Ways Cycling Can Boost Brain Function In Young Minds

Many adults have fond memories of biking around their neighborhoods as children without a care. The simple act of meeting up with friends and exploring on two tires is something that grown-ups can look back on as the happiest of memories. The benefits of biking aren’t simply nostalgic, though – it can have many benefits for both physical and mental health. But what are the benefits of cycling, exactly? And does cycling improve brain function? Read on to learn all you need to know about the various ways cycling can boost brain function in young minds.

What are the benefits of bike riding? 
Bike riding is great exercise. It's aerobic but low impact, increasing the heart rate while keeping the pressure on joints low. Anyone can also participate because the intensity is entirely up to you. You have control of whether you want to go fast, slow, or somewhere in between.

There are many benefits associated with biking, including: 

• Weight management
  Bicycling is active and can be done anywhere. People who regularly bike, whether at intense or mild levels, burn calories and give their bodies and cardiovascular systems a great workout. Everyday calorie burn helps to keep your weight managed. 
• Stronger Legs 
  Strong legs are essential for keeping your joints healthy well into old age. When your leg muscles are strong, you can improve the function of your lower body. 
• Lower Cholesterol 
  Cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Keeping cholesterol levels down is a great way to reduce that risk. Cycling can boost good cholesterol while lowering bad cholesterol at the same time. 
• Mental Health Boost 
  Mental health is vital at any age. Cycling can help reduce stress, depression, and anxiety in people who do it regularly. While all types of exercise do this, cycling is a great way to reap the benefits while having fun. 
• Brain Power 
  Cognitive function, especially in developing children, is essential to overall health. Research has found that bicycling can help to improve brain power when done regularly. 
• Balance, Posture, and Coordination 
  Balance and coordination are important in life. While children are growing, they are learning different motor skills that help them develop balance and coordination. They're also learning habits that will contribute to their posture. Research has found that biking helps all three of these aspects of motor function health. 

What are the benefits of cycling for kids? 
When looking at cycling for kids, the benefits are similar to those for people of any age. However, since children are still developing in body, mind, and habits, cycling can have an even more significant impact on their current and future levels of health.

The benefits of cycling for kids include: 

• Active Habit Building 
  Children who participate in physical activity regularly are often more likely to continue those habits to adulthood. Biking as a child will encourage children to build the pattern of physical activity into their everyday life. 
• Organ Development 
  As children grow, their organs grow with them. The development of the lungs and the heart can especially benefit from regular cycling as a child. These organs will continue to strengthen through cycling.  
• Emotional Wellness
  Children may struggle with mental health as they go through the changes of growing up in today's generation. Cycling can help to keep their emotional wellness balanced. Exercise is known to affect mental health positively, and it's particularly vital for children. 
  By teaching your children to ride bikes, you can also help them develop both confidence and awareness. Both these skills can play a prominent role in emotional wellness for children. 
• Social Development 
  Cycling can be an extremely social activity. Children often love biking around with their friends. This group activity can help children develop social skills and create strong social bonds with people who enjoy the same things they do. 

How does biking help a child's development? 
From a more technical standpoint, biking can help with a child's overall physical and mental development for several reasons. Several motor and cognitive skills are built through cycling. 

For example, biking requires a lot of different physical actions to work. Children must steer with their arms, pedal with their legs, and balance while paying attention to their surroundings. This mix of actions helps children build their visuospatial skills and coordination. 

The cognitive power of biking is also beneficial for a child's development. The physicality of the exercise lends a hand to improving cognitive control by stimulating various regions within the brain. This can help enhance their learning and concentration, both on the bike and in other areas such as their education. 

Cycling also boosts the production of specific proteins and substances in the brain that play a role in forming new brain cells. When a child is developing, the way their brain creates new cells and the connection between those cells are vital to their overall development into adulthood. When those substances are produced in more significant amounts, they can triple the brain's neuron output, which grows the brain and improves cognitive abilities. 

Your child could be just learning to ride with training wheels, or they could be a master speedster on the sidewalk. No matter their level, cycling regularly is a perfect activity to improve physical and mental health. It’s a fun activity that helps boost brain function, and during development, that's incredibly important. Getting on a bike is a great way to improve and encourage overall health in your child today and in the future. 

 

Featured image by Amber Faust on Unsplash