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.

There are many great reasons to bike to work. Leave your car parked and pull out your bike instead.

Biking has been one of the fastest growing ways to exercise and commute over the past decade. Despite a slight decline in popularity in 2015, the activity has seen a steady increase in popularity since 2005. The reasons why it’s become so popular vary: an increase in an environmentally-conscious population; a strong push by the government to get people moving and combat the obesity epidemic; people trying to avoid rising gas prices; and the increase in traffic congestion across major American cities. However, reasons to bike to work extend past saving money and political movements. Here are some great reasons to leave your gas-guzzler parked in the garage and pull out that rusty peddler.

1. Great Exercise – Little Time

This is an obvious one, but still deserves the mention. Of course, exercising is one of the top reasons to bike to work. However, it gives you a little more than physical activity. How often do tell yourself that you’ll get to the gym or go for a walk, but then not find the time? With biking to work, you can solve two problems with one solution – finding the time to work out and work.

2. It Saves You Money

According to AAA, the average cost of owning a car – from gas prices to maintenance and payments – was just over $8,500. Conversely, the cost of biking to work was around $300. If that doesn’t convince you to start your commute, nothing will.

Unfortunately, for some pe, ple it may be logistically impossible to commute everyday – like parents who pick their kids up. However, there may be an answer – biking to run errands will also help you cut down on commuting costs. Need to run to the store for a few items? Grab the bike instead of getting in the car. Don’t have kids to pick up after work? Choose to bike on that day. Even if you can’t bike every day, you can find times where it is convenient and possible.

3. You’ll Start Your Day Out Right

Many studies indicate that morning time is the best time to exercise. However, if you’re just not a morning person, then getting up extra early to put in a workout just may not sound pleasing. With incorporating biking to work as part of your daily commute – or even just once or twice a week – you can beat that AM snooze button. You’ll get to work refreshed and ready to start the day. Skip the coffee. Grab your bike instead to start your day out right.

4. Say Goodbye To The Gym Membership

Getting on a bike is a free – well, minus the initial cost of the bike – way to workout. Not only is it low-impact with a low risk of injury, but you’ll be able to maintain your fitness level or even increase it while getting to work. Furthermore, you’ll save the extra cash from your gym membership. Ka-ching!

5. Avoid The Traffic

To anyone who lives in a large city, you know the pains of traffic. Whether it’s from construction, weather, or accidents, traffic jams are frustrating and time-sucking. How do you avoid it? The answer isn’t taking a different route to work, unless that route is for bikes. With biking to work, you’ll avoid all traffic, which means saving on time, energy, and frustration.

Reasons To Bike To With OSR

Even though biking is low injury-risk, you still may find yourself in pain when you finally make the commitment. At OSR, we can help you avoid injury and recover from pain with a custom bike fit and program. Contact one of our offices today to find out more.