First, let's all agree right now that, no matter how much you want your cycling to improve, you should not go out and adopt a dog based on this blog post alone… There used to be a television commercial that stated “a dog is for life, not just for Christmas”, which is applicable here too. Some of you may have already jumped to the most obvious reason that a dog will improve your cycling performance; human animal interaction (HAI) is proven to make humans more positive, which, in turn, will help you become a better bike rider. But there is so much more... Discussed in this episode. How a dog will help you de-stress, including the effects of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine in the body, and how a dog reduces cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. How a dog will help your recovery, including the effects of high blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability in relation to recovery, how a dog improves blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability, and how a dog improves overall health. How a dog might improve your ability to suffer. How a dog will help you with group rides. Link to further resources: - Blog on how your mentality affects your cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-your-mentality-affects-your-cycling-performance/ - Blog on how stress destroys cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-stress-destroys-cycling-performance/ - Blog on optimising your recovery: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-to-optimise-recovery-for-cycling-training/ - Blog on how eating healthy improves cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-nutrition/how-eating-healthy-increases-cycling-performance/ - Blog on how sleep is crucial to cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-sleep-improves-cycling-performance/ - My client profiles: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-client-profiles/ - Blog on how to successfully complete a Gran Fondo: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/your-guide-to-successfully-completing-a-gran-fondo-or-sportive/ - Supporting evidence on the relationship between humans and dogs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408111/