If you reside in a town and your job is near by, you could have thought about walking or biking to work. The benefit of this is that it’s better for fitness levels.
According to the 1st giant U.S. Study of health and commuting, very few of us really do it – in truth slightly under 17% of working adults surveyed biked or walked for any bit of their journey to work.
Earlier research has revealed that nations with the greatest levels of walking or biking have lower obesity levels as well .
But research on how these activities may affect north Americans has been pretty scarce, till this cross-sectional study. This latest work appears in the July 13, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Of the study participators, 192 ( 18% ) of the men, 203 ( 16% ) of the girls were categorized as active commuters. The average length of the physical part of their journey for both the bikers and walkers was 5 miles. Almost all of the subjects walked, rather than biked, to work.
The study revealed that active commuters did mush better on treadmill tests of fitness, even when they accounted for any other physical activities subjects did in their own time.
The discoveries here suggest the activity of commuting to work can have an impact on overall fitness.
The participators, more than 2,300 city-dwellers in their middle years were indulging in a federally funded study known as Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults ( CARDIA ).
For men, but not girls, analysts discovered that the commuters who walked or biked had better BMI numbers, blood pressure, insulin and triglycerides.
The researchers explain these by suggesting that the ladies in the study walked or biked shorter distances to the office, or were less powerful in their workouts.
Of course there’s also the issue of which came first, are active folks more likely to be active commuters too or is the walk ( or bike ) to work planting the seed for being more active in other areas of life as well?
Being an active commuter isn’t simple.
Outside the challenge of arriving to work sweat-covered and panting, an active commute is often hampered by crumbling sidewalks, few bike paths and real fears about safety.
Zoning in many U.S. Towns keeps commercial and residential areas separate, and this makes commutes longer and being active along the way virtually impossible.
Towns that build bike trails have a higher rate of biking, as do places of employment that have on-site showers, areas to change and a safe place to keep your bicycle in the day.
The benefits of active commuting go beyond your own health and the pluses to the environment to include :
- reliable, predictable means to get to and from work, or a point along the path
- works for businesses by encouraging workplace health as well as company responsibility
- decreases stress and improves productivity of the commuters
More research is needed to find the quantity of active commuting that may benefit your health, but this earth and health friendly way to get from home to work is definitely going to get more attention over the approaching years as it would seem to be better for fitness levels overall.
Next – just head on over to the Daily Health Bulletin for information why you should ride your bike to work. Click here for more details on study and more reasons to ride your bike to work.
