Let’s start with a round of applause. You ride to work. So you already know that getting on your bike can do wonders for your body and mind. And then there’s the naturally uplifting effect of avoiding congested train carriages or bumper-to-bumper traffic. Add to that smug wellbeing bike buzz with these top tips for making the most of your commute.
Find your de-stress tipping point
Your legs might creak as you first push down on the pedals, but every rotation releases muscle tension and makes energising oxygen flow a little faster. The more aware you are of the moment your mood tips from stressed to relaxed, the more intense it feels.
Cycle mindfully
What is mindful cycling, exactly? Think of it as a moment-by-moment awareness of what your body is doing on the bike. Observe how your abs engage as you squeeze in your navel, which in turn straightens your spine. Feel every muscle in your foot press down on the pedal. Pay attention to the fact you’re getting stronger and healthier with every movement – it’s a double positive reinforcement. The more mindfully you cycle, the more likely you are to become hooked on the sensation of riding your bike, not just the results.
Breathe easy
The wellbeing benefits of fresh air are manifold: lower blood pressure, reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and a serotonin boost from increased oxygen. But does dodging traffic on your commute really count as getting fresh air when air pollution is so high? Research published in Preventative Medicine suggests that it very much depends on the route you take (particularly if you’re in London), but it is also thought that the cardiovascular benefits of cycling are likely to outweigh the negative effects of pollution. To up your daily dose of rejuvenating fresh air, pick a route through a park or fields.
Build strength and muscle
Cycling does far more than just burn fat. The resistance aspect builds muscle, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn – even when you’re kicking back at your desk eating breakfast.
To tone muscle in your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves, switch to a high resistance gear – that’s the big chain ring.
Get fitter faster
If you want to run faster or train for a triathlon, throw four minutes of high-intensity interval training (aka HIIT) into your commute to seriously fast-track your fitness. How? Try 20 seconds of all-out effort, followed by 10 seconds of relaxed freewheeling. Your aim is to repeat this eight times in four minutes. Working out this way is a more effective way to boost your metabolism than longer, lower-intensity sweat sessions. And if you pedal fast and furious up behind a cyclist wearing all the gear, it’s extremely satisfying to casually breeze past them while you’re in rest mode.
Sharpen your brainpower
We’ve become so dependent on our smartphones that our brains can feel slow or dull at times. So ditch Google Maps and go sans satnav, because exploring a new route to work can sharpen your cognitive capabilities, according to research from Harvard Medical School. A little detour requires the brain to do some work, because it’s encountering something it’s never experienced before.
Clear out your head
Cycling hits your mental refresh button, clearing out the data overload from your day that slows your brain down. The time on your bike is an essential buffer that gives you headspace between work and home to process worries and work through problems. That opportunity to get out of your head and into your body helps you let go of information you don’t need, allowing it stream behind you like the churning wake of a boat.
Practise gratitude
When you cycle, everyone wins. Take a moment to note how everyone you care about benefits from you being fitter, calmer, and stronger. Perhaps it means you swoop your kids into your arms for more cuddles, or you take fewer sick days, or you’ve got an increased libido. Maybe it means you smile at a stranger when they really need it, or you get home in a good mood because you haven’t been squidged sardine-like into a crowded carriage on an excruciatingly slow train.
Sleep well tonight
When you’re stuck late in the office, use your ride home as the start of your wind-down routine. The secret? Go slow. The evening is the best time to do calming exercise that doesn’t raise your cortisol in the same way HIIT training does. Cortisol is the enemy of sleep, you see. The NHS agrees with this – it recommends you exercise regularly but avoid vigorous exertion close to bedtime. Good sleep, in turn, makes you a better cyclist, so tomorrow you’ll wake up ready to jump on your bike and do it all again.
Kate Faithfull-Williams is the author of The Feelgood Plan.
You’re already clocking up the miles, so why not make them count? Sign up to Cancer Research UK’s Cycle 300 challenge and cycle 300 miles over the course of September to raise money for life-saving research. Whether you cycle the distance all in one go, over a weekend or throughout the month, every penny you raise will help beat cancer. Find out more and sign up here
