By PCG Elite/Master Coach David Ertl
Ever since Ponce de Leon’s time, people have been searching for the fountain of youth. Little did they realize it was sitting right in their garage – their bicycle! Cycling certainly can give us many of the attributes we seek in youthfulness – aerobic, cardiovascular, and muscular fitness, maintenance of our body weight and composition, metabolic health, a healthy blood lipid profile, and glucose levels. The exercise cycling may help prevent chronic diseases, obesity, cancer and neurological disorders.
First and foremost, cycling is an aerobic endurance sport. It generates tremendous aerobic fitness which trains the body to be more efficient at burning fat as well as sugar, modulating blood sugar levels. It creates a stronger heart, increasing stroke volume and pumping out more blood per beat, often resulting in lower resting heart rates. Aerobic training can improve blood lipid profiles (triglycerides and cholesterol) as well, aiding in better cardiovascular health. It’s been observed that the best indicator of longevity is one’s VO2 max capability. VO2 max is improved by training at close to one’s maximum aerobic capacity, which would be in Zone 5 in the 6 zone models (106-120% of FTP).
In addition, cycling can also improve our anaerobic fitness. As one exceeds their aerobic capability, the body relies on glycolysis and glycogenolysis to break down glucose for short-term energy. This allows us to function at very high levels for short periods of time, not only for chasing breaks or sprinting in races but also for running up a flight of stairs or across a busy street.
Cycling is obviously good for lower body strength. Just look at any high-level cyclist, and they have tremendously developed leg and glute muscles from pedaling the bike thousands of reps per ride. Grip strength is another strong indicator of longevity, and while I don’t believe grip strength will necessarily save one’s life, I think it’s a proxy for overall strength. One can’t pull hard on the handlebars or lift a barbell without commensurate grip strength.
Because cycling is an endurance sport, cyclists tend to be leaner than the general population in part due to the many hours we can train each week. A good workout for a runner may be an hour a day, and while a marathoner may run for 3-4 hours at a time in a marathon, they can only run a marathon a few times each year, whereas a cycling can ride 5-6 hours in one day and turn around and do it again the next day (if in shape for it). This allows cyclists to burn thousands of calories per ride daily and develop great endurance. Obviously, the intensity of riding for 5 hours is less than a marathoner runs, the total calorie burn can be greater for the cyclist. This results in a good body composition with a healthy BMI and body fat percentage if their nutrition is also dialed in.
All these benefits, aerobic and anaerobic fitness, strength, blood, and body composition, are favorable for living a long and healthy life. On top of all these benefits, cycling is also fun. Many of us would do it even without these health benefits. I certainly didn’t even think of health when I started cycling competitively as a teenager, although now that I am older, I think about it much more. Unlike some forms of exercise, cycling gets us outdoors, allows us to ride places under our own power, and can be very social.
So, is cycling the fountain of youth? It sure sounds like it, but it isn’t quite the complete answer.
The aerobic and anaerobic benefits of cycling are hard to beat, but what about strength? Yes, cyclists have great leg strength. But what about the rest of their body? If we don’t consciously work on core and upper body strength, cycling isn’t going to help there. Have you seen professional cyclists unzip their jerseys? Their upper body looks like a marathoner – skinny and even gaunt. Now, they get paid to be extremely light, but that isn’t necessary for the rest of us and certainly isn’t healthy. We should want balanced strength across our whole body to facilitate functionality as we age. So, we should do other exercises that foster strength above the waist (e.g., rowing, cross-country skiing), or do intentional strength training with weights or body weight, or both!
And what about bone health and density – do you think cycling does anything for that? If anything, cycling may negatively affect bone strength as some cyclists have been diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis. Bone strength results from either impact or stress on the bones from the muscles doing resistance work. Because cycling is not a weight-bearing exercise, our bones don’t get the benefits that a runner does from repetitive impacts. It’s also suspected that the excessive sweating a cyclist does for hours on end may leach calcium from our system, potentially weakening our bones. The solution is to incorporate some ground-based exercises (jumping, running) into your routine or do strength training. Strength training not only helps muscle mass and strength, but when muscles pull on tendons, which pull on bones, that creates stress, signaling the bones to get stronger.
And finally, just because we as cyclists can be extremely fit human beings, it doesn’t automatically translate into being extremely healthy. It can, but only if we also live a healthy lifestyle and care for ourselves in other dimensions such as nutrition, cardiovascular health and chronic disease avoidance. For example, because we burn so many calories, we also eat a lot more calories. If we have a poor diet that means we are eating a lot more low-quality food which can be injurious to our bodies (e.g. highly processed foods). As Hunter Allen often says, “You can’t out exercise a bad diet!”. Quick energy is useful on long rides but shouldn’t be our main source of calories once off the bike. And just because we ride our bikes a lot doesn’t mean our cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar numbers are in order. Understand your numbers and address them if they aren’t where they should be. In other words, care for your health as if you didn’t cycle.
Bottom line: Cycling is as close to a fountain of youth as almost anything, but it’s not the complete picture. We need to tap into these other fountains (strength training, nutrition, healthy lifestyle) to round out our health as well as our fitness.
Author David Ertl has been a coach for Peaks Coaching Group for over 10 years.He’s written extensively on many subjects and has raced in at least one bike race every year for the past 50 years! David is always looking for new clients, and if you are interested in working with him, send us an EMAIL.