Top Benefits of Biking in Cross Training WOD

Going through childhood, one of the most enjoyable activities is usually biking. As people grow, somehow their love for bikes tends to diminish probably due to busy lifestyle or changing priorities. If this is you, you may want to change your outlook and head straight to that bike sitting in your garage or shade for a ride.

In CrossFit training, biking is one of the compound exercises with lots of benefits. This is why most CrossFit coaches would not hesitate to include it in the training regimen. In case you are not familiar with biking or its benefits, below are some of the great gains behind this age-old exercise.

Enhanced Cardio Endurance

As you may know, CrossFit is a high-intensity sport where you get to test your limits for an extended duration. Biking as a workout includes setting a time or distance priority, hill repeats, sprinting, or just about anything that makes you feel challenged. The whole exercise is fun, but it requires a lot of effort especially where the challenge is scaled up. Research shows that biking for about an hour can burn anything up to 500 calories. The good thing is that the cycling is done at a moderate pace. Loss of 500 calories is a major gain towards weight loss.

Improved Coordination and Balance

As you head towards your middle years, balance and coordination somehow start decreasing. This is particularly true where you do not put them to test regularly. One of the best ways to challenge yourself and still have fun is bike riding. Test yourself on how fast you can ride and for how long you can stay at a red light without planting your feet onto the ground. For coordination, you can ride along a painted line or the edge of a sidewalk and look at how you perform.

An Excellent Way to Unwind

After a tough CrossFit WOD, you may want to switch off your mind a little bit and allow for your muscles to relax through some light exercise. Cycling is one of them. You could invite your family to cycle alongside you as you relax those muscles from draining and muscle tasking workout. The repetitive movement that is characteristic of biking together with the fresh air will distress you in as little as 15 minutes.

A Less Costly Way to Exercise

Biking doesn’t involve costly equipment like the other exercises. All you need is to buy a quality bicycle which can last you a long period if you maintain it well. The cost of a bike is not much on the initial purchase price, rather on the maintenance part of it. The beauty of biking is that you can do it anywhere as long as there is a path. You can incorporate biking into your workout of the day to give you immense benefits.