5 Benefits Of Riding A Bike To Work

This is a guest post from 99 Bikes, providers of bikes and cycling related items.

© Photographer: Colleen Braun | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Riding a bike to work not only costs less than driving a car; it also improves your heath by giving you more energy, increasing your endorphins, and motivates you for the day’s work. Because 99 Bikes understands the importance of having a healthy lifestyle while maintaining the practicality that suits your everyday needs, they have created a list of five benefits of riding a bike to work.

It Makes You Feel Happier

Riding a bike generates self-esteem and confidence, and the time spent outdoors will increase your position outlook on your work. With the combination of sunlight and endorphins, you’ll be able to sleep better, reducing insomnia and other sleep disorders that may affect your work.

You Will Live Longer!

That’s right! Not only does riding a bike to work make you feel better emotionally, it has been proven to physically improve your fitness levels and contribute towards a longer, healthier life. Riding as little as 32 kilometres a week can cut your risk of heart disease in half. Cycling also accelerates your breathing and heart rate, which helps to stimulate your intestinal muscles that will not only keep you from feeling bloated, but can also protect your body from bowel cancer.

It’s Cheaper Than Driving

Riding a bike to work is not only beneficial to your body and self-esteem, but also to your wallet. Imagine the money you can save otherwise spent on fuel and snacks for the car! The only costs involved in riding a bike to work is regular maintenance, however that’s nothing compared to the money you will spend on car maintenance.

You’ll Lose Weight!

It’s no surprise that riding a bike to work as opposed to driving will increase your weight loss. Your body’s metabolic rate will begin to change after only a few days, and soon after that you will become fitter, and be able to exert more energy, allowing you to get to work much faster. By riding just 25 kilometres, you can lose up to 800 calories, the equivalent of six bananas or six cans of coke. Think of the amazing health benefits that come with riding a bike instead of driving a car!

It’s Good For The Planet

Regardless of whether or not you are interested in the effect cars are to the ecosystem, it’s still amazing to learn that it takes only five percent of the materials used to make a car to manufacture a bike, and that bikes can also travel three times faster than walking. This all adds up to creating a less polluted environment, and with more people on bikes, there’s less congestion for potential car accidents. It’s a proven fact that riding your bike to work instead of driving your car is extremely beneficial towards your health and wellbeing. With the physical, financial, and environmental benefits, why wouldn’t you chose to ride instead of drive?

Check out www.99bikes.com.au/ bikes/road-bikes, and start riding to work today!

Wake up! 5 disadvantages of over sleeping

This is a guest post from Latex Mattress Australia, provides restful and rejuvenating sleep by supplying the ultimate healthy sleeping solution.

© Photographer: Eun Jin Ping Audrey | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Too often, we hear of the effects sleep deprivation has on our bodies. Everybody from your doctor and the magazine columnist, to your family, friends and even your overly nosy neighbour stresses over what a good night’s sleep can do wonders for your soul. While an uninterrupted solid eight hours can help your mind heal the stresses from the daily grind, too much of a good thing can unleash a myriad of serious health problems. Instead of feeling refreshed after twelve hours of sleep, a little sluggishness is the least of your worries. Here are five minor and major health issues linked to oversleeping.

Depression

While depression is usually correlated with lack of sleep, the National Sleep Foundation also states that getting too much shuteye makes depression much worse. So far, their evidence suggests that over fifteen percent of people with depressive illness, in particular those with bipolar disorder, have a tendency to oversleep. As if dealing with mental illness wasn’t hard enough, lying in bed for an extra few hours makes the recovery phase harder to manage.

Back Pain

There was a time when back pain patients were sentenced to a week long life of bed rest to assist recovery. However lying in the one position for too long actually aides your back pain killing your ability to properly mend. While you are dealing with back pain, you might also need to restrain your exercise regime or assess the quality of your mattress. If you’ve been lying on the same bit of foam for more than seven years, you may need to pay Latex Mattresses Australia a visit.

Diabetes

A US study conducted at the Boston University School of Medicine set out to determine the effects sleep has on the likelihood of developing diabetes. Of the 9,000 people who volunteered for the study, researchers found that the ones who slept longer than nine hours a night were 50% more susceptible to developing diabetes over the people who slept seven hours. More research needs to be conducted to verify the physiological link between long bouts of sleep and diabetes, but the conductors are hinting that oversleeping is indicative of underlying medical conditions like obesity that attribute to diabetes.

Hypersomnia

People who suffer from inadequate and interrupted sleep, work night shifts, take medication or consume different types of medication are vulnerable to hypersomnia. In a nutshell, hypersomnia is excessive sleepiness from oversleeping and feeling tired throughout the day. Check in with your doctor if this is happening regularly as hypersomnia has been connected to brain tumours and sleep apnoea.

Headaches

© Photographer: Tracie Koziura | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Sleeping in till midday on the weekend? You might be suffering from a nasty headache even though you didn’t drink the night before. Researchers believe that irregular sleeping patterns can affect the brains neurotransmitters and serotonin levels, giving you an annoying pang in the head.

Remember, don’t be afraid to ask your doctor for any reasons why you are under or over sleeping at night.