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Page 1: Cycling for Fit Life

Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

CYCLING FOR FIT LIFE

Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram

Page 2: Cycling for Fit Life

Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

Issued by

Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram

www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

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Public Interest @2014-2015

Page 3: Cycling for Fit Life

Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

Why Bike? Top 5 Reasons to Ride Lots of people ride bikes for lots of different reasons. Here are the top five reasons why you should be out there too.

1. For Your Body

Riding a bike offers many health benefits. Here are just a few: increased cardiovascular fitness increased strength increased balance and flexibility increased endurance and stamina increased calories burned

It can be done by people of all ages, from childhood up even through the adult years when achy joints don't allow for more stressful exercise like jogging.

2. For Your State of Mind Riding a bike is a proven stress releaser. Regardless of if you are riding purely for pleasure or for a specific purpose, you will arrive at your destination feeling relaxed, energized and happier about the world and yourself. Plus, being out on your bike is just flat-out fun. The more time you spend on two wheels, the harder it is to take yourself too seriously.

3. For Your Community

Being out on your bike is good for the people around you as well. You are able to go the places you want to go and yet put one less car on the road. You don’t bring with you the noise that a car generates and are actually able to interaction with people as you move. From my bike I can wave to a neighbor, say hi to a kid, smell someone’s dinner cooking and be a warm and friendly human presence on the streets. Also, not insignificant: operating a bicycling does not harm the environment. There is no polluting exhaust released, no oil or gas consumed. And the energy and materials used to manufacture one automobile could be used to created a hundred bikes.

4. For Convenience There is an undeniable convenience factor you’ll discover when riding a bike. Front row parking spaces are guaranteed no matter where you go. Traffic jams are also irrelevant. Though cars will certainly make better time on long trips, you’ll find for many short trips or through heavy traffic, you can travel just as fast or faster on your bike. Have you ever been to a massive festival or concert in a park somewhere, the type of event that draws so many people that just getting there is a problem? Going in on a bike is a perfect

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

solution. Zip in, zip out. You don’t have to get there hours early to get a parking spot or else face parking miles away from the event. And you won’t have to wait hours in traffic to get out once it’s over.

5. For Your Pocketbook It costs between 20 and 30 cents per mile to operate a car, depending on the vehicle. This is based on expenses like gas, oil, maintenance, etc., that go up when you drive more. This figure doesn’t include the hidden costs of vehicle ownership like depreciation, taxes, and insurance. These factors make the actual per mile cost to operate a car much higher. When you start multiplying cost per mile to operate a car by the distance you ride, you can easily calculate how much money you save by riding a bike. For example: my daily roundtrip commute is 16 miles. If I do that just twice a week, I will save over $400 in operating costs alone in the course of a year. (16 miles x 2 trips per week x 52 weeks x .25 cents per mile.) And if you would otherwise have to pay for parking, tolls, and the like, don’t forget to factor that in too. It can add up quickly. Ride For You When you ride your bike, you are doing a lot of good things, many of which are for the benefit of others. But ultimately, the one who benefits the most is you, through better health, peace of mind, increased confidence and self-reliance, heck, even through a fatter bank account. So for all these reasons, get out there on your bike today. Even if you don’t save the world in the process, you’ll still have fun trying!

Bike Your Way to a Better Body Bicycling is a great way to see the outdoors, take in the fresh air, or simply get around town. It’s also an efficient way to burn excess calories, shed body fat and improve cardiovascular health. Depending on your body weight and the intensity of your ride, you will probably burn some where between 400 and 500 calories on a one hour bicycling trip.

Ride Your Bike; Lose Some Weight Eliminating Roadblocks to Weight Loss Whole Foods for Weight Loss Basic Nutrition for Better Bike Riding

The motion of bicycling, especially uphill and high intensity cycling, is a great way to develop muscle and burn fat. As both the large (quadriceps and hamstring) and small (calf) muscles of the legs work, they become stronger and more developed. The beauty of developing more muscle is that it not only makes the body look leaner and stronger, but it raises the resting metabolic rate. The higher your resting metabolic rate, the more calories you burn even at rest. So eight hours after your bike ride, sitting on your couch, you’re still burning extra calories!

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

Bicycling also works to strengthen the core region of the body, the abdominal and back muscles. A strong “core” is essential for good balance and posture, and beneficial for activities of daily living such as lifting groceries, carrying children and doing yard work.

Build a stronger core: Pilates exercises for cyclists

Cycling for Weight Loss

Ride Your Bike; Lose Some Weight Eliminating Roadblocks to Weight Loss

If weight loss is your objective, cycling can be very beneficial. A gradual weight loss of approximately one pound a week is a wise goal. Gradual weight loss helps to maintain muscle tissue (remember sitting on the couch burning calories?) and will greatly increase your chance of long term success. People who lose a great deal of weight quickly, often through deprivation-type diets, are very likely to regain the pounds within the first year. Eliminating or burning 3500 calories will result in a weight loss of one pound. Assuming that you burn approximately 500 calories on a one hour bicycle ride, a daily ride would equal a one pound weight loss after just one week! One side note about lifestyle changes: they are best made one at a time. If daily physical activity is a new part of your life, deny the urge to make too many other changes until the daily activity is established. Oftentimes people attempt to reform themselves in dramatic and unrealistic ways and the outcome is doomed for failure. (Consider some of your past New Year’s resolutions.) In other words, it is probably not a good idea to start exercising, give up sugar, caffeine and cigarettes all at the same time.

Better Eating = Better Cycling = Better Body

Whole Foods for Weight Loss Basic Nutrition for Better Biking

Once you have established a regular cycling routine and are reaping the benefits of feeling stronger and healthier, you may want to make somesmall dietary changes. The key to a healthy diet is increasing whole foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other foods that are naturally whole and unprocessed) and knocking out the less healthy portions of your diet. Eating a diet rich with fruits, vegetables and whole grainswill support the loss of extra pounds while fueling your body on cycling excursions. In time, cycling will help you to feel stronger, leaner and more positive about your body. If you continue with daily activity and healthful eating, a better body is a sure thing.

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

Biking for Weight Loss So, you’re thinking that it’s time to lose a few pounds, but you’re not sure how to get started. How about dusting off that bike in the garage and taking it out for a spin? Bicycling is ideal for weight loss because it burns a lot of calories. Riding at a moderate speed (12 – 14 mph) you will burn approximately 235 calories per half hour. Consider cycling for weight loss in a variety of ways. How about these options?

Try having a scheduled daily ride of about an hour. Could you ride your bike to and from work or school? If you did this most days of the

week and ate a healthy diet, you could easily expect to lose one pound a week. (Related article: How to Get Started in Bike Commuting)

Another option is to plan family or group rides a few times a week. Make this a longer ride of a couple hours. Coupled with a healthy diet this would also bring a weight loss of about one pound a week.

Plan times throughout your week to fit in a bike ride, such as running errands or visiting a friend.

These activities will all add up to calories burned and pounds shed. Plus, they are also just a lot of fun and surprisingly easy way to fit in exercise. When losing weight, this rate of sheding a pound a week or so is about right. Long term success is rarely achieved by crazy crash diets. If you lose more than a pound per week, you are essentially starving yourself, and your body responds accordingly. It tries to save calories wherever possible, and your metabolism will slow and you risk losing muscle tissue. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is by exercising regularly and making healthy food choices. Remember this: food is fuel for your body. To keep your body running at full speed, you need to plan your meals around whole foods with minimal processing. Things like whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean meats and dairy. The fruits, vegetables and grains will provide needed carbohydrates to fuel your activity, while the lean meats and low fat dairy products will encourage weight loss and provide protein for muscle development. If you are new to healthy eating, search the Internet for healthy recipes or invest in a good cookbook.

Basic Nutrition for Better Bike Riding One of the best things about riding your bike is that you get a free pass to eat what you want, right? Well, sort of. You can definitely consume more calories, but the right eating plan will give you energy, help you feel better, fuel your body more efficiently and help you lose weight, if that is your goal. The best eating plan for a cyclist is one that includes plenty of low fat, high carbohydrate foods to provide energy and fluids to offer hydration. While ‘carb’ is a four letter word to many dieters, they are certainly not the diet-wrecking evil food that some people might lead you to believe. Carbs are your body’s preferred source of energy for cycling. Since you are constantly burning carbs to fuel your cycling as well as daily activities, you must regularly replace them with a high carbohydrate diet. The kind of carbs that give all carbs a bad reputation are those made with simple sugars and refined flours. These offer little nutritional value. Get your fill of carbohydrates through fruits,

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

vegetables, beans, and whole grain breads, rice and pasta. Round out your diet with lean protein and a small amount of fat. When you eat is almost as important as what you eat. About an hour before a ride, fuel up with a high carbohydrate snack or small meal. Some ideas might be fresh fruit and whole grain toast or a half whole wheat bagel with peanut butter. If your ride is longer than 60 minutes, you’ll need to refuel with more carbs. Researchers recommend about 30 to 40 grams of carbohydrate each 30 minutes you ride beyond the first 60 minutes. This might be a good time to consider a sports drink or energy bar. Eating a high carb snack or meal within 60 minutes after a lengthy ride is important to replenish your body and prepare you for your next ride. Cyclists must make a conscious effort to drink fluids before, during and after riding to stay hydrated. Becoming dehydrated is one of the worst things that can happen to you and so it is important to be proactive and push lots of fluids, even before you feel thirsty. You'll want to drink at least 8 - 12 ounces of fluid immediately before a ride, another 8 ounces every half hour during a ride, and enough when you're finished to gradually replenish those lost fluids after a ride.

Whole Foods for Weight Loss If you want to lose weight or simply feel better by eating healthier, consider the source of what you eat. Do most of your foods come out of a box, bag, or jar or do they still resemble something that grew? The best diets are ones rich in whole foods and which contain few processed foods. A whole food is just what it sounds like – a food that you eat whole, just the way nature intended. When foods are processed they are often stripped of nutrients and filled with additives, and so you want to eat things that are as close to their natural state as possible. Fruits and vegetables are perfect examples. You can eat them fresh from the garden, skin and all. Whole grains are healthy because the most nutritious part of the grain is still intact.

Good Eating = Good Cycling

Eating a diet rich with fruits, vegetables and whole grains will support the loss of extra pounds while fueling your body during those long rides. The vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients in these foods are not only the best for building muscle, but have been shown to protect the body against a variety of chronic diseases including cancer and heart disease. When choosing packaged foods, look for short ingredient lists. The more “stuff” in your food, the more processed it is. Watch out for words like "enriched" and ingredients that sound like they were created by a mad scientist. It's a safe bet no one went out early this morning and picked an azodicarbonamide from the garden, which is an ingredient (a "dough conditioner") found in a Big Mac bun. Start today by adding a fruit or vegetable to every meal. Keep fresh fruit around and out on the table where it is easy to snack on. We have a bowl of grapes that sit in the center of our kitchen table, and I walk by and pop a few in my mouth each time I pass, just like I used to do

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

with potato chips. These few tricks make it easy to hit the recommended 5 fruits and vegetables a day and in no time at all, you'll be well on your way to losing weight, feeling better, and having more energy.

30 reasons to take up cycling Whether it's to boost your fitness, health or bank balance, or as an environmental choice, taking up cycling could be one of the best decisions you ever make. Not convinced? Here are 30 major benefits of taking to two wheels.

1. You’ll get there faster Commute by bike in the UK’s major cities and you’ll get there in half the time of cars, research by Citroen shows. In fact, if you drive for an hour in Cardiff’s rush hour, you’ll spend over 30 minutes going absolutely nowhere and average just 7mph, compared to averaging around 12-15mph while cycling.

2. Sleep more deeply An early morning ride might knacker you out in the short term, but it’ll help you catch some quality shut-eye when you get back to your pillow. Stanford University School of Medicine researchers asked sedentary insomnia sufferers to cycle for 20-30 minutes every other day. The result? The time required for the insomniacs to fall asleep was reduced by half, and sleep time increased by almost an hour. “Exercising outside exposes you to daylight,” explains Professor Jim Horne from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre. “This helps get your circadian rhythm back in sync, and also rids your body of cortisol, the stress hormone that can prevent deep, regenerative sleep.”

3. Look younger Scientists at Stanford University have found that cycling regularly can protect your skin against the harmful effects of UV radiation and reduce the signs of ageing. Harley Street dermatologist Dr Christopher Rowland Payne explains: “Increased circulation through exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to skin cells more effectively, while flushing harmful toxins out. Exercise also creates an ideal environment within the body to optimise collagen production, helping reduce the appearance of wrinkles and speed up the healing process.” Don’t forget to slap on the factor 30 before you head out, though.

4. Boost your bowels According to experts from Bristol University, the benefits of cycling extend deep into your core. “Physical activity helps decrease the time it takes food to move through the large intestine, limiting the amount of water absorbed back into your body and leaving you with softer stools, which are easier to pass,” explains Harley Street gastroenterologist Dr Ana Raimundo. In addition, aerobic exercise accelerates your breathing and heart rate, which helps to stimulate the contraction of intestinal muscles. “As well as preventing you from feeling bloated, this helps protect you against bowel cancer,” Dr Raimundo says.

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

5. Increase your brain power Need your grey matter to sparkle? Then get pedalling. Researchers from Illinois University found that a five percent improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness from cycling led to an improvement of up to 15 percent in mental tests. That’s because cycling helps build new brain cells in the hippocampus – the region responsible for memory, which deteriorates from the age of 30. “It boosts blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which fires and regenerates receptors, explaining how exercise helps ward off Alzheimer’s,” says the study’s author, Professor Arthur Kramer.

6. Beat illness Forget apples, riding’s the way to keep the doctor at bay. “Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active, so they’re ready to fight off infection,” says Cath Collins, chief dietician at St George’s Hospital in London. In fact, according to research from the University of North Carolina, people who cycle for 30 minutes, five days a week take about half as many sick days as couch potatoes.

7. Live longer King’s College London compared over 2,400 identical twins and found those who did the equivalent of just three 45-minute rides a week were nine years ‘biologically younger’ even after discounting other influences, such as body mass index (BMI) and smoking. “Those who exercise regularly are at significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, all types of cancer, high blood pressure and obesity,” says Dr Lynn Cherkas, who conducted the research. “The body becomes much more efficient at defending itself and regenerating new cells.”

8. Save the planet Twenty bicycles can be parked in the same space as one car. It takes around five percent of the materials and energy used to make a car to build a bike, and a bike produces zero pollution. Bikes are efficient, too – you travel around three times as fast as walking for the same amount of energy and, taking into account the ‘fuel’ you put in your ‘engine’, you do the equivalent of 2,924 miles to the gallon. You have your weight ratio to thank: you’re about six times heavier than your bike, but a car is 20 times heavier than you.

9. Improve your sex life Being more physically active improves your vascular health, which has the knock-on effect of boosting your sex drive, according to health experts in the US. One study from Cornell University also concluded that male athletes have the sexual prowess of men two to five years younger, with physically fit females delaying the menopause by a similar amount of time.

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

Meanwhile, research carried out at Harvard University found that men aged over 50 who cycle for at least three hours a week have a 30 percent lower risk of impotence than those who do little exercise.

10. It’s good breeding A ‘bun in the oven’ could benefit from your riding as much as you. According to research from Michigan University in the US, mums-to-be who regularly exercise during pregnancy have an easier, less complicated labour, recover faster and enjoy better overall mood throughout the nine months. Your pride and joy also has a 50 percent lower chance of becoming obese and enjoys better in-utero neurodevelopment. “There’s no doubt that moderate exercise such as cycling during pregnancy helps condition the mother and protect the foetus,” says Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

A ‘bun in the oven’ could benefit from your riding as much as you

11. Heal your heart Studies from Purdue University in the US have shown that regular cycling can cut your risk of heart disease by 50 percent. And according to the British Heart Foundation, around 10,000 fatal heart attacks could be avoided each year if people kept themselves fitter. Cycling just 20 miles a week reduces your risk of heart disease to less than half that of those who take no exercise, it says.

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

12. Your boss will love you No, we don’t mean your Lycra-clad buttocks will entice your superiors into a passionate office romance, but they’ll appreciate what cycling does for your usefulness to the company. A study of 200 people carried out by the University of Bristol found that employees who exercised before work or at lunchtime improved their time and workload management, and it boosted their motivation and their ability to deal with stress. The study also reported that workers who exercised felt their interpersonal performance was better, they took fewer breaks and found it easier to finish work on time. Sadly, the study didn’t find a direct link between cycling and getting a promotion.

13. Cycle away from the big C There’s plenty of evidence that any exercise is useful in warding off cancer, but some studies have shown that cycling is specifically good for keeping your cells in working order. One long-term study carried out by Finnish researchers found that men who exercised at a moderate level for at least 30 minutes a day were half as likely to develop cancer as those who didn’t. And one of the moderate forms of exercise they cited? Cycling to work. Other studies have found that women who cycle frequently reduce their risk of breast cancer by 34 percent.

14. Lose weight in the saddle Loads of people who want to shift some heft think that heading out for a jog is the best way to start slimming down. But while running does burn a ton of fat, it’s not kind to you if you’re a little larger than you’d like to be. Think about it – two to three times your body weight goes crashing through your body when your foot strikes the ground. If you weigh 16 stone, that’s a lot of force! Instead, start out on a bike – most of your weight is taken by the saddle, so your skeleton doesn’t take a battering. Running can wait…

15. You’ll make more money If you’re cycling to lose weight then you could be in line for a cash windfall… Well, sort of. Researcher Jay Zagorsky, from Ohio State University, analysed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth – which saw 7,300 people regularly interviewed between 1985 and 2000 – to see how their obesity and wealth changed over that period. Zagorsky concluded that a one unit increase in body mass index (BMI) score corresponded to an £800 or eight percent reduction in wealth. So, shed a few BMI points on the bike and start earning.

16. Avoid pollution You’d think a city cyclist would suck up much more pollution than the drivers and passengers in the vehicles chucking out the noxious gases. Not so, according to a study carried out by Imperial College London. Researchers found that passengers in buses, taxis and cars inhaled substantially more pollution than cyclists and pedestrians. On average, taxi passengers were exposed to more than 100,000 ultrafine particles – which can settle in the lungs and damage cells – per cubic centimetre. Bus passengers sucked up just under 100,000 and people in cars inhaled about 40,000. Cyclists, meanwhile, were exposed to just 8,000 ultrafine particles per cubic centimetre. It’s thought that cyclists breathe in fewer

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

fumes because we ride at the edge of the road and, unlike drivers, aren’t directly in the line of exhaust smoke.

Cyclists breathe in fewer fumes than drivers

17. Enjoy healthy family time Cycling is an activity the whole family can do together. The smallest tyke can clamber into a bike seat or tow-along buggy, and because it’s kind on your joints, there’s nothing to stop grandparents joining in too. Moreover, your riding habit could be sowing the seeds for the next Bradley Wiggins. Studies have found that, unsurprisingly, kids are influenced by their parents’ exercise choices. Put simply, if your kids see you riding regularly, they think it’s normal and will want to follow your example. Don’t be surprised, though, if they become embarrassed by your tendency to mismatch fluorescent Lycra when they become teenagers.

18.It means guilt-free snacks Upping your salt intake is seldom your doctor’s advice, but in the few days leading up to a big ride orsportive, that’s exactly what you should do. This gives you the perfect excuse to munch on crisps and other salty foods you might normally avoid. The sodium in them helps protect your body against hyponatraemia, a condition caused by drinking too much water without enough sodium that can lead to disorientation, illness and worse.

19. Get better at any sport

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

Whether you want to keep in prime shape or just improve your weekly tennis game, a stint in the saddle is the way to begin. A recent medical study from Norway carried the title Aerobic Endurance Training Improves Soccer Performance, which makes it pretty clear that the knock-on benefits to other sports and activities are immense.

20. Make creative breakthroughs Writers, musicians, artists, top executives and all kinds of other professionals use exercise to solve mental blocks and make decisions – including Jeremy Paxman, Sir Alan Sugar and Spandau Ballet. A study found that just 25 minutes of aerobic exercise boosts at least one measure of creative thinking. Credit goes to the flow of oxygen to your grey matter when it matters most, sparking your neurons and giving you breathing space away from the muddle and pressures of ‘real life’.

21. You’re helping others Many cyclists turn their health, fitness and determination into fundraising efforts for the less fortunate. The London to Brighton bike ride has raised over £40 million for the British Heart Foundation since the two became involved in 1980, with countless other rides contributing to the coffers of worthy causes.

22. You can get fit without trying too hard Regular, everyday cycling has huge benefits that can justify you binning your wallet-crippling gym membership. According to the National Forum for Coronary Heart Disease Foundation in the US, regular cyclists enjoy a fitness level equal to that of a person who’s 10 years younger.

23. Boost your bellows No prizes for guessing that the lungs work considerably harder than usual when you ride. An adult cycling generally uses 10 times the oxygen they’d need to sit in front of the TV for the same period. Even better, regular cycling will help strengthen your cardiovascular system over time, enabling your heart and lungs to work more efficiently and getting more oxygen where it’s needed, quicker. This means you can do more exercise for less effort. How good does that sound?

24. Burn more fat Sports physiologists have found that the body’s metabolic rate – the efficiency with which it burns calories and fat – is not only raised during a ride, but for several hours afterwards. “Even after cycling for 30 minutes, you could be burning a higher amount of total calories for a few hours after you stop,” says sports physiologist Mark Simpson of Loughborough University. And as you get fitter, the benefits are more profound. One recent study showed that cyclists who incorporated fast intervals into their ride burned three-and-a-half times more body fat than those who cycled constantly but at a slower pace.

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

Cycling can help you lose pounds – but don't take it too far!

25. You’re developing a positive addiction Replace a harmful dependency – such as cigarettes, alcohol or eating too much chocolate – with a positive one, says William Glasser, author of Positive Addiction. The result? You’re a happier, healthier person getting the kind of fix that boosts the good things in life.

26. Get (a legal) high Once a thing of myth, the infamous ‘runner’s high’ has been proven beyond doubt by German scientists. Yet despite the name, this high is applicable to all endurance athletes. University of Bonn neurologists visualised endorphins in the brains of 10 volunteers before and after a two-hour cardio session using a technique called positive emission tomography (PET). Comparing the pre- and post-run scans, they found evidence of more opiate binding of the happy hormone in the frontal and limbic regions of the brain – areas known to be involved in emotional processing and dealing with stress. “There’s a direct link between feelings of wellbeing and exercise, and for the first time this study proves the physiological mechanism behind that,” explains study co-ordinator Professor Henning Boecker.

27. Make friends and stay healthy The social side of riding could be doing you as much good as the actual exercise. University of California researchers found socialising releases the hormone oxytocin, which buffers the ‘fight or flight’ response.

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

Another nine-year study from Harvard Medical School found those with the most friends cut the risk of an early death by more than 60 percent, reducing blood pressure and strengthening their immune system. The results were so significant that the researchers concluded not having close friends or confidants is as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight. Add in the fitness element of cycling too and you’re onto a winner.

28. Be happy Even if you’re miserable when you saddle up, cranking through the miles will lift your spirits. “Any mild-to-moderate exercise releases natural feel-good endorphins that help counter stress and make you happy,” explains Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation. That’s probably why four times more GPs prescribe exercise therapy as their most common treatment for depression compared to three years ago. “Just three 30-minute sessions a week can be enough to give people the lift they need,” says McCulloch.

29. Feeling tired? Go for a ride Sounds counter-intuitive but if you feel too tired for a ride, the best thing you can do is go for ride. Physical activity for even a few minutes is a surprisingly effective wake-up call. A review of 12 studies on the link between exercise and fatigue carried out between 1945 and 2005 found that exercise directly lowers fatigue levels.

30. Spend quality time with your partner It doesn’t matter if your paces aren’t perfectly matched – just slow down and enjoy each other’s company. Many couples make one or two riding ‘dates’ every week. And it makes sense: exercise helps release feel-good hormones, so after a ride you’ll have a warm feeling towards each other even if he leaves the toilet seat up and her hair is blocking the plughole again.

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Shri Bheemalingeswaraswamy Adhyayana Kendram www.shribheemalingeswaraswamy.org

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