Biking to work instead of taking the car gives you increase life expectancy.
We all want to be there – no heart disease, no cancer, and a longer life. Going in for your early check-up and eating healthy are important ways to achieve overall health. However, there’s more to increasing your life expectancy than physicals and nutrition. The eternal fountain of youth may be just a myth, but there is one activity that is being proven to bring huge benefits, including a longer life. A recent study has proven that consistently biking to work may be one of the best additions to your life to increase your overall health.
The Benefits Of Biking To Work
It’s no surprise that physical activity has many good benefits when it comes to your health. However, many people find the problem of finding an activity that won’t cause them more pain and that they can fit into the day. Furthermore, many people don’t know what activity would be best for them.
A new study by researchers in Europe has found that cycling, especially biking to work, may be the solution to many people’s problems. They found that by biking to work, people had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), along with an overall decrease in early deaths. Walking was also found to be beneficial in lowering the risk for CVD. Although walking did to not decrease the risk of an early death as much as cycling or running.
Researchers also found that bike commuters had great cardiorespiratory fitness, which is linked to lower cancer rates. The findings of the study varied depending on the distance of commuting. Those who biked for longer distances decreased their health risk greater than those who had shorter commuting distances.
Biking to work may also be a great alternative form of physical therapy for those who find higher impact sports too painful, such as running. Cycling and swimming are both good forms of physical activity that don’t bring the injury risk as high impact activities.
Other Ways To Increase Your Health
These days, it’s increasingly difficult to fit physical activity into our busy work life. The researchers of the study also found that physical activity worldwide was declining. This is due mostly from the decrease of active commuting like walking or biking. However, there are ways to increase overall health through physical activity without taking up too much time.
Biking to work – or walking, if you’re lucky to be close enough – are excellent ways to fit physical activity into the day. Furthermore, simply running for 15-20 minutes a day has already proven to lower health risks and increase life longevity.
Many people find it difficult to be physically active because of pain or an injury. However, there are ways to manage pain and recover from an injury without pain medication or surgery. In fact, physical therapy has proven to be more beneficial in rehabilitation and pain management without surgery or medication. Being physically active is important for overall health. However, if pain is sidelining you, it may be time to enlist the help of someone who can get you pain-free.
