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Yoga for Cyclists

By Whitney Mah

Western society puts an emphasis on keeping in shape and staying active by lifting weights and spending hours doing cardio but there is a lack of interest in the benefits of stretching. Finding a balance between stretching, building muscle and strength, and increasing flexibility and mobility means practising not only one discipline

Read more . . . Yoga for Cyclists

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Your Bike — Your Brain-Part 2

How Riding Your Bike Makes You Happier

By  Clair Cafaro

So now we know that riding our bikes increases brain fitness (“Your Bike-Your Brain“). And you already know that riding your bike makes you feel great (those bugs in your teeth are evidence of your ear to ear smile). What you

Read more . . . Your Bike – Your Brain-Part 2

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Your Bike — Your Brain

How Riding your Bike is Good for your Brain -part 1

By Clair Cafaro

It’s obvious how fantastic you feel after a long ride or a tough race, quads throbbing as you challenge friends to the top of a climb or sprint against rivals to the finish line. What you may not be

Read more . . . Your Bike — Your Brain

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6 Stay-Lean Tips

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

The transition from cycling 6 to 8 hours or more each week in the summer to cycling a lot less in the fall can be tricky. As the outside cycling season winds down, the pounds can ramp up. Continue eating the same amounts you did in the summer, and you could

Read more . . . 6 Stay-Lean Tips

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Saddle Discomfort—Solutions for Women Cyclists

Q: What are the most likely causes of female genital pain while cycling?

Mary Paterson: Saddle comfort can be the deciding factor between an enjoyable ride or a miserable one. It can stop some women from riding their bikes all together, it’s that painful. Why can the saddle be such

Read more . . . Saddle Discomfort—Solutions for Women Cyclists

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Hydration for Cyclists

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

It’s complicated being a recreational cyclist these days. Questions about what to eat, and what to drink, before, during and after a ride used to be the territory of the pros. Not anymore. If you ride frequently and for longer than 1 ½ hours, knowing how to fuel

Read more . . . Hydration for Cyclists

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Cycling Safely in the Heat

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

The return of summer is especially welcomed in northern climes where long months of winter leave you craving hot weather and unbroken days of sunshine. But, like most things in life, too much of a good thing can quickly turn bad—stay out too long in the summer heat and the health

Read more . . . Cycling Safely in the Heat

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Cycling: Protect Your Skin

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

For most of my life I’ve eschewed sunscreens. The long list of chemical ingredients in them concerned me, and I always felt that using a sunscreen would encourage me to stay out in the sun too long. Instead, I got out of the sun when I’d had enough or I covered

Read more . . . Cycling in the Sun: Protect Your Skin

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Want an Exercise Afterburn? Get Intense!

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

Does exercise provide a calorie afterburn effect? The question has been debated for decades with no clear answer, until now. Recently, the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise published a study by Dr. Amy A. Knab at Appalachian State University on the afterburn effect.

The study

Read more . . . Want an Exercise Afterburn? Get Intense!

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14 Proven Side Effects of Sitting All Day

Guest Post By Nursing Schools.net

It should come as no surprise that sitting around and not moving all day isn’t really good for your body, but many may not be aware of just how many problems can be caused by such a sedentary lifestyle. Whether you choose to sit all day or

Read more . . . 14 Proven Side Effects of Sitting All Day

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Cycling with Diabetes – Don’t Despair!

By Sheila Ascroft

When the doctor told me I had type 2 diabetes, it was a relief! Suddenly, several months of feeling oh-so-tired made sense. Things got even better as the medication kicked in, and I was almost my old self again.

But despite my booming morale, the first bike ride

Read more . . . Cycling with Diabetes – Don’t Despair!

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How To Get a Good Night’s Sleep—and Live Longer

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

If you spend hours every night tossing and turning trying to get to sleep, or regularly wake up in the middle of the night and lie awake for hours, you know how important a good night’s sleep is. Not only do you feel better when you’ve had enough zzzzzs, you look better

Read more . . . How To Get a Good Night’s Sleep—and Live Longer

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Exercise Keeps You Young

By Laurel-Lea Shannon


We all know that exercise is good for us. It keeps us trim, fit and healthy. But did you know that it also keeps you young? A recent study by German scientists took four groups of men and women and measured their cells’ lifespan. Two groups were

Read more . . . Exercise Keeps You Young

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Are You Getting Enough Light This Winter?

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

Photo: Gillian Scobie

Many people suffer from seasonal sleep and mood disorders in the winter months. The usual cause of this is lack of light. On a bright summer day, the sunlight measures 100,000 lux (the standard measurement of illumination), but during winter days in Canada or the northern USA,

Read more . . . Are You Getting Enough Light This Winter?

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10 Ways to Boost Your Immunity

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

With numerous nasty cold and flu bugs flying around during the winter months, washing your hands frequently may not be enough to stay healthy. To outfox viruses you’ve got to keep one step ahead of them by keeping your immune system humming. Here’s how:

1. Exercise but don’t overtrain: Your

Read more . . . 10 Ways to Boost Your Immunity

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Do Women Sweat Less Than Men?

By Dr. Gabe Mirkin

Yes. A study from Japans shows that women need to work much harder than men to start sweating during exercise. (Experimental Physiology, October 2010). You start to sweat when your body heat reaches a certain temperature. Men start to sweat earlier than women do because

Read more . . . Do Women Sweat Less Than Men?

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Time to Recalibrate Your Workout

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

Do you monitor your heart rate while working out? If so, you may be setting your pace too high. A recent study of 5,500 women at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago found that the time-tested formula for calculating maximum heart rate for women is, uh . . .wrong!

Up to now, the usual

Read more . . . Time to Recalibrate Your Workout

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Beat The Heat

By Diane Stibbard

Now that summer is well underway, some parts of the country are hitting record high temperatures, with humidity levels running between 60 and 100 percent. Hot weather is a challenge for cyclists but don’t worry, your body adapts to these conditions quickly.

How? Within ten to twelve days you’ll start sweating earlier, and you’ll

Read more . . . Beat The Heat

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BPA-Free Water Bottles—2010 Update

After last year’s foofaraw about the health risks of BPA (bisphenol-A), two companies, Polar and CamelBak, have come out with new insulated water bottles designed for cyclists. Insulated water bottles keep water cooler twice as long as standard plastic bottles.

Polar’s water bottle is made of LDPE, low density polyethylene,

Read more . . . BPA-Free Water Bottles—2010 Update

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A Delicate Matter: Cycling and Genital Problems

When Cycling Hurts – OUCH!

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

Cycling and male impotence is a familiar topic but we seldom hear about the long list of gynecological problems women cyclists can encounter.

It’s well known that time spent in the saddle can affect your sexual health. Male cyclists suffer everything from

Read more . . . A Delicate Matter: Cycling and Genital Problems

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Weight Loss for Spring Cycling

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

If your winter fitness plans fizzled out this year, and instead of packing on extra muscle during the off-season you’ve added a few pounds of fat, don’t despair. There’s still time to tweak your diet and tune up your exercise program this spring.

Too many women make weight loss a chore. If you’re active

Read more . . . Weight Loss for Spring Cycling

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Cycling and Osteoporosis: Protect Dem Bones

By Laurel-Lea Shannon

Osteoporosis will affect one in three women during their lifetime. We’re facing “an osteoporosis epidemic,” says Dr. Jean-Philippe Bonjour of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). What’s responsible? Mainly, changes in diet and a sedentary lifestyle.

In osteoporosis, bone tissue deteriorates causing low bone density. As the bones become increasingly porous

Read more . . . Cycling and Osteoporosis: Protect Dem Bones

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Suffering From Sitting Disease?

Add More NEAT to Your Life

by Laurel-Lea Shannon
Sitting at a desk eight hours a day can be a royal pain in the a##. Sedentary occupations (like working at a computer) used to be considered harmless. Not anymore. It turns out that all that sitting day in and day out can make you sick.

Prolonged sitting is

Read more . . . Suffering From Sitting Disease?

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Exercise Necessary for Permanent Weight Loss

BY DR. GABE MIRKIN

More than 50 percent of Americans are overweight and can expect a premature death because of it. One of the largest scientific studies on weight loss shows that calorie restriction (below 1700 calories per day) is the most important factor that helps people lose weight and that its effect is temporary and dependant

Read more . . . Exercise Necessary for Permanent Weight Loss

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Weight Loss After-Breakfast

Okay, so you’ve eaten lean protein for breakfast.  Now what about the rest of the day? To lose weight and keep it off, follow this basic rule of thumb: If you’re hungry, eat. Women often make weight loss hard work—incorrectly assuming they will only lose weight if they

Read more . . . Weight Loss After-Breakfast

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