Some will tell you that riding an eBike is cheating. But scientists and doctors have applied their respective microscopes and stethoscopes to the topic and found that, not only is the level of physical activity similar to riding a traditional bike, but people who buy eBikes ride more frequently and ride further.
One of the most beautiful things about eBikes is that they make the cycling and exercise world accessible to anyone of any ability, meaning that the health benefits of eBikes are also accessible to anyone. As we’ll see here, eBikes don’t just impact your physical health, riding an eBike has a positive effect on your mental health too!
So what are the health benefits of riding an eBike? Here we’ve lined up six benefits for your physical health and another six for your mental health.
Physical Health Benefits of eBiking
Improved Cardiovascular Performance - Probably the most obvious benefit of eBiking and exercising is that it makes you fitter. Getting out on an eBike raises your heart rate and gets blood pumping around your system. Your cardiovascular performance is measured by how efficiently your body uses and absorbs oxygen. The more you exercise the more your body adapts to the level of exercise you do by increasing its oxygen efficiency.
The results of this natural adaptation to an elevated heart rate means a more efficient cardiovascular system and a stronger heart muscle! This can result in a lower resting heart rate, leaving you feeling like you have more energy throughout the day. Over time you’ll find that the cycling part of eBiking becomes easier and this is, in part, due to improvements in your cardiovascular system.
Losing Weight - An increase in the amount of exercise you do (be it a little bit or a lot-a-bit) increases the amount of energy you’re burning. Combined with a good food plan and a good sleep routine, riding an eBike can help you to achieve your weight loss goals at a pace that suits you.
Stronger Immune System - Performing aerobic exercises, like going out for a brisk walk or riding an eBike, stimulates the immune system into strengthening itself. The results of this is that your body has an increased ability to fight off viruses like the flu and common cold. This doesn’t mean you won’t get them, but it has been shown that individuals who are physically active recover from bouts of the flu and other infections faster than their non-active counterparts.
Builds and Tones Muscles - Your riding might be assisted by the motor on your eBike but that doesn’t mean that your muscles are not working. Your muscles are working when you ride an eBike, and with this work your muscle strength improves. After a few weeks of regular riding many riders find that they can ride much further using more of their own power, and less motor assistance, than they did before.
Regular eBike riders also note that they can see more tone in their muscles after a few weeks of riding. These benefits are not exclusive to their legs either, as the arms and core are both used when cycling. This might be at a lighter level than the legs, but both the arm and core muscles can gain a greater tone and be more defined as you continue riding week after week-after-week.
Low Impact Workout - This relates to the impact that riding an eBike has on your body. Running, for example, is a high impact and more injury prone workout because the moving parts of your body are carrying your weight as you exercise. On an eBike your weight is carried by the saddle and your legs are not weight bearing, instead being used to provide power. This reduces the stress on the joints and results in much fewer injuries.
Getting an eBike that fits you properly is critical to making this point true as an ebike that doesn’t fit you can put stress on particular parts of your body.
Disease Management - Maintaining a level of physical activity, such as regularly getting on your eBike and going for a ride, has been cited as a great way for helping to keep everything from cancer to heart disease to diabetes at bay. This is not saying that riding an eBike will make you immune to these diseases, but it can improve your chances of not getting them. Along the same lines, regular exercise is one of the main antidotes to high blood pressure and, as a direct result of reducing your blood pressure, your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease are reduced.
Mental Health Benefits of eBiking
Improved Brain Function - Taking regular eBike rides can improve cognitive functions, making those sudokus, crosswords, and Wordles easier to find the answer to! For adults over 50, regularly getting on your eBike can also reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Reduced Stress - Exercise reduces the amount of stress causing hormones in our blood and increases the quantity of natural pain killers and mood enhancers in our bodies. As such, those that ride their eBike regularly report that they are less stressed and are better at handling stressful situations.
Better Mood - As mentioned above, regular exercise, like riding an eBike, stimulates the production of natural, mood enhancing chemicals in the body. Not only that, but being outside and riding through the fresh air and sunlight will also do wonders for your mood!
Improved Mental Well-Being - When you regularly hit the trail on your eBike you are reducing your stress and boosting your mood. Both of these are huge contributors to your long term mental well-being, and regular exercise has been proven to improve your mental well-being and reduce depression and anxiety. Being on your eBike also gets you outside in the fresh air, sunshine, and out into nature, boosting your mental well-being.
Increased Confidence - As your physical stamina, physique, and mental well-being improve so will your confidence. This improved confidence will also boost your mood which, in turn, will boost your mental well-being and your desire to get on your ebike and ride. Creating one big positive feedback loop all centered around riding more frequently.
Better Sleep - Those who exercise regularly have been proven to have a better quality of sleep and to fall asleep quicker than their non-exercising, and non-eBiking counterparts. Better sleep also contributes to an improved mood, reduced stress, and overall improved mental well-being.
A Last Lap - Riding an eBike is Fun!
EBikes can be incorporated as a part of a healthy and active lifestyle that creates a positive feedback loop and brings benefits for both your mind and body. One of the most commonly quoted benefits of eBikes is how you can tune your ride to be as easy or as challenging as you want it to be, and that you can keep up with everyone else whilst riding at your own pace.
Finally, never forget that exercise should be fun! Fun makes exercise enjoyable, and eBikes make getting outside and exercising on two wheels about as fun as it can be, with whoever you want to ride with!
