A new study published in the International Journal of Obesity has shown that riding the bike to work is just as effective as leisure time exercise.
The research was conducted at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen University and shows that inactive, overweight people can lose fat mass just as effectively by riding the bike to work than then can by exercising in their leisure time.
The researchers say that it is a time-effective solution if you want to be physically active, but lead a busy everyday life.
The study involved 130 overweight people with a BMI of 25-35 kg/m2. A criterion for participating in the study was they were not too active or muscular based on a series of parameters like body fat percentage, maximum oxygen uptake and level of physical activity.
The participants were divided into four groups of which one had to ride the bike to and from work. Two other groups had to do physical exercise five times a week, one at high intensity, the other at moderate intensity. The last group could make no changes and thus functioned as the control group.
The groups that cycled and were physically active during their leisure time burned the same amount of calories a week during these activities; only the intensity and form of physical exercise varied. Throughout the test – using the heart rate monitors, among other things – the researchers checked that the participants met the requirements and did the physical exercise they were asked to do.
After six months all groups, except for the control group, had less fat mass. The fat mass had been reduced by 4.5 kg (compared to the control group) in the group doing high-intensity leisure time exercise, by 2.6 kg in the group doing moderate-intensity leisure time exercise and by 4.2 kg in the group riding the bike to work. The difference between the three physically active groups was only statistically significant between the two groups doing leisure time exercise.
‘All forms of physical exercise are better than the control group, but high-intensity exercise is statistically better than moderate-intensity exercise. And riding the bike to and from work is at least as effective a means for reducing fat mass as exercising during your leisure time’, says Research Assistant Jonas Salling Quist from the Department of Biomedical Sciences who participated as PhD student and author of the study.
You can access the full study here: ‘Effects of active commuting and leisure-time exercise on fat loss in women and men with overweight and obesity: A randomized controlled trial’
Source: University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
