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posted by martyb on Friday September 08 2017, @12:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the wiggle-while-you-work dept.

Most cycle-commuters will tell you cycling to work is the best way to get to and from work and it's probably doing you some good. However a recent major study, published in the British Medical Journal, suggests that the health benefits are staggering, slashing the risk of heart disease and cancer. FTFA:

Research has consistently shown that people who are less physically active are both more likely to develop health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and to die younger. Yet there is increasing evidence that physical activity levels are on the decline.

The problem is that when there are many demands on our time, many people find prioritising exercise difficult. One answer is to multi-task by cycling or walking to work. We've just completed the largest ever study into how this affects your health.

You can read an article here at The Conversation website and you the original research is here at the BMJ website.


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  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 08 2017, @02:08PM (2 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday September 08 2017, @02:08PM (#565096) Journal

    Those conditions are all true of cycling in NYC, too. In the summer or winter, cyclists wear exercise clothes during their commute and change to nicer clothes at work in the bathroom or at a gym close to their office. In the winter they throw on a windbreaker or wear longer pants. The activity keeps them warm. NYC gets a fair amount of snow but they salt the roads, so they're almost always passable. When they're not passable to bikes, they're not passable to cars either and people take the subway or work from home.

    Hills are tough when you start biking, but your body quickly adapts as you get fitter. When I started biking to work the first ride up the Brooklyn Bridge almost killed me, and I had to walk the bike part of the way (the Brooklyn side is several hundred feet higher than the Lower Manhattan side). A week later and I could manage it fine and the pain of that bridge shifted to trying to refrain from killing the snapshot-happy tourists who kept darting into the bike lane.

    Still there were the professional dog walkers on the Upper West Side who felt that the bike path was the perfect place to walk 10 dogs on very long leashes, or the roller-bladers who sweep out an area 15 ft wide, or the sea breeze that would work against me both ways. But then, taking the subway packs you in like sardines with people who might not smell very nice or respect your personal space, and driving brings all kinds of aggravation and risk, so it's safe to say no method of commuting is perfect. Except maybe telecommuting (which has different hazards).

    But cycling, you do get your exercise and arrive at work fully awake and ready to hit the ground running. It takes you much farther in a given length of time than walking can, and it's cheaper than transit or driving but often nearly as fast.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 2) by epitaxial on Friday September 08 2017, @07:30PM (1 child)

    by epitaxial (3165) on Friday September 08 2017, @07:30PM (#565273)

    Just for shits and giggles I looked up the % grade of the Brooklyn Bridge and its a 3.5% grade. Where I live we have streets that go over 30%.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday September 09 2017, @02:13PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday September 09 2017, @02:13PM (#565649) Journal

      My brother lived in Pittsburgh for several years after graduation and road a bike the whole time. Do you suppose they have steep hills there, too? I worked in San Francisco for a while and many of my colleagues biked to work. Do you suppose they have steep hills there, too?

      If you bike regularly, you'll quickly grow accustomed to the hills you have to negotiate. You'll get strong and your waistline will slim. Your lungs will become iron. You'll have much greater energy for work and everything else in your life (including the fun stuff). If there are still a couple hills on your route you can't quite manage, an electric motor can take care of the rest.

      It's a solved problem.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.