Classroom stationary bikes changing the way Canadian kids learn, manage stress: experts

Reports are describing a new addition to Canadian classrooms as “revolutionary,” changing the way that children, on the most basic, essential levels, are learning from an early age. And in as much as “revolutionary” refers to the improvements brought by that new addition, it also, quite literally, refers to the physics of its operation.

We’re referring, of course, to the bike—stationary bikes, to be exact.

Since about 2009, schools across Canada—about 1,300 in all, the Canadian Press reports—have been adding stationary bikes to the classroom environment, helping kids blow off stress, improve their moods and manage their energy levels while learning. As opposed to forcing kids to sit still and be quiet when they become agitated or excited, putting students on a bike to pedal it off, researchers and educators have found, has proven enormously helpful.

The idea first took root in North Carolina six years ago, and to educators who have seen its benefit first-hand, it’s a testament to the stress-relieving, restorative effects of cycling. “The bicycles promote well-being, fitness and self regulation,” said vice-principal Jenn Fisher of St. Anne School in Peterborough, Ont., speaking with the Peterborough Examiner.

As such, the bike is increasingly playing a critical role in the education of youth, simply by giving them the tools they need to put aside stress and focus on learning, experts said.

“They don’t stop learning [as they ride],” said Luke MacDonald, who helped bring the idea to Halifax and across Canada. “In fact, when they’re on the bike, they generally pay more attention. When that kid transfers that information home, and they run on the spot or they do jumping jacks when they start feeling stressed, that’s self-regulation. And that can change the trajectory of a five-year-old kid for the rest of their life.”

More than most youth, it’s the kids who have difficulty with restlessness and paying attention, experts say, who particularly stand to benefit from a good in-class spin session. In all children, though, embracing exercise as self-regulating stress management from an early age—the revolutionary aspect of the in-class stationary bike in a nutshell—can prove “transformative” for the rest of their lives.

Stuart Shanker, a professor at York University in Toronto whose lectures on self-regulation inspired MacDonald’s efforts, explained why to The Canadian Press.

“The stationary bikes have a profound self-regulating effect for a great many children,” he said, noting that deep breathing has a profound impact on how kids handle and recover from stress, “but especially those children that are very restless and those that have problems with sustained attention and heintened impulsivity. What we have found is that the children very quickly learn when they need to get on the bike and how much time they need on the bike.”

“It’s really quite transformative,” he said.