Is Mountain Biking Good Exercise?
Mountain biking is a fun form of exercise for many people because it gets them moving, lets them explore scenic areas, enjoy incredible views and get together with their friends. While mountain biking is a social activity that gets you moving and helps you explore new places, is it really a good form of exercise?
Mountain biking is a good exercise because it improves your cardiovascular system and simultaneously includes all the major muscle groups. It’s a full-body workout, and you can use mountain biking as a form of moderate or vigorous exercise.
In this article, we’ll talk about what qualifies as good exercise and how mountain biking measures up to that. We’ll also explore other benefits of hopping on a mountain bike and discover the difference between mountain biking and road biking. Let’s dig in!
Why is Mountain Biking Good Exercise?
To understand why mountain biking is considered a good exercise, we have to first know what good exercise is. Anything that gets you moving can be considered exercise, but the best exercise is the one that gets your heart rate up, strengthens muscles, targets major muscle groups, keeps you moving, and burns calories. And with mountain biking, you get to do that all at the same time.
According to the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS), here’s what adults should try to achieve with their weekly exercise goals:
- Exercise every day, if possible, or more than half the days of the week. It’s better to spread your workouts evenly throughout the week instead of doing them on one day or at the beginning/end of the week.
- Exercise at least two and a half hours a week with moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes a week of high-intensity action.
- Include conditioning activity that strengthens the large muscle groups, such as your legs, shoulders, and chest. It’s essential to not only burn calories but to strengthen your muscles to reduce injury and joint problems from overuse, age, or other factors. The NHS suggests doing activities that support these muscle groups at least two days out of the week.
- Try to eliminate the time you spend staying stagnant, such as lying down or sitting. It’s best to break up long periods of inactivity with movement to improve blood circulation, joint health, and muscle function.
So now that we know what “good exercise” is, let’s see how mountain biking fits that definition and look at some of the benefits of hopping on a mountain bike.
Mountain Biking Can Be a Moderate or High-Intensity Activity
One of the benefits of mountain biking is that you can cover two bases with one exercise. Since the NHS advises getting over an hour a week of either moderate or vigorous activity, you can use mountain biking to suit your fitness needs. It’s important to note that 150 minutes of moderate and 75 minutes of vigorous activity is the minimum amount of time recommended by the NHS. It’s definitely better to get more than that amount of exercise a week if you can.
Mountain Biking as a Form of Moderate Activity
Moderate activity gets you warm and moving and increases your heart rate and blood flow, but it isn’t so overbearing or strenuous that you’re breathing extremely heavily and can’t talk.
With mountain biking, you can pick your terrain and your speed, which will determine if you will get moderate or vigorous exercise for the day. If you’re looking for a more moderate workout, choose a flatter or less challenging terrain and bike at a slower speed.
Mountain biking is excellent for moderate exercise because you can bike with friends and enjoy light conversation while you ride. One reason people love mountain biking is the social aspect of the activity.
Many people will tell you that exercising is often easier in a group. You can get a group together and hop on a trail with mountain biking. Once you start talking, you might be surprised at how far you’ve gone and how much exercise you’ve gotten while merely enjoying your friends’ company. Your friends can also encourage you and keep you accountable if you get tired or start to lag behind the group.
Mountain Biking as a Form of High-Intensity Activity
Vigorous activity is an exercise that increases your breathing and heart rate. With vigorous activity, you will notice that it’s challenging to carry on a conversation like you could if you were doing a power walk or strolling through the neighborhood.
High-intensity exercise typically requires a lot more energy and effort. It can be sustained for long periods, such as endurance running. Or vigorous exercise can be short bursts of activity performed with the highest energy levels, essentially taking everything you have to exert the movement.
Therefore, mountain biking can quickly become a vigorous workout if you increase the intensity. You can decide to bike at a higher speed, choose a rough or hillier terrain, or combine the two for a high-intensity workout. You can also increase the duration of your rides to make mountain biking a vigorous exercise.
With high-intensity workouts, you might be in the “red zone,” where your heart rate is exceptionally high for short periods. Or, you can sustain time in the yellow zone where you’re working at a higher percentage of your maximum heart rate.
Mountain Biking Strengthens All the Major Muscle Groups
The major muscle groups in your body are:
- Legs
- Arms
- Shoulders
- Chest
- Back
- Abdominals
The NHS recommends strengthening all the major muscle groups when you exercise. Lucky for mountain bike riders, hopping on a mountain bike automatically strengthens these muscles for you. There’s no reason to join a gym or buy extra equipment to target different muscles in your body because mountain biking hits them all.
Mountain biking is considered a total body workout, which is one of the reasons it is such an appealing form of exercise. It’s hard to find an exercise regime that targets all the major muscle groups, and many people hate using workout equipment or simply don’t know the exercises to do to strengthen the major muscle groups.
Mountain biking is considered good exercise because it targets all of these groups in one way or another. And if you bike for at least two days a week, you’ve already accomplished your minimum strengthening requirements according to the NHS.
So let’s break down these muscle groups and see how mountain biking works them all.
Legs
It’s no secret that any type of biking will give you a good leg workout. Mountain bikers rely on their legs to move the pedals and get them uphill and over various distances. Mountain biking works your hamstrings, calves, quads, and buttocks for an entire leg and lower body workout. If you’re planning on mountain biking, you already have leg day covered.
Arms
One of the benefits of riding a mountain bike as opposed to cycling on the road is that it requires more upper body strength, which strengthens the muscles you wouldn’t usually use riding a regular bike. Mountain bikers gain more upper body benefits because they have to complete challenging turns on rugged terrain that strengthens the arm muscles, mainly the biceps, triceps, and forearms.
Shoulders
The shoulder joint is an often neglected body part, but it is imperative to bikers. The shoulders connect to your back and arms, and your movement can be severely hindered if you have shoulder problems. Stable shoulders are necessary to navigate the complex terrain of a mountain while on a bike.
Mountain biking strengthens the shoulders while steering and also while riders are climbing out of the saddle, which is the act of standing up on the bike to get more power to climb uphill or through difficult ground.
Chest
While you might not develop huge pectoral muscles from riding a bike, they will be included in your workout. Bikers must have a firm grip, be able to steer the handles, and handle the impact that comes from riding on rocky or challenging terrain. That’s where the chest muscles come in.
Mountain biking works the chest muscles, particularly on the descent of a hill. Bikers must maintain control of the bike as it goes downhill, and any slip can result in an accident. The chest muscles are used to maintain control of the bike and handle the shock waves the cycle takes in as it goes downhill.
Back
Your back is considered part of your core. The large muscles surrounding your spine that keep your back upright are called your erector spinae, and they extend through your entire back. These lower parts of your back muscles are activated on a mountain bike as part of your core because they help keep you balanced on the bike.
Several muscle groups in your back are working and moving together as your pedal, take sharp turns, and steer on your bike. It’s also one reason why biking helps improve your balance. You definitely work your back muscles more riding a mountain bike than you would taking a power walk.
Abdomen
Will you get abs from riding a mountain bike? It’s hard to say, but you will engage your core and abdomen muscles as you ride. Just like your back muscles help keep you stable and balanced, so do the muscles in your abdomen. Your ab muscles are involved every time you lift your leg to move the pedal, and they are engaged as you take turns on different hills, especially your obliques.
As a plus, mountain biking burns a lot of calories, which can help you lose weight quickly. Everyone has ab muscles; sometimes, they are just hidden. Mountain biking can help you shed layers of fat, which might expose a six-pack that was already there.
Other Benefits of Mountain Biking
Now that we’ve covered the basics of good exercise, let’s examine some other reasons why mountain biking is an excellent form of activity and see what other benefits people can get from mountain biking.
Mountain Biking Is Good for Your Heart
Maintaining a healthy heart is a critical way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Mountain biking is good for your heart because it involves cardio, which works to keep your heart healthy and strong. Like many other aerobic activities, mountain biking lowers your risk of heart disease.
As I stated earlier, mountain biking is an excellent form of exercise because it targets the major muscle groups. For your muscles to function correctly, they need oxygen.
Your heart pumps blood and oxygen to your muscles. With so many muscles engaged at one time, your heart works hard to get blood flow and oxygen to your entire body. This act keeps your heart in shape and ensures your heart muscle is working well, all while lowering your blood pressure.
Mountain Biking Can Increase Your Brain Health
It’s a well-known fact that exercise is excellent for brain health. Exercising gets more blood flow and oxygen to the brain, it helps you focus and opens up new pathways to solve problems, create solutions, and figure out complex tasks.
While exercising, in general, is excellent for your brain, mountain biking has increased health benefits for your brain. Studies have shown that riding a bike helps improve memory and increases brain function. Cycling may help reduce the risk of brain diseases.
Mountain Biking Is Easier on Your Joints Than Other Forms of Exercise
Have you ever seen older people riding bicycles on the street and wondered how they can still do it? It’s because cycling is much easier on your joints than other activities. Mountain biking is considered a low-impact activity, meaning your joints aren’t taking such a hard and direct hit like they would if you were running, jumping, or playing other contact sports.
A lot of cardio involves jumping or running, so mountain biking is an excellent alternative to those activities while still being an excellent aerobic exercise. For those suffering from joint pain or stiffness, mountain biking may provide some much-needed relief from traditional exercises.
Low-impact activity can also prolong your joint health and help prevent joint pain in the long run. If you take care of your joints while you are young and avoid overly strenuous activities, you can keep your joints in good shape for longer.
Is Mountain Biking Better Exercise than Road Biking?
We know cycling has excellent benefits overall, but what’s the difference between taking up mountain biking or biking on the road? Is one better than the other? Let’s look at the critical differences between mountain biking and road biking to determine which is best for you.
Mountain biking:
- Gives you more of an upper body workout.
- Requires technical skills with the handlebars and steering.
- It is sometimes considered anaerobic exercise because it requires short bursts of power to make it uphill or through challenging terrain.
Road biking:
- Gives you more of a lower body workout because most of the action is focused on the legs instead of steering through terrain.
- Has a heavier focus on the cardio aspect of biking as it requires little technical skills with steering or handlebars.
- Is considered aerobic exercise because you are usually biking for more extended periods, which requires higher endurance levels.
Both forms of biking offer excellent health benefits, but which one is right for you?
Mountain biking will allow you to see more of nature. There have been numerous studies that show the benefits of being among nature. It’s known to reduce stress and naturally improve your mood, and studies show that being outside in a natural environment has a natural calming effect.
While both forms of biking get you outside and help you take in vitamin D, mountain biking allows you to see more of nature instead of biking in the city or a long, simple trail. A mountain bike is built for challenging terrain, so you can go on mountains or off traditional paths to see more of the land and environment.
While road biking is purely aerobic, there are many heart and health benefits to anaerobic exercise on a mountain bike. Anaerobic exercise can help you lose weight and keep your heart strong. Additionally, it’s possible to ride a mountain bike for long periods of time, so you can still get the aerobic effect while mountain biking.
Lastly, mountain biking gives you more of a full-body workout than road biking. If you’re looking to tone up more of your body, mountain biking is the way to go because it targets more muscle groups than regular road biking. According to the NHS, it’s essential to strengthen the major muscle groups a few days a week, so mountain biking will allow you to kill two birds with one stone.
Final Thoughts
Mountain biking is one of the best forms of exercise. It improves cardiovascular function, increases heart health, and targets and strengthens the body’s major muscles. One of the great things about mountain biking is that you can perform the activity as either moderate exercise or high intensity.
Mountain biking gets you outdoors, exposes you to Vitamin D, and is easier on the joints than other forms of exercise. Because you’re working out all the major muscle groups, there’s no need to hit the gym afterward. If you’re looking for a fun way to exercise, mountain biking is an excellent solution!
