5 reasons biking is great for soccer players
However, if you already play soccer, you might feel that it’s redundant to combine the two activities. After all, you’re already getting outside and exercising as you kick a ball around the pitch. Why do you need to also cycle at the same time?
There are numerous reasons to answer that question, and here are five.
1. Builds muscle throughout your body
Playing soccer helps to build up certain muscle groups in the body. Yet biking can take this a step further and further improve muscle development, including areas neglected by soccer training.
As you cycle around, you will improve your calf muscles, hamstrings, quadriceps, flexor muscles, abdominal muscles, gluteus muscles, and more. In general, strengthening your legs is obviously useful for playing soccer, while biking helps push your entire body towards peak physical fitness.
2. Improve stamina
A traditional soccer match lasts 90 minutes. For those playing, they need to be able to run, tackle, dribble, and shoot for that entire duration. This takes a lot of stamina. Fortunately, this can be gained from cycling.
Biking is known as a great way to improve stamina levels. This is helped by the nature of biking and how it’s a low-impact activity. As you’re sitting down while cycling, it’s possible for your body to cope with extended sessions when on a bike.
3. Promotes mental health
Even if you’re not playing professionally, there’s stress and pressure involved whenever you step on the pitch to compete in a competitive soccer match. As a result, it’s important to look at ways to improve your mental health.
One such way is through biking. If you engage in regular cycling sessions, it can help to alleviate stress and reduce anxiety. If you’re heading out on public roads, it also helps sharpen your focus as you stay safe from potential hazards.
4. Keeps the pounds off
Soccer players need to manage their weight. They need to stay trim to move around the pitch easily and optimize their performance and reduce the impact additional weight can have on their joints.
Biking is an effective way to burn calories and keep the pounds off. When combined with regular soccer sessions, there shouldn’t be any issue with keeping your weight down. While it might be tempting to get a motorcycle and research motorcycle shipping to get one to you, fitness and keeping the pounds off is one of the main reasons you should try cycling and look into shipping a bicycle instead.
5. Helps with recovery
Due to its low-impact nature, cycling is a great way to aid your recovery from a soccer-related injury. Maintaining fitness levels can be difficult when you’re sat on the sidelines. However, biking allows you to keep those fitness levels up without the risk of aggravating your injury or developing any new issues.