You don’t feel like riding a conventional bike? How about switching to an electrically-assisted bicycle? If the intensity of the effort is less, the health benefits are to be addressed.
An electrically-assisted bicycle is not a moped! If you don’t pedal, it doesn’t move (unless you use moped-like models, which are allowed in the USA). The motor is only there to reduce the intensity of the effort by 20 to 30%. And that’s what makes this bike so enjoyable; it’s not a lazy tool… and allows you to arrive at the office fresh and ready!
Read also: How not to sweat on your e-bike commute? Trip planning – in this article, on the road – in this article, when you arrive – in this article.
Activity booster
The more you ride, the more you benefit. And on an e-bike, it is so easy to adapt the intensity of your effort to your current physical condition (by activating the assistance level) that nothing can stop you from being motivated, neither laziness nor a hill.
Users even spontaneously cover twice as many kilometers as on a conventional bike! Even if the intensity of the effort is less, the overall benefits on health are only slightly reduced.
Read also: Can e-bikes help go up steep hills? And, How to switch electric assistance levels on an e-bike?
Accessible even to low back pain sufferers
Contrary to the classic bicycle, the e-bike is not discriminatory. It allows those who suffer from knee arthritis to pedal without pain. You can easily install an electric motor on a tricycle to secure those with balance problems, on a semi-recumbent bike for those who suffer from low back pain, or on a tandem bike so that visual impairment is no longer an obstacle to riding.
Read also: Most common e-bike riding pains, how to prevent and cure them. And, Preventing and coping with knee pain when riding an e-bike.
Natural treatment of chronic diseases
The e-bike allows you to progressively recondition yourself to exercise, enjoy it, and fight naturally and effectively against diseases that, by their nature or treatments, have led to a sedentary lifestyle.
Obesity: challenging to practice on a classic bike when you weigh 100 kg. And it takes much longer and is more harmful to the joints to replace the fat mass with lean mass by walking than by pedaling. By facilitating the practice, the e-bike activates weight loss. It lowers diabetes and arterial hypertension, as many comorbidity factors made obese people the first victims of Covid-19.
Read also: Are electric bikes good for exercise? And, Can I use an e-bike to get fit or for weight loss?
Cardiovascular diseases: those requiring beta-blockers, which limit the heart rate to 120 bpm, for example, make the practice of classic cycling almost impossible. The same is true in the case of coronary pain at 140 bpm… By limiting the cardiac effort below this level, the e-bike allows you to pedal in complete safety.
Read also: Can I use e-bike to get fit or for weight loss? And, Are e-bikes good for cardio exercise?
Cancers: the recurrence risks are reduced by 30% thanks to physical activity. By reducing the effort, the e-bike encourages movement despite fatigue, helps overcome it, and gets back in the saddle psychologically by regaining autonomy and recreating social ties.
Read also: Here is why riding an e-bike is probably the best exercise with asthma. And, Would riding an electric bicycle help with cancer treatment?
Sequelae of Covid-19: the e-bike gently helps to readapt to the effort to increase ventilation, thus, gas exchanges. The pulmonary alveoli thus become more functional and gradually recover a good respiratory capacity.
Read also: Are electric bikes good for cardio exercise? And, Here is why riding an e-bike is probably the best exercise for asthma.
Advice +
– Don’t skimp… on quality
The more expensive an e-bike is, the more its battery is autonomous and robust, allowing it to practice efficiently and with pleasure. So avoid the 1st price models and the lead batteries (polluting). Instead, opt for an amp-hour battery (9 to 13, not less), preferably mid-drive or on the rear sprocket, but not in front.
Read also: Why are e-bikes so expensive? And, What is the difference between cheap and expensive e-bikes? And, Will e-bikes become cheaper?
Five tips to get more toned
Cycling works the calves, thighs, and buttocks. And to a lesser extent, arms, shoulders, back, and abs.
Read also: How does riding an e-bike compare to walking? And, How does riding an e-bike compare to running?
To optimize e-bike rides:
– Pedal like a dancer
The whole body works at the same intensity because the activity is no longer carried. Do this for a few minutes at regular intervals, except for gonarthrosis.
– Wear a backpack
Between 1 and 2 kg, it induces impacts on the spine that strengthen the spine.
– Pump
When stopped, tone your arms, press your elbows against your body with your shoulders clear of your ears, and do push-ups on the handlebars, exhaling on the way down and exhaling on the way up.
– Take ruts
These will help you develop proprioception (a sense of balance developed by voluntarily putting yourself off balance) and put more pressure on the upper body.
– Mix activities
Always combine cycling with an impact activity to fight osteoporosis (stair climbing, jogging, Nordic walking, etc.), and 2 minutes of static planking per day to pedal more extended, more toned, and without back pain.
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