ROAD SAFETY ARTICLE BY JONAS AGWU
A study from the University of Bristol found that among 200 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.
It is also helpful in Weight control and Obesity treatment. 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. ( M. Simpson Loughborough University). One recent study showed that cyclists who cycled fast burned three and half times more body fat than those who cycled constantly at slower pace. Cycling is a good way to lose unwanted calories. Steady Cycling burns approximately 300 calories per hour. If you cycle for 30minutes every day, you would burn five kilogramme of fat in a year.
If you have issues with sleep, catch the bug and ride as riding aids better Sleeping habits. Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine asked sedentary insomnia sufferers to cycle for 20- 30 minutes every other day. Time required for the insomniacs to fall asleep was reduced by 50percent, and sleep time increased by almost an hour. Professor Jim Horne from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre explains that “Exercising outside exposes you to daylight.” 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. Cycling is also helpful in improving your bowels function. Experts from Bristol University found that “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.”
In addition, aerobic exercise accelerates your breathing and heart rate, which helps to stimulate the contraction of intestinal muscles. This prevents you from feeling bloated and helps protect you against bowel cancer. Furthermore, it increases brain power, alertness and improvement in Mental illness. Researchers from Illinois University found that a five percent improvement in cardio- respiratory fitness from cycling led to an improvement of up to 15percent 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. “Cycling boosts blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which fires and regenerates receptors. This may explain how exercise helps ward off Alzheimer’s.
Mental health conditions such as depression, stress and anxiety can be reduced by regular bike riding. This is due to the effects of the exercise itself and because of the enjoyment that riding a bike can bring. Cycling helps to improve coordination such as arm – to- leg, feet – to- hands and body – to- eye co- ordinations. Some months after commencing cycling, dexterity and precision have been found to improve. According to C. Collins, a Chief dietician at St George’s Hospital in London Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active, so they are ready to fight off infection. Research from the University of North Carolina, says people who cycle for 30 minutes, five days a week had about 50percent reduction in sick days as persons who do not indulge in exercise.
And for those who are wary of ageing, a study from Stanford University has found that cycling regularly can protect your skin against the harmful effects of UV radiation and reduce the signs of ageing. “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.”
Being more physically active improves your vascular health, this has effect of boosting your sex drive• A study from Cornell University concluded that male athletes have the sexual prowess of men two to five years younger, while physically fit females have delayed menopause by about the same time. A study from Harvard University found that men aged over 50 years who cycle for at least three hours a week have a 30 percent lower risk of impotence and erectile dysfunction than those who do little exercise.
