Health & Fitness – Cycling To Improve Your Body.

Go for a simple 60 – minute bike ride and you turn the pedals more than 5,000 revolutions. Say you ride three times a week for, what, maybe 40 years from your late 20s to 60s. You’re going to take 31 million pedal strokes in your life, easy. n Do that much of anything and it does not merely transform you; it becomes you. n To illustrate how cycling defines us, we churned out these facts:

Eyes.
Spending hours in the sun makes us up to three times more susceptible than average to cataracts, macular degeneration and tissue growth that can block vision. The simple fix: Wear 100% – UV – blocking glasses.

Muscle.
You’re not just skinny, you’re a hunk of lean meat. The typical Asian man has 14 – 17% body fat. Male road racers average 6 – 9%. Recreational cyclists are somewhere between. The low percentage isn’t just for show. Cyclists have a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Collarbone.
This is the bone you’re most likely to break – it accounts for 23% of all fracture sustained by recreational riders, and 58% of all racers’ snapped bones. The good news: Nine out of 10 collarbone breaks don’t require surgery. They’re fixed by immobilising the bone with a sling. The bad news: You won’t be riding again for 6 – 8 weeks.

Heart.
Your left ventricle, which pumps blood back into your body, is up to double the size of the average person’s, and your carotid arteries are as much as 13% bigger. This means you move more blood per beat. And that’s why your heart rate will win bar bets.

Blood.
We have as much as 40% more blood delivering oxygen and sustenance through our bodies, via blood vessels that are up to 50% larger and more numerous. That healthy plumbing doesn’t just help you ride; it lowers blood pressure and makes you less susceptible to hypertension, strokes and heart attacks.

Skin.
A study of cyclists in the Tour de Suisse found they were exposed to 30 times the safe limit of UV rays, significantly increasing the risk of skin cancer. Not many of us wear sunscreen to ride; it should be as automatic as helmets.

Sex.
First, the late ’90s’ ultra – hyped scare over cycling’s relation to impotence was proven groundless. Now, new research from Italy finds that riding three times a week boosts sex drive, in part by widening the blood vessels – exactly what Viagra does.

Legs.
Yours look better than your neighbour’s because you work your knee extensors 39% more than average, hip extensors 27% more, ankle plantar flexors 20% more, knee flexors 10% and hip flexors 4%. To sneak in an extra leg – honing workout, do this easy exercise while seated at your office or watching TV: Start with feet flat on the floor; slowly lift your toes as high as you can; hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times. Work up to three sets.

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