How Many Miles Does It Take For Stress Relief?



Uawadall

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Jun 14, 2015
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I took the bike out for a 4.6 mile spin to make sure it was running fine(after I embarrassed myself trying to get fancy on bike rollers -_- ). I was surprised that in 15 and a half minutes, I was able to relieve stress. A little hill, a sprint or two and back home. How long or far do you have to ride to get in a better mood?
 
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Probably no "one size fits all" answer to that. Anything under 10 stresses me out more - because it's takes as long to get ready to ride as it does to do 10 miles.

Long treks 40-50 plus miles are my best stress reliever because I enjoy the "adventure" aspect of it.
 
MotownBikeBoy said:
Probably no "one size fits all" answer to that. Anything under 10 stresses me out more - because it's takes as long to get ready to ride as it does to do 10 miles.

Long treks 40-50 plus miles are my best stress reliever because I enjoy the "adventure" aspect of it.
I was going to say that it depends on the stress, but I guess you pretty much said it.

I'm like you, I prefer longer rides and mainly for the adventure part. Something about riding long stretches through the unknown (or just unusual) surroundings can be therapeutic.
 
It really depends on how stressful I am.
Sometimes just chilling out with a good book or nice music helps, and sometimes even cycling to the mountain and back will do no good.
I usually do not have these intensely stressful situations, but in case I do, and I want to do an experiment, which I did in the past, to see which distance can help me relieve my stress, I would say, It is around 20 kilometres. Both ways, I mean, ten one way and by the time I am on my way back, the adrenaline, the nature around me (because I prefer cycling in nature), plus all the thoughts that set themselves in a perfect order, help a great deal.
I guess the think is that one has to be outside, feel the wind on their skin, or the Sun on their back, to get rid of intense feelings and be stress free. But, it is just what works for me. Everyone is different.
 
For me, it's like an hour-long ride. I never counted miles and kilometers. The speed is normal.
 
For me... about 3 generations. I figure great, great grandchildren will be attempting to burn off my stress.
 
I'm mainly looking to ride in order not to emit hydrocarbons from a car, and to improve my overall fitness level. I don't really see it as a stress relief thing, but I do feel more cheerful after I ride.

Bob
 
BobCochran said:
I'm mainly looking to ride in order not to emit hydrocarbons from a car, and to improve my overall fitness level.
How dull that must be! :) Well, I'm glad it at least leaves you more cheerful.
 
That's a good point - riding to relieve stress. I have not timed that one because I usually ride to enjoy myself whether I'm alone in roaming inside the village or out with the guys in the main road. Maybe the stress in my body is out when the adrenalin sets in. It's like forgetting everything when the bikes gets the momentum to propel me to a fast pace especially when I am riding with a group. Definitely, I am relieved of stress when I park my bike in the garage.
 
I can't really define a time but I generally tend to feel better after I've come back from a ride. There are very few times where I'm still stressed when I get back but as I say, generally I'm in better spirits when I arrive back home
 
I also don't have a set amount of miles or a time limit to how long I ride for to relieve stress. In fact if you DO set yourselves limits on how far you go and for how long, won't that be adding further to your stress and defeating the whole point of going out in the first place?
 
pwarbi said:
I also don't have a set amount of miles or a time limit to how long I ride for to relieve stress. In fact if you DO set yourselves limits on how far you go and for how long, won't that be adding further to your stress and defeating the whole point of going out in the first place?
For me I think it would cause more stress the relieve it. That's why most of my rides don't have a set goal in mind. I just ride, enjoy it and if I feel like it I set mini-goals along the way. I find it much more fun that way.
 
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Any time I'm on the bike on a beautiful day is a stress reliever no matter how long the distance.
 
jrschultz said:
Any time I'm on the bike on a beautiful day is a stress reliever no matter how long the distance.
I sort of feel the same. Any time that it's a beautiful day or if the weather has a really nice atmosphere about it it kinda makes me forget my troubles for a few moments.

It also has the same effect if I come across a beautiful scenic view.
 
It definitely depends on what kind of mood I'm in. Sometimes it's just nice to get out of the house for awhile, have some room to breathe, and on those rides I probably average 7 km or so before I'm really feeling calmed down. Less if I'm doing a lot of steep climbs or mountain biking, just because I'm expending that much more energy. The beautiful scenery while mountain biking definitely helps too, I'm lucky to live in a place that has a lot of nice bike trails.
 
Seems about right, 15 minutes or so. Endorphin release comes. The scenery adds an extra stress reducer too. The more stress the harder you pound it.
 
That's great to hear. It depends on the person. For me about 15 minutes would work as well. Fresh air and exercise does the soul good!
 
That's great to hear. It depends on the person. For me about 15 minutes would work as well. Fresh air and exercise does the soul good!

Fresh air, getting away from it all and getting the blood flowing are more important when using cycling as a stress relief than actually how long your cycling for and how many miles you travel.
 
It takes me about 20 min to take stress out. I have a hill that is 20 mins away and once I start climbing I get everything out of my head and just focus on the climb. I have certain numbers that I want to hit and I try to hit them the best I can and when I'm climbing it's the only thing that I'm thinking about.
 
That's probably a question that depends on the person, but in my case, when I go for a ride, 1 hour is usually enough for me to be way more relaxed.