RIDING A BIKE TO WORK

AS GOOD AS WORKOUT

Research has shown that those who cycled to work were as physically active and burned the same amount of calories a week as those who indulged in high and moderate intensity of physical exercise in the gym. “This is good news to the many overweight people who may not have the time or inclination to join a fitness centre, because they also have to pick up their children and cook dinner after work,” said Bente Stallknecht, Professor and Head of Department at the University of Copenhagen. For the study, the team divided 130 participants randomly into four groups: a cycling group, two leisure time exercise groups doing high-intensity and moderate-intensity physical exercise, respectively, and a control group.

The participants were 20-45 years old, and had a BMI of 25-35kg/m2.

After six months, the results of the control group was put against the other three. The fat mass reduced by 4.5kg in the group doing high-intensity leisure time exercise; by 2.6kg in the group doing moderate-intensity leisure time exercise and by 4.2kg in the group riding the bike to work.