Cycling and health
Getting on your bike regularly not only gets you where you want to go faster than a car, it protects you against a wide range of ill health, and also makes you feel better.
Cycling is good for your heart and health
Everyday cycling, where the exercise leaves you breathing heavily but not being out of breath, is an effective and enjoyable form of aerobic exercise. This is the type of exercise that is most effective at promoting good health. For example, cycling reduces the risk of serious conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and the most common form of diabetes.1,2,3,4
One rough calculation suggests that new cyclists covering short distances can reduce their risk of death (mainly due to the reduction of heart disease) by as much as 22 per cent.5
Cycling will help with weight management
Cycling can be part of a programme to lose weight2 because it burns the energy supplied by a chocolate bar or a couple of alcoholic drinks in an hour (about 300 calories). A 15-minute bike ride to and from work five times a week burns off the equivalent of 11 pounds of fat in a year.6 That kind of cycling pattern also meets the Government's latest target on exercise: that we should take part in some mild to moderate physical activity that leaves us out of breath for at least 30 minutes five times a week.
How cycling improves fitness
A study carried out for the Department of Transport found that 'even a small amount of cycling can lead to significant gains in fitness'. The study found that aerobic fitness was boosted by 11 per cent after just six weeks of cycling 'short distances' four times a week.8 If cycling the equivalent of four miles to and from work in total a day the aerobic benefit increased to 17 per cent.8
According to the Department of Transport study people who do not exercise who start cycling move from the third of the population who are the least fit, to the fittest half of the population in just a few months.8
Leg strength also improved in the cyclists in the study. This is more important than it seems because leg strength improves other mobility by allowing people to get out of chairs more easily, and helps older people especially avoid falls and the broken bones and other injuries associated with them.8
Cycling, the researchers behind the study concluded, is 'one of the few physical activities which can be undertaken by the majority of the population as part of a daily routine'.8
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