Electric scooters have many benefits. Some people are drawn to them for their affordability, eco-friendliness, and portability, while others simply love cruising the city streets with the wind rushing past them.
However, the benefits of e-scooter riding go far beyond that. One of the lesser-known benefits of riding an electric scooter is that it can improve your overall health, both physical and mental.
How so? Some of the ways might surprise you.
Below, we’ll break down the many health benefits of riding electric scooters.
#1 Electric Scooter Riding Can Benefit Your Financial Health
You may have heard the saying “health is wealth.” However, this sentiment goes both ways—financial stress can wreak havoc on your wellness over time. Owning an electric scooter can mitigate some of this by offering you a more affordable way to get around town.
Here are a few ways that electric scooters can lighten the burden on your budget:
- Electric scooters are relatively affordable to purchase – Electric scooters are a lot more affordable than cars, motorcycles, and even some bicycles. In the long run, they may also cost less than public transport and ride-share services.
- Electric scooters require minimal fees – Unlike cars and motorcycles, e-scooters rarely require insurance, registration, or special licenses (though laws vary from city to city). In turn, you most likely won’t need to pay any fees or premiums to ride your electric scooter legally.
- Electric scooters boast low operating costs – Most notably, e-scooters are inexpensive to charge, operate, and maintain. You can charge your e-scooter from the comfort of your own home using electricity, saving you countless trips to the gas station. Most charging sessions only cost a few cents.
#2 Electric Scooter Riding Can Improve Your Balance
Electric scooters possess powerful motors, so you don’t need to exert much energy or work up a sweat to keep them in motion. While riding an electric scooter doesn’t involve intense cardiovascular activity, it still engages the body in many ways.
Notably, riding an electric scooter requires you to stabilize yourself as you skirt around corners, zip down hills, and slow down for stop signs. In turn, you can use each riding session to work on your balance. Over time, the improvements in your balance can be quite impressive.
When compared to strength or endurance, balance is an aspect of physical fitness that often goes overlooked. However, having good balance has many health advantages, including:
- Strengthen core and reduce pain
- Reduced risk of falling, lowering the chance of injury
- Improved athletic performance
- Enhanced body awareness
#3 Electric Scooter Riding Can Help You Build Core Strength
As many dancers and yogis know, balance is closely connected to your core strength. As you work on your balance while riding your e-scooter, you’ll also get the opportunity to tone your core muscles. If you are worried about getting jacked. You shouldn’t. It's highly unlikely that you will get a six-pack. However, you can expect many other e-scooter benefits.
New e-scooter riders often grip the handlebars in an attempt to maintain their balance, but experienced riders know that tightening your core muscles is the proper way to stabilize yourself.
You may notice yourself tightening and relaxing your core continuously as you accelerate, decelerate, brake, and turn. As you get better at riding electric scooters, you’ll naturally build up your core muscle’s strength.
The best part? You don’t have to do any tedious sit-ups or crunches to get these gains.
#4 Electric Scooter Riding Can Burn Calories
As noted above, electric scooter riding isn’t a high-intensity workout by any means. However, it can still burn a considerable amount of calories, since you have to stand for the entire duration of your ride. Standing throughout the ride will help you burn more calories than if you were sitting in a car or on a bus. On top of that, you’ll have to engage several muscle groups to stay upright.
Considering how fun electric scooter riding can be, the additional calorie burn is the cherry on top. If you ride your electric scooter daily, you can even support your weight loss or weight maintenance goals.
To get an idea of how many calories you can burn riding an electric scooter, let’s take a look at the estimated number of calories burned doing similar activities for 30 minutes:
- Weight lifting – 110 calories
- Walking – 150 calories
- Cycling – 280 calories
- Elliptical training – 370 calories
- Running – 420 calories
#5 Electric Scooter Riding Can Tone Your Legs
Another major muscle group that you’ll rely on heavily while riding an electric scooter are your leg muscles. Your legs support your weight the entire time you ride. They’ll also help you stabilize yourself as you turn, speed up, slow down, and brake.
After your first few rides, you may notice a little soreness in your legs due to all of this activity—it just goes to show how much your body is engaged while you ride.
Plus, since electric scooter riding is so addicting, you can turn every day into leg day.
#6 Electric Scooter Riding Can Improve Your Coordination
Whether you’re naturally clumsy or well-coordinated, riding an electric scooter can help you improve your ability to execute several tasks at once. While riding, you’ll frequently need to:
- Kick-off into motion and rev your throttle
- Keep an eye on the road and evade upcoming obstacles
- Slow down your speed and signal turns
These tasks require hand-eye coordination and demand your full attention. As you practice them, you’ll eventually see improvements in your coordination. You may also discover that performing complex riding moves becomes second nature.
Eventually, your coordination may start improving in other areas of your life outside of riding. If it does, you can thank your trusty e-scooter for providing such fun coordination training.
#7 Electric Scooter Riding Can Promote Better Posture
Many people spend the majority of their day hunched over in a chair looking at a computer screen—prioritizing good posture often falls to the wayside.
Unfortunately, bad posture can cause a slew of health issues, such as:
- Back pain
- Tension headaches
- Low energy levels
- Tight neck and shoulder muscles
- Reduced lung capacity
- Poor circulation
- Disrupted digestion
Riding an electric scooter encourages you to practice good posture more often. As you spend time riding around in an upright position, you may notice that you stand straighter during the rest of your day too. In turn, you may see a reduction in any poor-posture symptoms you’ve been experiencing.
#8 Electric Scooter Riding Can Boost Your Mood
So far, we’ve focused on the physical electric scooter health benefits you can experience when you ride an electric scooter regularly. However, an equally important area of health that e-scooter riding can enhance is your mental health and well-being.
Here are a few ways that riding an electric scooter can bestow you with a better mood:
- E-scooter riding can help you inject fun into your day – Juggling all of your daily responsibilities can be stressful. Luckily, riding an electric scooter can inject your day with a little fun. Zipping through the city or along a nearby nature trail can be an exhilarating experience. It also gives you a chance to take a deep breath, feel the wind in your hair, and appreciate the present moment.
- E-scooter riding may inspire you to explore the great outdoors – In addition to leading stressful lives, many people spend most of their days confined to indoor spaces. Spending time outdoors in nature is a well-known way to reduce stress and anxiety. When you own an all-terrain electric scooter, you can go outside for relaxing nature rides anytime you want. Nearby nature paths and riding trails are your playground. While you ride outdoors, you can also soak in a little extra vitamin D, which is known to have mood-boosting effects.
- E-scooter riding can connect you with a community – Loneliness is a common problem in our increasingly digital world. In a survey of people living in the US, one out of five struggle with feelings of loneliness and isolation. An easy solution? Hopping on your electric scooter, riding around your community, and saying hello to your neighbours. Your riding journeys offer plenty of chances to engage with new friends and old. You may even come across a fleet of fellow e-scooter enthusiasts and forge friendships with them. Positive social connections and a sense of community can bring more meaning and fulfillment to your day-to-day life.
- E-scooter riding can help you avoid common commuting stressors – If you choose to ride your electric scooter to work, you’ll get to skip out on many common commuter stressors, such as traffic jams, crowded public transportation, and scarce parking options. Many of these commuting struggles can compound the stress of your day significantly, especially after a hard day’s work. With an electric scooter in tow, you can whiz past sluggish traffic with ease and take your commute in your own time.
#9 Electric Scooter Riding Can Improve the Health of the Planet
Is an electric scooter good for health? Yes. Is it also good for the health of the planet? Also yes.
As time goes on, climate change and pollution pose serious risks to everyone’s health on a global scale. So, while focusing on your personal health is of paramount importance, it’s also vital to think about the health of the planet.
One way you can reduce your environmental impact is by using an electric scooter in place of a car more often. After all, e-scooters are eco-friendly:
- They produce zero emissions – Unlike gas-guzzling vehicles, e-scooters don’t emit any carbon emissions while in use.
- They’re energy-efficient – E-scooters are also impressively energy-efficient, boasting 1,000% more efficiency per mile than cars.
- They’re non-polluting – Lastly, e-scooters don’t contribute to your city’s noise pollution. Instead, they’re sleek, clean, and quiet.
Thanks to these eco-friendly benefits, you can feel good about promoting a healthier planet every time you hop on your electric scooter.
Enhance Your Health With an Apollo Scooter
With so many benefits, ranging from improved strength to a better mood, purchasing your own electric scooter is a wonderful investment in your overall health and well-being.
If you’re looking for a high-performance e-scooter model that will support your health for years to come, Apollo Scooters has you covered. We carry e-scooters for beginners, commuters, and adventurers alike. We also have many convenient e-scooter accessories.
Discover which Apollo electric scooter is the right fit for your healthy lifestyle today.
FAQ
Does riding an electric scooter burn calories?
Yes, riding an electric scooter does burn calories. While it might not burn as many calories as high-intensity sports, it certainly contributes to your daily calorie expenditure. The exact amount of calories burned depends on factors such as your weight, the intensity of the ride, and duration of the ride.
Is riding an electric scooter good exercise?
While riding an electric scooter may not be as physically demanding as other forms of exercise like running or cycling, it can still offer a decent workout.
Steering and balancing the scooter engages your core muscles and lower body. It also improves your balance, coordination, and flexibility. As with any form of exercise, the benefits depend on how often you ride and the intensity of your rides.
How to balance on an electric scooter?
Balancing on an electric scooter requires some practice but here are a few tips: Start by standing up straight on the scooter with one foot forward for stability. Hold the handlebars firmly but not too tightly.
Lean slightly forward as you start to accelerate. Always keep your weight centered over the scooter, not leaning too far forward or backward.
As you get more comfortable, you can gradually increase your speed. Wearing protective gear such as a helmet is always recommended for safety. Read our guide to learn what kind of equipment you should get for maximum protection.
What are the health benefits of an electric scooter?
There are several health benefits associated with riding an electric scooter.
First, it can provide a form of low-intensity cardio exercise which can improve cardiovascular health.
Secondly, maintaining balance and steering the scooter can help improve your core strength, balance, and coordination. Electric scooters can also serve as a stress reliever, as outdoor activities often help to improve mood and overall mental health.
Additionally, using an electric scooter for transportation reduces car usage, which is beneficial for both your health and the environment.
