burritos

After about 1 year of indoor rock climbing I developed left shoulder impingement. It wasn't painful enough for me to discontinue so I continued to traverse/boulder 10-15 min 3-4 times a week as my main form of exercise. Used to swim, but the local indoor pool shut down. The pain continued(didn't worsen) for about a year. Then COVID happened. Gyms shut down. I had a virtual doctor's visit who referred me to a virtual PT who gave me band exercises that I did/do 30 min 3-4x/wk. I saw no improvement after a month of PT and no climbing. Then I started bike commuting. I continued the PT and the gyms are still closed. With the introduction of the regular biking(with weekly extended bike rides) my shoulder is now 95% better. I think the biking was a huge factor. My wife rolls her eyes when I say this.She thinks the key intervention was the PT and the termination of climbing, which I understand seems obvious. She's usually right though(even when I'm right).

Flip Flop Rider

bike riding usually cures most things (not kidding)

MntnMan62

I find riding provides incredible benefits to the part of my body that is responsible for most of my issues.........my brain.

Riveting

My mid/lower back pain is a lot better after 31,000 miles in the last ~7 years. But now both of my knees (more so the left) are blown out from doing too much power meter sprint training and chasing Strava segment PR's.

Cycling giveth, and cycling taketh away.

delbiker1 

Increasing the blood flow increases the oxygen and nutrients being delivered by the blood. Also, I believe, it quickens the removal of toxins from the body. IMO, it only makes sense that would help the healing process. I have chronic back issues, which include 4 spinal surgeries. I absolutely know that bicycling keeps those issues somewhat in check. I have back pain occasionally, but nothing close to how it is if I am off the bike for an extended length of time. When I have a sore, stiff back, an easy paced, relaxed ride usually eases that pain and stiffness. Sometimes I get an achy back from overdoing it on the bicycle, too many miles/too much time, really rough road/path/gravel type surfaces, or not stopping enough to stretch and take a break. Completely staying off the bike does not help as much as the easy pace and relaxed, shorter rides do. Ice packs when I am finished with the ride help with keeping the inflammation down.

For me, it absolutely clears up my emotional and mental state, stimulates my brain and boosts my immune system. I am in no way a medical, physiological or psychological or therapeutic pro. I have no facts to base my beliefs on, strictly my experience and beliefs.

Sorg67

Bike riding has reduced my Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms.

Bigbus

Oh, most definitely!
It's only been 4 days due to smoke in the air and I'm really getting cranky.

Gp333

The mental gain from biking is quite evident.
Idk about you but I just feel better when I bike. I sleep better. If I skip 2 days in a row, I'm usually quite restless.

CAT7RDR

Bike Therapy is a helluva a lot better for you than Big Pharma for existential depression. I am not including Major Depression where people would be so gravely disabled they would not be able to ride a bike.

Korina

It certainly keeps my A1C down. Or would, if the smoke wasn't so thick I can't even think about getting on the bike.

AdkMtnMonster

Biking has kept dinosaurs at bay at my house. No attacks so far, and I ride regularly and strenuously. I shudder to think of the disemboweling I might suffer if I stopped pedaling...

burritos

Psychiatric disorders(and seizure and neurodegenerative disorders) are often due to neurotransmitter and axxonal transport dysfunction which is optimized by autophagy. These neurologic disorders are often also exacerbated by insulin resistance which impairs glucose uptake by neurons(which is bad for the organ that requires more metabolic energy than any other organ in our body). The more biking you do= the more you improve insulin sensitivity and experience more autophagy.

jay4usc

maybe it’s called REST? Since you have not used joints and muscle related to climbing things are healing.

bruce19

It's helped my mind.

Pop N Wood

Know quite a number of people, myself included, who's back issues get bad if they don't ride regularly. Kind of still lower extremities though.

The combination of cycling and keeping my weight down unquestionably helps keep me off blood pressure meds. That isn't lower extremities.

Can't say I've heard of anyone who claims bicycling helped with shoulder issues. Do know people who switched to a recumbent because cycling hurt their shoulders/wrists/neck.

Cycling does cause issues with my neck, and for the last year or so I've been dealing with hip issues that are made worse if not caused by cycling. I'm in PT for IT band-piriformis-psoras muscles issues from too much riding. Whatever you do need to mix cycling with other forms of exercise or imbalances can be created.

livedarklions

Light exercise is often prescribed in European countries for minor depression. In the US, you're far more likely to be put on antidepressants.

livedarklions

He's actually not resting the joints, he's strengthening them with bands.
Healing is a complicated process, and it just may be that a cardio exercise that doesn't stress the affected joints contributes to speed of recovery.
Keep in mind also that you do actually move your shoulders around riding than you do sitting or lying around.

Kabuki12

I think it is definitely a benefit to more than just the obvious legs and ankles. When climbing hills I engage my upper body a lot by pulling with my arms as well as pushing with my legs. I try not to leave the saddle and just use my arms to build power. I live on a hill so I get a lot of climbing at the end of my ride. I have neck issues and I have been stretching more before, during and after my rides. Then , considering the mental floss(thank you Jimmy Buffet) , yea, most certainly. I ride alone and do not listen to music while riding , I just allow my mind to fully engage the ride and all that is around me. I ride in a more rural section of Ventura County and it is very nice to have the smells of citrus and the view of open roads. I did not ride last weekend as the temp was way too high and I don't do well with that. I am to the point now where I feel like I really need a good long ride, I just hope we don't get the smoke.

burritos

Balcom canyon?

burritos

I do notice better definition in my upper body on both shoulders and arms, yet I'm not doing banding in the other arm. And since biking, I've noticed no pain with my pull-ups were as I was having pain doing pull-ups for the better part of 2 years. I think for me, with the cycling you're burning extra energy and they induces a lot of metabolic effects that helps healing.

Kabuki12

Hospital Hill Santa Paula. I ride out to the coast and around . After 35-40 miles , hospital hill is a b*****. I ride with a 42/28 combo so switchbacks are the way I get up the hill!

livedarklions

Metabolic, hormonal, any number of things. Healing is so dependent on your general health that anything that improves that is likely to affect healing as well. And if you're doing pull-ups, you're definitely not "resting" the joint.

If it were me, I'd say whatever it is it's working, and keep doing it. Not sure whether I'd go back to rock climbing, though, but I hate that stuff anyway. Not a fan of heights, and anything group and indoors is probably out of the question for me right now. I just quit my gym and bought an elliptical..

fietsbob

Once you get Old , your body reminds you of past injuries to it..