Winners are willing to do things others aren't willing to do.
This is in regard to longevity, now aside from genetics and other health problems that might come up, in general I see cyclist living much longer and having few if any health problems in old age. I see it as a good reason to for go the comfort of the car, really hard to do I admit, but the health gain from riding makes it worth it. I think of this when it's colder than hell or blazing hot and I'm at that time hating life,I'm really winning.I think of all the medication I don't take as others in my age group are starting to fall apart.I feel cars though comfortable and convenient, are slowly killing us by making us lazy, now once again there are people that live in the gym, but thinking out of the box in most cases the car is slowly killing you financially and in health.

If you stop to think about it, most things that are good for your pocketbook are also good for your health and good for your environment.

There are health benefits to cycling and I enjoy them everyday....however trying to make cycling as a "cure all for all diseases", "fountain of youth " and a way to "immortality " is just too much.. There are a lot of extremly fit and healthy non-cyclists.

But anyhoo, bicycling is one of the greatest forms of all-around exercise. Running and swimming are in the same elite class as effective forms of daily exercise for aerobic fitness, strength, coordination, balance, and all the other benefits of exercise. And no other form of exercise (besides walking) fits into daily living as well as bicycling. It's a tremendous benefit to be able to get exercise while you're commuting to work, shopping, going to the bar, or whatever. No, you won't live forever if you ride every day. But you most likely will live a lot longer and certainly have a better quality of life.

Obviously you've never heard or taken any interest in other forms of excercise such as: weight training, martial arts, kettlebells, bootcamp training, military fitness, TRX, bodyweight training. Any of these can be easily incorporated into the persons daily lifestyle to keep them fit...And No I would never ever put down cycling because I love cycling. What ticks me off is exaggarated claims of superfitness, superhealth, superman like strength and moral superiority acheived only through cycling alone

I tell people this:

"Riding a bike is the 2nd-best activity for overall health you can do. The FIRST is swimming, for the whole-body workout; but I never heard of anybody drowning from a leg cramp on a bike, so I'll settle for #2."

That said, different people respond differently to different training regimens. NOTHING is 100%. So, EVERYBODY -- get over it. Do what works for you, if someone asks you, tell them what it does FOR YOU, but let them make their own choices, and be happy they are wanting to be fit and healthy. (I know it sounds like I'm contradicting myself, but I do it for the icebreaker and laugh, not to give advice.)

GIVE the respect you want back.

I have posted here many times that I practice other forms of exercise, including weights, walking, canoeing, rowing, playing with the kids, etc, etc. I also have a job that keeps me active. I agree that a variety of activities is good practice for good health. Strangely enough, however, I think cycling is the best FOR ME and presumably for most others on bikeforums.net, as opposed to a rowboat forum or a kettleball forum. I certainly don't have a need to go on their forums and tell them that they are deluded to be enthusiastic about their sports or activities.

And again, you are putting false words in the OP's mouth. He made none of the claims you claim he made. Not one mention of superhuman strength or immortality was made by anybody but you.

I don't think it's possible to rank exercise in a 1,2,3 order. There are many factors to consider. But I think most physiologists would agree that running, swimming and bicycling are each in the big three for an all-around activity, for those who can do them. I think it's important to find one (or more) that you truly enjoy on a long term basis. Almost everybody on this forum has already made that discovery, of course.

Switching from car commuting to bicycle commuting (and eating smarter) has done wonders for my health, including losing 60 pounds, controlling my blood pressure, and keeping me off of cholesterol medicine. I have experienced exactly the effect the OP described. I am in the best shape I have been in since the 1980's. My doctor and my family are huge cheerleaders for my continued bicycling. It has changed my life for the better in so many ways, and I don't plan to ever go back.

People are astounded when they find out my real age.

My experience was similar. I weighed more than 300 when I had a heart attack in 2000. I discovered that I had diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. After dieting, walking and weightlifting for about a year, all tests were normal, but I was still on meds for the cholesterol and BP. Then I started bicycling. Within another year I was able to quit the drugs, except for daily aspirin. Years later, I'm still doing fine. So don't tell me that cycling is not a miracle!

People think I'm about 5 years older than I am. Maybe it's the beard..... (I hope!)

You're massively exaggerating the health benefits of being on a bike; all by itself, cycling is not going to keep you very fit, unless you put in a LOT of miles. It's certainly a good addition to an overall fitness program, and it's way better than nothing, but it's not a panacea; I'm sure all of us have seen more than our fair share of pot-bellied roadies. If you're riding for fitness, you're going to have to get off the bike and do other things, too. And I'm pretty sure that diet has a much bigger effect on overall health than cycling does. A vegan non-cyclist is probably going to live a whole lot longer than a bacon-scarfing century rider.

I ride for transportation, and Ive lost close to 40LBS, good enough for me.

Not that many miles, really. maybe 7 or 8 miles a day for most people, and 3 times that for people who are maintaining a large weight loss. Here is what the experts at webmd say:So, if you ride your bike a mere 3 or 4 miles to work (and the same back home) provides most people with all the exercise they need, provided they do a little something on the weekend. A one mile walk to work would work as well. On the high end, a 12 mile (1 way) bike commute or 3 mile walk would suffice for those who need the 90 minutes per day.

According to the guidelines, all physical activity counts toward the daily total, not just specific "exercise" periods. And nowhere in the guidelines do they specify that you must do more than one type of activity to reach your goal of 30, 60, or 90 minutes per day of physical activity. There is nothing wrong with cycling as the only form of activity, although of course some individuals might want to mix things up for various reasons.

I hope that this clears up some of the confusion. According to the best available information, 30 minutes of cycling every day is sufficient in duration and quality for most individuals. Other people with specific conditions should aim for 60 or 90 minutes of daily physical activity. This can all be done on the bike if you prefer.

https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercis...-enough?page=3

Whatever. I didn't pull that out of my ass, I'm quoting other people in sports physiology and the medical profession.

For me, the advantage of bicycling is that it's useful. It gets me somewhere. I have run 31 miles at a stretch before, but I wouldn't want to haul around my work stuff while I did it. I've never swam more than 2 miles at a time, but it's even less useful where I live.

No, I've never heard of anyone drowning from a leg cramp on a bike, but I've heard of people getting hit and killed by cars....just sayin'....

I think that provided I don't get schmucked by a car on one of my many bike outings, either killed or mutilated, then cycling will give me a long life.

I love cycling enough that I am willing to take that chance.

I think that anybody riding a bicycle to work or to the grocery store once a day is winning in the health battle. Human bodies feel better after exercising.

Years ago I came across a book written by a psychiatrist. Usually I hate anything to do with that profession but this guy used his medical knowledge to do fitness experiments. It related to training and VO2 Max (the level of efficiency a muscle uses energy burning oxygen). He found that any muscle in motion reaches its maximum efficiency within six minutes. Exercising that muscle beyond six minutes won't improve it. Exercising within those first six minutes is where the gains occur. Anything beyond that is just burning calories. No improvement will happen after that. That means cycling longer distances won't make you stronger.

In England there was a study that proved exercising at maximum intensity for thirty seconds three times in a row with just a minute of rest in between was all that was needed to accomplish optimum cardiovascular health and prevent or even turn around type two diabetes. The problem with that was 20% of the population responded optimally to this program. Twenty percent didn't have very much benefit from it, and the people in between did get good benefits from it but not as much as the top 20%. These differences were shown in genetic markers. By examining a blood sample the scientists could determine which group one would be in regarding results before the program is started.

I don't really believe much from WebMD. They are mostly funded by pharmaceutical companies.

There are studies out there that show interesting things about the human body. Since these studies and proofs aren't related to pushing chemicals or particular vitamin supplements they don't get much press.

My favorite exercise routine involves isometric exercises. I strain each muscle group for only seven seconds. I'm done with the whole routine in less than ten minutes. According to the study done by a couple of German scientists in the late fifties (Muller & Hettinger), exercising at 70% effort for each movement, doing it only one time, done daily, will increase one's strength 6% per week. In twenty weeks your strength will be doubled. They did all kinds of permutations with more weights, multiple repetitions, maximum effort, 40% effort, et cetera. The conclusion was that doing only one stressful move on a muscle at between 40% and 70% effort would equal the strength gains of someone doing multiple repetitions at 100% effort.

Pete Sisco's Static Contraction Conditioning program found that doing one movement at maximum strength was all that was needed to increase strength. Multiple repetitions weren't more effective. Plus he found that waiting longer intervals between sessions were better than exercising daily. If you return to do the exercise and you can't perform better than the previous session then you didn't wait long enough to let your body recuperate and heal from the previous strain on your muscles.

Cycling is great for all sorts of health benefits. They just plateau early in the trip. After that the calorie burning is the main benefit.

I have heard of people getting chomped by sharks too, but that doesn't stop me from swimming in the ocean

Aaron

If the cars would keep their distance and only attack once in a blue moon like sharks do, I'd be happier....

Damn, dude...buy a sense of humor. The people I say that to never fail to LOL. AND, they'll usually take my advice re: what BSO to buy. I'm out practically every day, amongst the driving masses, and I'm still here. So lighten up.

I'm out every day too, haven't been hit yet. But I know it could happen, getting hit by a car. However I don 't dwell on it, but I thought I would play devil's advocate with the OP.

Oh, and by the way, I'm a dudette.

And how many times have you actually been attacked, by those sharks on four wheels ??

I've never been hit but my daughter was hit in an intersection and a couple of friends got hit by car mirrors.

Those sharks can be nasty!