Motorcycles - Throttle Therapy
Throttle Therapy & Why We Ride | The Science of Motorcycle Stress-relief
- Meghan Stark
Motorcyclists have long expressed that going for a ride is a stress reducing experience and essential for their mental wellness. But when you are propelling yourself along the street without air bags or car frame to protect yourself, how is it that people refer to motorcycling as throttle therapy?
Moto enthusiasts sight lots of aspectsa about riding that are stress reducing. One of the strongest factors is the very stance you assume when you get on a motorcycle. Riding a bike forces you into an open and strong posture. It is impossible to do with your arms crossed or with other closed body language. Scientists have long studied the connection between the mind and body. And more recently have cited that the minds can follow suit and change our internal chemistry according to physical cues. Thanks to recent innovations in neuroscience, we can now rigorously measure these effects on the brain. This is the basis of social phychologist Amy Cuddy’s book “Presence”, where she advocates for the instant harmonal balance and qualities of power posing. Adopting a powerful and competent stance, like you are obligated to do while riding a motorcycle, triggers the brain to reduce the production of cortisol and increase the production of testosterone. Cortisol is a harmone related mostly to stress and anxiety. Appropriate levels of cortisol land someone in the optimal performance zone, homing in on focus, reaction time, decision making and precision. And as motorcyclists, we all know how life-saving being at peak performance and alertness can be. While powerposing contributes to stress relief, you don’t want to be completely worryfree in a time when you need to perform. Hence, the need for balance - in more than ways than one in our case.
According to a Travis Bradbury article in Forbes, our brains are hard-wired such that it is difficult to take action until we feel some level of anxiety. In fact, performance peaks under the heightened activation that comes with moderate levels of anxiety. If one is too relaxed, you are at risk of inattention and boredom. And if you are too anxious, you can become too reactive and chaotic. On a motorcycle, this can lead to dire consequences.
The powerpose of a motorcycle is a perfect balance between these two extremes - which ultimately conjures the focus necessary to operate the bike on the road. Your open posture places you physically above the controls and more often than not, riders are in a fully upright or more aggressive forward lean. It is comfortable enough to maintain for long periods of time - but not so comfortable that you are lulled into full relaxation. This correlation between stress reduction and peak performance and riding is further supported by the Harley Davidson funded neurobiological study conducted by a small team of researchers at UCLA. Some key takeaways from this motorcycle specific study found that riding a bike decreases harmonal biomarkers of stress by 28% and on average, riding a motorcycle for 20 minutes increased participants’ heart rates by 11% and adrenaline levels by 27% - similar to light exercise. Sensory focus was enhanced while riding a motorcycle versus driving a car - an effect also observed in experienced meditators versus non-meditators. Changes in study participants brain activity while riding suggested an increase in alertness similar to drinking a cup of coffee.
While there’s likely a variety of factors affecting these results, I’d venture to guess that the powerpose of riding puts a motorcyclist in the optimal stance to receive the benefits of both stress reduction and alertness. These neurological benefits are similar to those derived from yoga, meditation and like the study cited, light exercise.
So if you want to stay sharp while you unwind, taking your bike for a spin at the end of a long day is the perfect way to get centered. Its worth noting that the study was of healthy experienced adults riding their own motorcycles on a designated 22 minute route under normal conditions. There’s no doubt that being an inexperienced rider, being in unideal conditions or in unfamiliar surroundings can result in an increased stress response.