6 Health Benefits of Riding an Electric bike

So you’re thinking about getting an electric bike to improve your health? We all know regular exercise is important, We all know it needs to be consistent to reap any real benefits and most importantly, we all know it should be fun otherwise it’s not sustainable.While you should always consult with your doctor first, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends that healthy adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week. For those of you who already get out and play regularly, that might not seem like much. For others who haven’t made getting active a priority, this might seem daunting. The good news is electric bikes are a great way to ease into the habit and establish a powerful routine for you to reap the benefits of regular exercise for years to come. After all, it’s what you do daily for long periods that actually counts. In fact, at the end of the day, good health is often the result of positive habits that all add up. Electric bikes are incredible as they are a fun and easy way for anyone and everyone to create a lifestyle that fits their exercise needs.

Electric bikes are a fun way to get some exercise 

Before we dive into the 6 health benefits there are some misconceptions we'd like to clear up. As electric bikes are well, electric, a common misconception is that they are not for exercise. It's true, one can use these as an environmentally friendly vehicle to commute. Yes, it's possible to use and E-Bike as a luxury item and do very little if not no work at all. While those are some of their many benefits, they offer so much more. For those looking to get out and add some creativity to their workouts or a tool to work their way back into a routine, electric bikes are an amazing tool. 

We love electric bikes because they are the great equalizer. That means for people who need to work their way up or have physical limitations they can now enjoy biking daily and growing at a safe and consistent pace while having fun and exploring.

They make biking accessible to riders who might need the extra help on their personal fitness journey. Be that someone looking to lose some weight but getting out there is just to taxing or perhaps other reasons are keeping you from being able to establish the daily habit of riding.

Electric bikes are a great tool regardless of your current physical abilities. For the rider who is already in incredible shape, you can introduce novelty to your workouts by going further and exploring new routes in less time for the same effort. You can climb terrain that might be a bit beyond you or just keep up with friends who are faster and more conditioned. This is huge for couples where one rider is in excellent shape while the other is not on the same level.

Long story short, the key to good health is to simply get moving from wherever you currently are. 

Electric bikes promote weight loss 

1. Exercise promotes weight loss

Riding your bike daily is the perfect way to kick start a fun exercise routine. Regular cycling can burn between 400 to 1000 calories an hour depending on your intensity. With an electric bike you can dive right in and get your heart rate up or you can progress slowly into it by using the pedal assist. 

The great news is you don't necessarily have to work that hard to burn calories. Of course, the harder you work the more you will burn. In order to lose weight, the calories you consume must be less than the calories your body uses. This means calories burned between exercise and the calories your body uses just by being alive. While I could write 100 blogs on this topic alone, the point is riding an electric bike is an easy, and fun way to burn some extra calories.

If you have a regular weight regulation or weight loss plan, that's awesome! Incorporating a daily ride will help you accomplish your goals much faster and eat more if it fits your strategy. If not, no worries. Just getting out makes more of a difference than you think. With electric bikes, you can ease into a workout like this slowly. Make a game of it and start using a heart rate monitor to keep track of your daily burn. If you’re a more casual rider, simply getting out there and pedaling daily is still a great step forward in a positive direction.

For those of you that just want to lose some weight, a daily ride is going to help! If you're interesting in learning more and getting technical about the math behind regulating your weight you can use this calculator.

Essentially it's a matter of balancing what you eat and what you do. The more you do, the more you can eat. Many opt for the diet route and that inevitably fails as it's not enjoyable or sustainable. Now balancing out this equation while eating the proper amount of healthy food, getting good nutrition and implementing fun exercise that's where long term success is found.   

Electric bikes are low impact exercise 

2. Its low impact

This is great for many reasons. For athletes who train hard, it’s great to incorporate active recovery. Bodybuilders and strength athletes have advocated low intensity exercise to compliment their routines for years. Exercise like running is amazing for the body but it can be high impact and overtime it can wear some people down and may result in injury. An electric Bike is an incredibly fun tool to have in your fitness toolbox.

For beginners and non athletes, low impact exercise is sustainable and important. Electric bikes are an exciting way to add diversity to your routine or get one started. Walking has always been a popular choice but let’s face it. You can only walk so far in so many directions before you start getting a little bored with your surroundings. Electric bikes are an exciting way to mix up your low impact training.

If you're just getting started on a fitness journey or simply need to incorporate some light exercise into your life, and electric bike is a fun tool to keep you motivated and it's something you can practice daily for a very long time. As your abilities improve you can eventually start incorporating higher intensity low impact training into your routine.  

Regular exercise on an electric bike can improve your quality of sleep 

3 It improves sleep

Riding regularly and moving is of course going to to tire you out but what you might not know is regular exercise can improve the quality of sleep too. A 35 year study from the University of Georgia conducted a study showing the correlation between fitness and sleep.

Specifically regarding aging and cardiorespiratory fitness. The study followed 8,000 men and women from 1971 to 2006. Effectively as we age, without regular exercise our fitness tends to decline. Exercise gets harder to sustain without regular practice. The good news is if you keep up with with minimum guidelines most you’re more likely to maintain cardiorespiratory fitness.

With electric bikes, you can start with small easy exercise and work your way up to something sustainable and healthy for you. Not only are you having fun getting outside but you’ll be improving your quality of life in general. When it comes to the importance of quality of sleep and good health I could write another blog on its own about the topic. Sleep is imperative for recovery, cognitive abilities and an essential piece of a healthy life. And let's be honest here. Who doesn't love getting a good nights sleep and waking up feeling ready to take on the day! 

This study is available online here.

Getting daily exercise outside is good for your mental state

4. Biking is good for your mental state

Simply getting outside can do wonders for your sense of well being. Exercise is another factor and so is a sense of community. Getting involved in a sport has a myriad of benefits. Exercise can produce adrenaline and endorphins. Not only that but It reduces stress and allows you to live more in the moment. 

Having something to practice or setting small goals yield a sense of purpose or mission. These things often bring excitement and joy into our lives.You’ll be having more fun with more people and spending more time outside getting fresh air and sunshine. All the while spending time with others who are pursuing the same goals.I don’t know about you but I can’t think of anything better than that!

Most important is having fun and enjoying yourself. Nothing will improve your mood faster than smiling, laughing and having fun. 

Some friends making time for health on the electric bikes

5. It can improve your memory

Another benefit of regular aerobic exercise is there are benefits for your brain as well.

According to Heidi Godman, Executive Editor at the Harvard Health Letter, there are great benefits for our mind and memory. The trick is you’ll have to get to a point where you can get your heart pumping and you break a sweat. It seems that strength training, while important will not produce the same effects.

Regular aerobic exercise can help in the sense that it helps reduce insulin resistance, inflammation and it can stimulate chemicals in the brain affect the health of brain cells. Not only that, the improved sleep, the stress release and reduced anxiety will relieve the common cognitive impairment associated with these these issues. if that weren't good enough, getting enough aerobic exercise also aides in lowering the risk of Alzheimer's, dementia and serval types of cancer. 

If maintaining a healthy memory, a better attention span and faster processing speed are important to you, getting regular exercise in on your electric bike will go a long way in safe guarding your brain as you age. 

Get your heart rate up with that electric bike 

6. It's good for your heart

Wan't to take care of your heart? Get it pumping! Meeting the guidelines will help lower the risk of heart disease, and high blood pressure. It will strengthen the heart and improve the cardiovascular system. It's commonly talked about that sitting is the new smoking so the best defense is to simply get outside and move. 

a 30 minute daily ride will reap many benefits and allow you to get that heart rate up. It takes time to condition your heart and lungs. Riding at a pace that feels comfortable and fun will set the stage for improved workouts over time. The huge benefit of an electric bike is you can use the pedal assist to help when you're feeling tired or to simply go a bit further. Using the advantages of pedal assist to cover greater distance allow you to get this exercise while commuting, running errands, or just going out for a joyride in your neighborhood. 

With many of these benefits intensity is a consideration. Speak with your health care provider before attempting any routines of intensity. That said, it's more important to make it fun and build momentum over time. One of the reasons we love electric bikes is they offer advantages to many who might have a difficult time establishing fun healthy habits.

They also offer advantages and fun benefits to seasoned athletes or aging athletes who are looking to go further, explore more and add novelty to their routines. They allow people of different physical abilities to have fun and exercise together and an appropriate intensity for the individual.  

There you have it. 6 perfectly good health benefits of incorporating an electric bike into your routine. Or even better, 6 reasons to get a routine started with your electric bike. 

Hopefully this article inspires you to get outside more and make your day what you want it to be.

If you're using an electric bike for exercise we'd love to hear about it! Send us a DM or photos on instagram and share your experience.

If you would like to lean more about electric bikes visit our store or just give us a call at 800 622 4655. Feel free to reach out to us on our live chat as well.

Ryan (Rygo) Goloversic

Avid lover of travel, fitness and the outdoor lifestyle.

He’s a kitesurfer, video editor and professional writer. His mission is to inspire others to live a healthier happier more conscious lifestyle. Most importantly get active, get outside and live your best life.

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