Electric road bikes are fast becoming a popular transport choice for fitness enthusiasts and city commuters. E-bikes work the same way as regular bicycles, except that the former is chargeable like a phone. The electric charge adds speed and power to traverse steeper terrain. However, you can still ride it like a traditional bike when the battery runs out.
Contrary to what you might already assume, riding an e-bike has some physical benefits. Here’s how you can improve your fitness with an electric road bike:
1) Legs and Lower Body Strength
An electric road bike is a perfect tool for strengthening the calves, hamstrings, hips, and quads. Cycling helps build the muscles in these parts of your body, especially when you make more push-and-pull motions while pedaling. So, when you ride your e-bike around or out of town, you’ll surely get enough exercise to have more powerful legs.
Fully-powered electric bikes make cycling easier on your legs. Hence, they’re excellent items for people if they want to get fit without spending hundreds on a gym membership. An e-bike is still usable even if it runs out of juice. However, it will become heavier and harder to pedal because of the battery and electronic system’s weight. This ‘flaw’ can be a good thing since it will force your legs to exert more power and make them stronger.
2) It’s A Core Muscle Workout
Riding a bike seems easy, almost natural, for most people. But as you ride, sometimes you don’t notice how much effort your body is making to stay on it. It takes core strength to maintain constant balance on any bicycle. You’ll find that your abdomen feels nearly the same amount of tension as your legs during and after you ride one.
Cycling isn’t necessarily a core workout, but there are a few ways it could help improve your abdominal muscles. You use your core to turn and control your bike on more challenging terrain. Steeper inclines also force your abdomen to remain in balance to stabilize you and your e-bike as you climb. If you want to feel the right kind of pain in your obliques, try biking on rougher, uneven ground so you can give your core a proper workout.
3) Encourages Cardiovascular Fitness
Electric road bikes have a pedal-assist feature that makes cycling a breeze. But it’s not like a car running on autopilot. You’ll still need to pedal manually to get to places. As a result, your body will constantly move along with your bike and get your blood pumping, and it’s an easy way to improve your cardiovascular health. Cycling can be a high-intensity activity that could strengthen your endurance and overall health. So, with frequent exercise on an e-bike, you can gain more energy to bike for more extended periods or do daily tasks.
Even if you only ride your electric bike during the weekends or on your commute to work, you may still get that much-needed cardio exercise. Try biking around the local park or going on a cycling trail with your family. Exercising with your children could teach the kids how to prioritize a healthier lifestyle when they see you exercising with them.
4) Helps You Have Better Sleep
Sleep is probably the only non-moving activity that benefits your overall health. Aside from exercising, you also need ample sleep to help your body recover from high-intensity workouts. The amount of sleep you need usually depends on a few factors, including age. Adults aged 19 and older need around seven to nine hours. Lack of sleep could result in weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, and lowered immunity.
Cycling on an electric road bike is a tiring yet worthwhile activity that may lead you to have better, undisturbed sleep every night. While a fully-charged e-bike lowers your effort level, you’ll still move those muscles as long as you keep pedaling. And that physical exertion will result in a tired body that needs to recover through sleep.
Getting enough sleep is crucial if you continue using your e-bike whenever you want. Poor physical performance and fatigue may spring from the lack of it. Your body is like your electric bike, too, in a way. You also need to rest and recharge.
Conclusion
Electric bikes are an asset in improving your health. Their battery-powered and assistive motor also benefits those starting on their fitness journey. But anyone who’s not even after a full-body workout will appreciate riding an e-bike to become healthier every day.
