and become much calmer.
Conclusion
I hope this article gave you five good reasons to invest in a really enjoy physical activity. After the last couple of years we’ve all had, something like trail riding or mountain biking is a wonderful change of pace and scenery and electric bikes make that enjoyment reachable for almost everyone.
Don’t worry about those who criticize e-bikes for being easier. It’s their whole purpose so that everyone can experience various amazing trails and take everything in without hurting themselves. Over-exertion doesn’t help anyone.
About The Author:
Trevor James is the founder of Electric Bike Paradise, the #1 online retailer of electric bikes, electric scooters, electric skateboards, mobility scooters, electric wheelchairs, and electric golf caddies. Trevor has been selling bicycles, electric bikes, and electric scooters online since 2010 and eventually established Electric Bike Paradise in late 2013 when he happened to meet a car enthusiast that introduced him to electric bikes. Trevor spent time searching for electric bikes online but couldn’t find a website that offered a wide selection of electric bikes, scooters, and informational articles. That is why he decided to start a website where everyone can shop conveniently, browse buying guides, and read educational posts. The website is called Electric Bike Paradise.