You’ve been vowing to get more exercise, so why not pump up the tires and head out on your bike? Better yet, get the family out with you, and everyone benefits. Use this quiz to gear up your knowledge about bicycling.
1. Bicycling is an excellent form of exercise because it gives you a good workout with less strain on your joints than jogging.
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Bicycling is easier on your back and joints than jogging. Biking is also a good alternative to running or jogging for people with osteoarthritis. Biking strengthens the large muscles of the lower body. When you climb hills, your upper body also gets a workout.
2. When you begin your workout, start out slowly by pedaling on flat ground in a low gear to warm up.
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Warm up for five to 10 minutes, or until you feel warm. At the end of your ride, spend five or 10 minutes in a cool-down, pedaling slowly in low gear. This will gradually lower your heart rate and prevent lactic acid from pooling in the muscles.
3. Regular exercise helps with weight control and helps prevent heart disease.
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Regular exercise also helps reduce blood pressure and LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and raises HDL ("good") cholesterol levels, the American Heart Association says. A sedentary lifestyle is one of the five major risk factors for heart disease; the other four are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and smoking.
4. To gain the health benefits of exercise, you must bicycle for at least an hour every day.
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The federal government’s health and fitness guidelines call for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. That amount can be broken up into 10-minute chunks. To lose weight or to reap even greater health benefits, you should extend your workout to an hour. Riding a bike at a leisurely pace is considered a moderate-intensity exercise. Cycling at a moderate pace is considered vigorous exercise.
5. When buying a bike, you should consider how far you will typically ride and over what kind of terrain.
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Bicycles come in different types, from motocross (BMX) and track racing bikes, to road touring and mountain bikes. Longer road trips call for a touring frame. If you are a heavy person, you will need a sturdier frame and broader range of gears. If you plan to ride in rough, hilly terrain, you'll need tougher tires and reliable brakes. Once you've decided on a type, you'll find that most of the bikes within a price range are very similar. Getting a good fit is important for safety, so make sure you "try on" a bike before buying it. You should be able to stand astride the bike with both feet flat on the floor and have a crotch clearance of 1 to 2 inches for a touring bike, or 2 to 4 inches for an off-road bike. For more suggestions on purchasing a bike, visit the International Bicycle Fund website at http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/travel/bikeselect.htm.
6. Bike helmets are essential to preventing serious head and brain injuries, but only half of bike riders wear a helmet every time they ride.
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Look for a helmet that meets standards set by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission or the Snell Memorial Foundation. Make sure the helmet fits properly. It should be snug and level on your head; you should not be able to move it or tilt it when it is strapped in place. These same criteria also apply to bike helmets for children.
7. If you go mountain biking, you'll need a special MTB helmet.
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No matter what kind of cycling you do, you'll need a bike helmet that meets safety standards and fits properly. What you will need for mountain biking that you won't need for touring are knee and elbow pads.
8. Children are at higher risk than other riders for bicycle-related head injuries.
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About three-fourths of all head injuries sustained while riding a bike, and more than 40 percent of deaths from head injuries, occur in children ages 14 and younger. Children should wear a bike helmet whenever they ride. Besides head injuries, children are more likely to be hurt in a bike accident because they hit the handlebars. This may be because children are more likely than adults to ride bikes that don’t fit them.
