First of two parts<\/p>\n
May is National Bike Month \u2014 the perfect time to dust off your bike and enjoy the many beautiful and well-maintained trails that are available throughout Northeast Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
There are many obvious reasons to bike, from cardiovascular fitness to weight loss to improved leg strength.<\/p>\n
But there are other advantages biking offers, some of which are shared with other forms of fitness and some of which are unique:<\/p>\n
It\u2019s inexpensive: While not as cheap as running, biking can be much cheaper than other sports. Starter bikes can be less expensive than a pair of high-end running shoes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy: Most people can learn to ride a bike. Kids begin with training wheels, and adult tricycles are available.<\/p>\n
Family fun: It\u2019s something the whole family can enjoy in your neighborhood, at the beach or on one of the trails.<\/p>\n
Practicality: It\u2019s an opportunity to exercise while traveling to work, store, lunch, etc.<\/p>\n
Cardio fitness: Biking is good for the heart and all that goes with it: burning calories, lowering blood pressure, lowering LDL and elevating HDL cholesterol, and boosting the immune system.<\/p>\n
Leg strength: Pedaling a bike is a great way to develop leg muscles.<\/p>\n
Core strength: Core muscles of the neck, middle and lower back, and the associated arm strength, will improve while biking, especially as you maintain your torso on hills and turns.<\/p>\n
Balance: Riding a bike requires some balance and coordination and therefore will improve balance generally, helping to prevent falls.<\/p>\n
Good for joints: Cycling requires only partial weight bearing to the spine and lower body joints, so it is more comfortable and gentler to your joints than walking or running. For this reason, it is often recommended to pregnant women suffering from leg or lower back pain as a safe alternative to running.<\/p>\n
Mental wellness: Biking, like all aerobic exercise, is a great source of stress management as it releases endorphins and serotonin, which improves mental health. With the added feature of being outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air, biking keeps you smiling.<\/p>\n
Injury management<\/p>\n
Prevention is the best management of musculoskeletal problems associated with biking. Many of those problems, like knee pain, buttock soreness and tendinitis, can be prevented through proper fitting of equipment. It\u2019s important that your equipment, such as tires, chain, brakes and pedals, be in good working order.<\/p>\n
Be sure to maintain a reasonable fitness level in order to bike safely. If you are a beginner, start slowly. Warm up and slowly bike for 10 to 15 minutes and build up over time. Practice the coordination of stopping, starting, shifting and braking. Work on good strength and flexibility of the hamstrings, quadriceps, calves and gluteal muscles, all of which are necessary to generate pedal force.<\/p>\n
Balance is also important to safety and can be practiced on and off the bike.<\/p>\n
Be aware that adaptive equipment can modify your bike for added comfort and safety, such as soft handlebar tape, seat post and front fork shock absorbers, padded biking shorts, C-out and gel pad saddle seats, and wider tires.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t push yourself to progress too quickly; going from inactivity to overactivity in a short period of time can create problems. Overuse injuries like tendinitis can be avoided by cross-training: Bike every other day and walk, run or swim on off days. Make sure to take time off to recover after a long ride. Use ice and massage for sore muscles and joints after riding.<\/p>\n
Remember, cycling should be fun. Pain from improperly fitted and poorly maintained equipment is preventable. Excessive workouts and training rides should be kept to a minimum, and consider cross-training in between.<\/p>\n
Safety<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2002Helmets are a must.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2002Keep your bike in good condition. Road bikes should have mirrors and reflectors.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2002Use hand signals and obey traffic rules.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2002Dress for weather and visibility.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2002Have first-aid and tire patch kits, tire pump and tools.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2002Seat comfort can be improved with a gel cushion or split seat.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2002Be alert for traffic, parked cars, pedestrians, loose gravel and cracks in the road.<\/p>\n
Paul J. Mackarey, P.T., D.H.Sc., is a doctor in health sciences specializing in orthopedic and sports physical therapy. He is in private practice in Scranton and Clarks Summit and is an associate professor of clinical medicine at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. Email: mackareypt@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First of two parts May is National Bike Month \u2014 the perfect time to dust off your bike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,1057,139,729],"class_list":["post-188867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-health","tag-news","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}