If you live in the city and your job is close by, you may have considered walking (or biking, jogging, in-line skating, even skateboarding) to work. The benefit of this is that it's better for fitness levels overall.
According to the first large U.S. study of health and commuting, very few of us actually do it - in fact just under 17% of working adults surveyed walked or bicycled for any part of their commute.
Earlier research has found that countries with the highest levels of walking or biking have lower obesity levels as well.
But research on how these activities might affect Americans has been pretty scarce, until this cross-sectional study. This latest work appears in the July 13, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Of the study participants, 192 (18%) of the men, 203 (16%) of the women were considered active commuters. The average length of the physical part of their daily commute for both the bikers and walkers was 5 miles. Most of the subjects walked, rather than biked, to work.
The research found that active commuters did better on treadmill tests of fitness, even when they accounted for any other physical activities subjects did in their leisure time.
The findings here suggest that the activity of commuting to work can have an impact on overall fitness.
The participants, more than 2,300 city-dwellers in their middle years were taking part in a federally funded study known as Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA).
For men, but not women, researchers found that the commuters who walked or biked had better BMI numbers, blood pressure, insulin and triglycerides.
The researchers explain these by suggesting that the women in the study walked or biked shorter distances to the office, or were less vigorous in their workouts.
"Even if you adjust for other forms of physical activity, walking or biking to work really does add an additional benefit," explains Penny Gordon-Larsen, Ph.D., an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It really shows that working physical activity in, even if you can't get to a gym, could have beneficial health outcomes for people."
Of course there's also the problem of which came first, are already active people more likely to be active commuters as well, 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 easy.
Beyond the challenge of arriving to work sweat-covered and panting, an active commute is often hampered by crumbling sidewalks, few bike paths and real concerns about safety.
Zoning in many U.S. cities keeps commercial and residential areas separate, and this makes commutes longer and being active along the way nearly impossible.
Cities that build bike paths have higher rates of biking, as do workplaces that have on-site showers, changing areas and a secure place to keep your bike during 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 way
- Works for businesses by encouraging workplace health as well as corporate responsibility
- Reduces stress and improves productivity of the commuters
More research is needed to find the amount of active commuting that will benefit your health, but this earth and health friendly way to get from home to work is certainly going to get more attention over the coming years as it appears to be better for fitness levels overall.
