What Happens to Your Body When You Cycle Every Day?

Outdoor cycling and indoor spinning or cycling are excellent forms of cardiovascular exercise that provide a low-impact workout suitable for all fitness levels. Indoor and outdoor bikes can be used for warm-ups, steady-state cardio sessions, HIIT training, Tabata, and leisurely recovery day activity. While cycling is enjoyable and beneficial for health, there may be risks to using it as your sole form of exercise.

Some cycling each day may be safe, but it's important to weigh the pros and cons of doing it daily and ensure you are mixing up your training with strengthening exercises, mobility work, and rest days, too. Learn more about incorporating cycling into your fitness routine and whether a daily cycling habit is right for you.

Benefits of Daily Cycling or Spinning

All forms of cardiovascular activity are beneficial for overall health and mental wellbeing. Getting in some cardio every day is a great choice, as long as you alternate between more gentle and more intense forms each day. Daily cycling or spinning provides the following incredible benefits.

Boosts Cardiovascular Health

Cycling or spinning can improve heart health, increase cardiovascular endurance, and lower the risk of heart disease. Research shows that cycling for at least one hour each week is associated with a 9% reduction in all-cause mortality.

Additionally, a study published in the BMJ that followed more than 250,000 commuters for five years showed cycling to work was associated with the lowest risk of death from any cause, cancer incidence, cancer mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence, and cardiovascular disease mortality.

Helps With Weight Management

Regular cycling or spinning can aid in weight loss and improve body composition. As a form of physical activity, cycling and spinning burn calories which can facilitate weight loss. Combining calorie-burning activities with a reasonable calorie deficit (eating less than you burn) may result in weight loss.

Research shows maintaining healthy body fat levels also lowers the risks of all-cause mortality while having excess body fat can increase the chances of developing heart disease, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, a study published in Applied Sciences shows that road cyclists tend to have low body mass and body mass index (BMI), low percentage of body fat, and reduced waist-to-hip ratio compared to the general population. These markers tend to indicate good health and less risk of health complications.

Losing weight can improve body composition as long as you lose primarily body fat and maintain muscle mass as much as possible through weight-bearing exercises such as strength training and eating enough protein. Cycling can help burn calories, but it's wise to ensure your diet and strength training routines are also supporting a healthy weight balance and body composition.

Builds Muscular Strength and Endurance

Cycling and spinning engage major muscle groups, improve leg strength, and enhance overall lower-body muscle endurance. During cycling and spinning, you will work the hamstrings and quadriceps, which are located on the back and front of your thighs. Research shows that both muscular strength and size can be increased by cycling. Though cycling produces a much slower rate of muscle growth than resistance training, it still works to increase mass and improve strength gains.

Note that muscle growth depends on the type of cycling. High cadence cycling like spin classes works more of the cardiovascular systems than it does muscular, so strength gains or increase in muscle size will likely be limited if at all.

Improves Mental Wellbeing

Cycling, spinning, and other forms of exercise can reduce stress, improve mood, and increase mental abilities. A study published in PLoS One showed an improvement in cognitive function and wellbeing from cycling, especially outdoors. Exercise and outdoor stimulation also boost cognitive function and wellbeing, making outdoor cycling particularly beneficial.

Another study published in BMJ Open showed that active commuters who cycled to work instead of using another form of transportation have less perceived stress. Additional studies confirm this conclusion showing improved mental health and less need for medications when cycling to work. For elderly people, research shows cycling can lower the risk of developing anxiety and depression and boosts self-esteem.

Promotes Joint Health

Cycling and spinning are low-impact exercises that can reduce the risk of joint injuries and improve joint mobility. In fact, cycling is a go-to activity for the rehabilitation of injuries and joint issues. It has been shown to help people recover their full range of motion after hip, knee, and ankle injuries.

If you have any current joint issues or are worried about the strain on your joints, cycling can be a form of exercise that works for you. Because pedaling is less strenuous on the joints than other forms of cardio, such as jumping sports or running, it's less likely to aggravate them. What's more, cycling can even reduce pain currently experienced by osteoarthritis.

Potential Dangers and Precautions

Daily activity will improve your health, but overdoing the intensity and type of exercise you do can lead to health issues. Here are some things you need to watch out for if you cycle most days.

Overtraining and Burnout

Overtraining can happen when you overdo activities based on your fitness level. It can happen to both novices and elite athletes when care isn't taken to ensure rest and recovery are optimized. Training too often and too intensely without allowing time for your muscles, other tissues, nervous system, and brain to repair, you can end up with overtraining syndrome or burnout.

Overtraining syndrome includes symptoms such as extreme fatigue, loss of motivation, mood changes, loss of appetite, sleep disturbance and insomnia, irregular heart rate, lower immunity, joint soreness, and more. Allowing enough time to recover before you do intense cycling or spinning workouts is ideal.

Listen to your body and consult a personal trainer or cycling coach if you need specific guidelines for your fitness level. And, if you want to cycle every day, try performing lower-intensity sessions for a few days of the week.

Overuse Injuries

Common overuse injuries can occur with excessive cycling or spinning, such as tendonitis or knee pain. It's essential to warm up properly and avoid pushing past any pain or strain. You also can avoid overuse injuries by ensuring your bike fits you correctly and your form is optimal. You'll want to get your bike properly fitted by a professional. They can teach you how to adjust your seat, handlebars, footwear, and other gear for your needs.

Safety Precautions

Being safe on your bike when outdoors means wearing the appropriate gear, obeying traffic rules, and using proper equipment. Safety equipment includes a well-fitted helmet, carrying a water bottle, having a first aid kit, and ensuring you are visible with bike lights and reflective clothing.

Avoid cycling in very hot or humid temperatures, and make sure you have proper hydration for your activity. It's also vital to learn the traffic rules including knowing how to signal your position and movements to the vehicles around you. Always inspect your bike before you go for a ride to ensure it is safe to use and functioning correctly.

How to Incorporate Cycling or Spinning Into a Daily Routine

It's important to set achievable goals and gradually increase the intensity of your cycling to avoid burnout or injuries. Don't plan too many days of high-intensity or long-duration cycling sessions, especially if you are new to exercise or cycling. Vary the intensity and terrain of your cycling or spinning routines by incorporating intervals, hill climbs, or outdoor rides. It's also crucial to listen to the body's signals and adjust the intensity or duration of workouts accordingly. Consider consulting with a cycling coach to help plan a workout routine that properly plans workouts based on your unique goals and level of fitness.

Cross-training to prevent muscle imbalances and reduce the risk of overuse injuries is also wise. Avoid relying only on cycling as your only form of exercise. Cycling will not significantly work your muscles enough to count as resistance training, and it will not help build or preserve bone mass as weight-bearing activities will.

One of the best ways to incorporate cycling into your daily routine is to cycle to work. Commuter cycling has been studied extensively and shows many amazing benefits for you and the environment. Daily cycling also helps adults meet and exceed the daily recommendations for physical activity.

A study published in BMJ Open followed adult commuter cyclists for several years and found cycling to work was not used to replace other forms of exercise but instead added to total activity levels. Cycling to work is a fantastic way to incorporate cardiovascular activity into your daily routine.

You can also try spin classes a couple of times per week or use an indoor cycle machine to warm up before performing other types of exercise. For active rest days, taking a leisurely bike ride can improve blood flow, help repair muscles, and boost mental wellbeing, as long as you take it easy.

Bottom Line

Spinning and cycling provide excellent cardiovascular, muscular, and mental health benefits, including improved heart health, sharper cognition, and less stress. However, there are risks to cycling every day, including overuse injuries.

It's a good idea to consult a healthcare professional or a certified instructor before starting a new exercise routine. And, don't forget to balance intensity, recovery, and proper technique to optimize the benefits and minimize the risks of cycling or spinning every day.