This month's "Fit Bit" from Portland Velo's Fitness Guru
Well, Maybe. Maybe not. Let's see what we have here.
Seems that, yeah, cycling DOES strengthen your legs, lungs, heart and all its accompanying circulatory plumbing——but NOT, apparently, your psyche.
Elevated HDLs? Sure. Pumped-up Quads? You bet. Bottom-feeding resting heartrate? Check.
But mood boost? Uh, sad to say, no.
So says a team of Dutch researchers.
Reporting in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, the Netherlands nay sayers detected NO DIFFERENCES IN DEPRESSION, SELF-ESTEEM, OR OTHER ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASURES” in the 62 sedentary, mentally healthy adults who participated in either 4- or 8-month exercise cycling programs, OR the no-exercise-at-all fat-ass control group. Though the cyclists undeniably look hotter in spandex.
But.
If you’re one of that large group of Velo-ites prone to performance-anxiety neurosis (which, on Saturday, is nearly everyone from the A17s on up), there is still good news as the Bad News Boers did concede that exercise such as cycling may prove “psychologically helpful” to depressed or anxious people.
You know who you are.
So get out and ride, you'll feel better.