Riding E-bikes can look like a breeze, with a simple pedal that propels you further while using as little physical energy as possible. It gets your heart pumping, makes your lungs active, and gives you good exercise while reaching your destination faster. But is that really all it does?
Riding an E-Bike provides multiple health benefits, such as gaining moderate exercise, improving heart health, increasing muscle tone, preventing diseases, weight loss, improving your immune system, and improving your sleeping patterns.
There are a lot of benefits associated with riding electric bikes, so let’s look at each one in detail to see how exactly the activity helps our health and general well-being.
What are the main health benefits for people who ride E-Bikes?
You have to remember that just because an E-Bike has an electric motor, it still qualifies as a pedal bike. The electric part doesn’t take away from the fact that you still have to pedal to charge the battery; therefore, you still get all the health benefits of riding a regular bicycle.
Let’s look at each benefit in detail.
Intermediate Exercise
Using an E-bike is like using any other bicycle, but with one caveat - you must pedal to charge the battery. In turn, you can use the extra boost from the battery to help you in difficult situations, such as when conquering steep hills, going over rough terrain, or just to give yourself a break from pedaling.
The simple act of charging the battery grants your body the exercise it requires; no matter how little you pedal, you’ve made an effort to charge the bike. Such an activity works wonders on the human body while you’re commuting to work, traveling to the supermarket, or simply out for a pleasant bike ride in the countryside.
Improved Cardiac Health
People often say that you’re cheating by using an electric bike to help you commute, exercise, or simply go for a ride. They argue that the motor removes all the physical effort to keep you going. But that simply isn’t true; it's quite the opposite.
Riding a bike, whether manual or electric, improves how efficiently your body uses oxygen in a smooth and uninterrupted cycle while dispelling carbon dioxide from your body. Think of your heart as an engine that pumps blood around to your vital organs, and it can perform that function better with improved cardiac health.
How do you know riding your electric bike has improved cardiac health? Simple: by observing yourself. You’ll notice that you pedal uphill and cross rough terrain more easily. Even when you’re not on your e-bike, you’ll see you can climb stairs or inclines without losing your breath right away.
Improves Your Muscle Tone
We all want to have an improved body, yes? Regularly riding your electric bike will produce results on various parts of your body, such as your arms and legs. Riding a bike requires balance, which in turn improves your core to enhance your future rides. If you put in enough time cycling, you’ll see small muscle gains in your body - a sign that your efforts are paying off.
When you walk past your mirror in the future, you may just find yourself giving yourself a second glance. Don’t forget to compliment your new and improved figure - you worked hard on your e-bike to achieve those results.
Helps with Weight Loss
Riding an E-bike is not difficult, despite the different motions you perform and body parts you use. Whether it’s with your feet, hands, legs, or head, everything you do burns energy. Burnt energy means burning calories, which then results in weight loss.
Regular bike rides will also help your body burn energy even when you’re not riding, but this effect is temporary. In fact, the effect reverses if you don’t ride again for a while, so make sure your bike is well-used!
Along with regular cycling, controlling your caloric intake can do amazing things for your body. Not only do you lose weight, but you also feel better about yourself physically and mentally.
Strengthens the Immune System
A healthier body will always contribute significantly to your immune system's capability to fight diseases and other foreign attackers. Riding your E-bike plays a big part in this, as all the cycling you put in makes you stronger internally and externally. Simply put, the more you ride your bike, the stronger and healthier your immune system becomes.
General Wellbeing
While riding your E-bike provides excellent physical benefits, we simply cannot ignore its mental health benefits.
Merely riding your bike can reduce stress and anxiety if you’re feeling low. In fact, medical experts suggest that taking part in physical activity, such as riding an electric bike, can help reduce depression. Not only that, but the movement also gives you that awesome feeling after doing physical activity.
The next time you feel a bit blue, put on some headphones and get your electric bike ready for a relaxing ride to wherever you want.
Improved sleep
You can ride your E-bike all day and night to your heart's content and be happy about it, but you’ll still be missing two things: rest and recovery. Without them, you’re not gaining anything.
Rest and recovery are absolutely essential in allowing your body to set in stone the improvements you gained throughout that day. While riding a bike can be fun, electric or not, the activity can seriously tire you out. Humans require time to recharge our batteries; if we don’t, our bodies will suffer.
Thankfully, many people find that they have an excellent regular sleeping pattern after doing a strenuous activity such as cycling. Getting enough sleep improves mental and physical health by reducing tiredness and improving your general day-to-day mood.
Physical Rehabilitation
Suppose you’ve recently had surgery on the lower half of your body, such as on the hips, legs, or feet. In that case, you probably think you need to rest as much as possible. Although that’s true during the early stages of recovery, it doesn’t apply to your recovery's latter half.
Doctors recommend that you try to do as much physical exercise as you can, such as riding an E-bike, to help yourself get reacquainted with your day-to-day tasks. Doing so not only enables you to get fresh air, but you also gain any physical activity required for a healthy recovery. And because you’re using an electric bike, the assistance supplied by the batteries will give you that extra boost you need.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many health benefits that an electric bike can offer you. From maintaining your mental health to providing an extremely effective weight loss tool, E-bikes are highly beneficial machines. Don’t let the presence of an electric motor deter you; if anything, treat it as a friend who’s ready to assist you whenever you’re having trouble.
The next time you need to commute to work, visit the local shops, or just go out for a leisurely time, why not take your E-bike with you? Your electric bike won’t let you down, journey and health-wise, as long as you pedal to get those batteries charged for those steep hills or bumpy roads ahead.