If you’re taking the winter off from motorcycle riding, it’s the perfect time to focus on your fitness, as there are numerous benefits to being physically fit.
Did you know, it’s very easy to lose mobility, strength and stamina without regular exercise? Surprisingly, these are all very important factors for riding a motorcycle.
During the winter months, if you're not riding, it's especially important to maintain your physical fitness. We’ve outlined why and how to do it.
Why Fitness is Important
- Mobility and Flexibility – flexibility helps us better manage our motorcycle by increasing our range of motion.
- Bone Strength - Simply put, strong bones are less likely to break or be injured should an accident occur.
- Healthy Weight - Riding with extra weight means more load to manage and more momentum if you crash.
- Strength for Gripping - Keeping up with regular weight training helps maintain grip strength, which prevents hand fatigue.
- Strong Muscles - Many muscles are engaged while motorcycle riding. Most notably, our core muscles provide support so that our arms can steer and our leg muscles help control and change body position.
5 Ways to Stay Physically Fit
- Yoga – helps increase balance, strength, flexibility and builds muscles.
- Cardio –build cardio strength by walking, running, jogging or using equipment such as the treadmill or elliptical.
- Weights – strength training helps maintain strong muscles and healthy bones.
- Stretching – maintains/increases flexibility for riding.
- Eating well – a healthy, balanced diet will help you stay in shape.