Bike Riding is Good for Mental Health

Bike Riding is Good for Mental Health as any outdoor aerobic sport. The combination of exertion utilizing muscle and our cardiovascular system can place our body in a euphoric state.

That euphoric state can be the result of oxygen deficit or it could be flow. Flow is challenging ourself to exceed previous limits and as the prefrontal cortex gets quiet we are left with our subconscious in charge of our movements.

The Exercise Becomes Addicting

This state is one of the more blissful experiences we will know. Extreme athletes and adrenaline junkies are addicted to the feelings. They draw us back to engage day after day. A bike can be used for a casual ride on a cruiser or e-bike or pushed with a road, gravel, or mountain bike.

More work creates better fitness and more euphoria. After a minimum amount of fitness is achieved to allow exertion for longer sessions., we can mentally escape into the euphoria while our automatic systems handle the mechanics.

I find it is my happy place. I seek that happy place with hiking and surfing as well. Any recreation in which you have mastered the mechanics or at least can perform them without thinking allows to mentally check out in the process and enjoy the movement. This is a great rest for the nervous system.

Endorphins Are Addicting

In the process our brain is pumping dopamine to sustain the effort and our body is stimulating endorphins meant to reduce the pain. Early man could run down antelope because the endorphins took him above the pain threshold of endurance.

If you watch any YouTube adventures of long-distance events, the participants go in and out of bonking as their body habituates to the stress they are enduring. At one point they are exhausted and then they are revived. Water and food help the process. It is amazing what the body can endure without permanent harm.

Once you get into the routine of an endurance exercise, your mind can retreat there often even while not exercising. You are reliving the good feelings and anticipating the next adventure. The feelings during the exercise make you grateful you have the opportunity. For many, they find it is part of their purpose and perhaps why they are here.

End the Boredom

Strenuous exercise is an antidote to boredom. It is a stress reliever. It may support the stress of your obligations by recalibrating your nervous system and opening the avenue for more creativity. I write creatively each morning and then I look to recalibrate my nervous system so I can dive back into my unfettered, unstressed subconscious for more ideas the next day.

The breathing is part of any strenuous beneficial activity. As you stress your cardiovascular system, your body supports your effort with dopamine and endorphins. The dopamine supports your effort and the endorphins take you to the sublime. When I was a long distance runner, my compatriots were as addicted. When runners get hurt, they will often run with a cast on because they need the feelings.

Get rolling on a bike. There are so many varieties these days there has to be something for everyone.

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