Cycling is sometimes called a "lifetime activity or sport" because people of all ages enjoy it from toddler to the seventies and beyond. I personally have seen and met up with people who were on tour in their eighties. Cycling along with its enjoyment factor comes with another factor that could be considered priceless. Medical studies have shown that bicycle riding, which is a great aerobic exercise, can dramatically reverse many physical changes that occur with aging. Here are some evidence that has been collected from recent research. These benefits can be yours if you make bicycling a regular part of your life.

Usually activity of the central nervous system delines with age. This is evidenced by the slowing of your reaction time and also the fact that your muscles don't move as quickly. Regular activity slows the slide and arouses your brain. Medical studies have shown that older people who are more active usually have a faster rate of muscular movement than the rate of younger people who are more sedentary.

As stated in the last paragraph, regular activity arouses the brain which never really loses its capacity to learn. At any age level, the brain can grow new anotomical connections and function at a high level. When older people who are active are tested for memory and reasoning skills, they are shown to have some of the best scores. Regular exercise enhances the flow of blood to the brain which reduces the chances of a stroke.

After the age of thirty, you start to lose about one percent of your muscle's strength and size each year. When you factor in regular activity, this decline doesn't start till around your sixties. The best type of training is resistance exercise but cycling can be a plus. Medical studies have shown that people in their seventies have shown increases in leg strength and aerobic capacity if they combine cycling with lifting.

As you age, your ligaments and tendons become more rigid. With age, tissues tend to grow microscopic structures that limit the range of motion. Moderate stretching and regular activity can reduce these natural declines in elasticity.

By the age of twenty-five, your lungs are at their highest level of efficiency. By the age of fourty-five, the basic lung efficiency is down to eighty-five percent. The efficiency is usually down to sixty-two percent by the age of sixty-five and fifty-percent by the age of eighty-five. Medical studies have shown that people who are sixty and exercise often have a higher ratio for oxygen uptake than the ratio of twenty year olds who are sedentary. Older people have increased their lung capacity as much as seventy-six percent when they either cycle or do other aerobic exercise.

Each year of your life you lose some of your heart's capacity to pump blood. After the age of forty, the rate of diminishment is between one and two percent per year. This is a cause of higher heart rates. Active people have lower heart rates and experience about only about a third of the loss of sedentary people. If a person in their sixties takes up cycling and keeps it up for at least a year, they can increase their heart function by a factor between twenty-five and thirty percent.

The percentage of body fat increases with age. Much of this fat shifts from the extremities to the abdominal area. This shift can contribute to heart trouble and hypertension. Exercise reduces body fat and lowers blood pressure.

With age, your body becomes more susceptible to disease and their is a loss of your body's ability to self-repair. Moderate exercise can delay this process. Longevity can be increased by three years or more with moderate exercise. The medical professional have been thinking about changing their concept of "age-related" diseases. The American Journal of Sports Medicine has concluded that the greatest threat to a person's health is not the aging process but rather inactivity. With all of the above factors, my advice to you is "ride for your life!"