Cycling for Happines

Turbo trainers allow cyclists to convert their usual cycles into indoor exercise bicycles. This has its own advantages and disadvantages, though, on a whole, cyclists recommend the use of turbo trainers.

Advantages–

• Turbo trainers allow the cyclist to save space in the house. Buying an indoor exercise bicycle would mean that the cyclist has to make room for two bikes in the house. However, with this trainer, he or she can convert their existing bicycle into an indoor bicycle.

• Buying this type of trainer means that the cyclist saves an amount equivalent to the cost of a new bicycle. Thus, they are quite inexpensive and affordable.

• They allow the cyclist to experience the feel of their own cycle. Thus, the cyclist does not have to make any posture adjustments while training with the turbo trainer. This ensures that there is minimal time lost in the adjustment and readjustment processes.

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Cycling computers come in many embodiments. My favorites, as of late, largely include wireless models. Wireless computers offer several advantages over wired models. They are simple to install, keep the bike looking clean and work well with suspension forks.

Modern cycling computers offer several features and functions for many kinds of riding. You can find simple versions that just track speed and distance. You can find very complex versions that track everything from location and altitude to heart rate and power output. Computers are designed for everyone from the most casual rider to the very intense endurance athlete. Most individuals fall somewhere in between.

If you are a casual rider looking for a way to take a greater step into the training world, cadence may be a cycling stat you should be aware of.

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In the history of cycling companies, Cervélo bikes are a relatively new and pioneering company. Having only been set up in 1995, the company has seen substantial growth and success making it one of the leading bike manufacturers around today!

The Cervélo Cycles brand was born when two cycling fanatics decided to take their hard work developing the best time trial bikes to the open market. Phil White and Gérard Vroomen set up the company after a top Italian cyclist approached them to help design the fastest possible time trial bike. The cyclist felt his sponsor could only develop traditional bikes developed through the combination of off the shelf tubesets and he had decided that he wanted more. He approached Gérard with the hope of a brand new innovative, aerodynamic design which was specifically for time trials.

Their work began analysing the current bikes available and the most important features which should be included in the new design. This resulted in a completely unique bike built specifically for that rider and pushed almost every boundary of any other time trial bike. Obviously, in the bike world, this became a phenomenon and everywhere it was seen, people asked where they could get their own.

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In cycling there are several ways to gauge how hard you are working. The first and most common method is heart rate monitoring. The second, less common but just as effective, is perceived exertion. There is also a third called power monitoring but most cyclists do not have access to this kind of sophisticated equipment.

What many cyclists don’t know is that heart rate isn’t as accurate a gauge as many people would like to think. In this post we will discuss why this is so as well as why perceived exertion, in many instances, can actually prove to be a more accurate gauge.

Heart rate monitoring tells you just that, how fast your heart is pumping. If you take a sedentary person off of the couch, put them on a bike and tell them to go at a decent clip for five minutes, by the end their heart rate will have raised drastically, even though they may not be working that hard. On the other hand you can take a very fit athlete and have him pedal at 120 RPMs for five minutes at a decent resistance and his heart rate only increase slightly, even though he is putting forth a great effort. To overcome this discrepancy many elite cyclists prefer to use perceived exertion in conjunction with heart rate.

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Everything has gotten so complicated in today’s world that we often lose sight of the simple pleasures that we once treasured as children. When I was younger, I didn’t spend the majority of my day sitting in front of a television or playing video games. I came home from school and after a brief wave to my mother I was headed out the door again to get some fresh air and sunshine. I would get together with my friends and we would play, when it came time for dinner, there would be fresh healthy meals to enjoy. The funny thing is, not a single one of us was overweight.

Fast track to twenty years later… over 60% of my friends are now battling weight problems (and several depression). They try dieting, not by eating healthy foods, but eating strange pre-packaged and prepared foods that wouldn’t have been recognizable as sustenance twenty years ago. They drag themselves to the gym every day to run in place while staring at a television screen. And some, even resort to pills or surgery. Why is it that no one has bothered to look at the habits that we had as thin healthy children, and incorporated them into your lives now?

Read More “Remember When Cycling Used to Be Fun?”

With so many different machines out there in the gyms across the country, many people tend to forget about the easiest, cheapest, and the best way to get into shape. A cycle exercise, such as riding your bike, is a great fitness routine to get into. Health should be the number one priority for people because there is nothing more important. The healthier you are the more you will get out of life in the end.

One of the most obvious benefits to cycle exercising is that of getting out into the world and enjoying the scenery while getting all of that fresh air. Breathing that clean air is another thing that is excellent for your health. Instead of staring at the same four walls at the gym and smelling all of that stale sweat, you could be watching the blue skies and getting all of the fresh air you could ever want.

Another reason why this type of exercising is so beneficial is because it is low impact. Those who have a little trouble with their joints will enjoy this exercise, as the motion of the exercise of cycling does not stress the joints too much. You will be able to exercise for a much longer period of time this way. Those trying to get their joints back to tip top health after joint surgery find cycle exercises to be a great rehabilitation path.

Read More “How Cycling Can Improve Fitness”