Get Healthy, Ride A Motorcycle
Get Healthy, Ride a Motorcycle
Tired of hearing how motorcycling can kill you? Now there's proof that riding can help you live longer.
A NEW STUDY SHOWS REGULAR OFF-ROAD motorcycling is an effective way to reduce body fat, gain muscle, increase endurance, lower blood pressure and guard against diabetes. Duh, we knew that all along, right?
“Off-road riding represents an attractive, unconventional physical activity to help combat preventable disease and premature mortality,” says the study, published this past January in European Journal of Applied Physiology.
Is your spouse giving you a hard time about the purchase of a new dirtbike? Well, tell her or him that it’s an investment in your health. It’s not just a weekend of thrills, it’s a down payment toward a longer, happier life.
Dr. Jamie Burr, who holds a Ph.D. in kinesiology and health science, conducted this study at York University in Toronto, Canada, by taking a group of new rid-
ers on regular trail rides and measuring the changes in their health and fitness.
After the group participated in two to four two-hour-long trail rides a week for six weeks, the maximum number of situps increased by 35 percent. Leg endurance improved by 33 percent. Subjects lost on average 1.5 percent body fat, most of it near the waist. An alreadyhealthy group average blood pressure of 121/74.6 dropped to 112/68.9. No surprise that getting off the sofa is good for you.
“We will make this study available to let people and land managers know that this is a legitimate form of exercise,” says Russ Ehnes, executive director of the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council, which helps promote responsible trail use across North America. —Philippe Devos
