Taking to the wheels
Using cycling as a mode of transportation can make you fit and reduce cardiovascular risks

Cycling is a highly efficient mode of transportation and optimal for short to moderate distances. Compared to motor vehicles, bicycles have numerous benefits including the provision of exercise, generating renewable energy and reducing traffic congestion.

Health benefits
The physical exercise gained from cycling is generally linked with increased health and well-being. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), physical inactivity is second only to tobacco smoking as a health risk in developed countries, and this is associated with tens of billions of dollars of healthcare costs. The WHO’s report suggests that increasing physical activity is a public health ‘best buy’, and that cycling is a ‘highly suitable activity’ for this purpose. The charity Sustrans reports that investment in cycling provision can give a 20:1 return from health and other benefits. It has been estimated that, on average, approximately 20 life-years are gained from the health benefits of road bicycling for every life-year lost through injury. Bicycles are often used by people seeking to improve their fitness and cardiovascular health. In this regard, cycling is especially helpful for those with arthritis of the lower limbs and are unable to pursue sports that cause impact to the knees and other joints. Since cycling can be used for the practical purpose of transportation, there can be less need for self-discipline to exercise. Interestingly, it has been found that despite toning the leg muscles, cycling also tones the buttocks.

All round benefits
Cycling while seated is a relatively non-weight bearing exercise that, like swimming, does little to promote bone density. Cycling up and out of the saddle, on the other hand, does a better job by transferring more of the rider’s body weight to the legs. However, excessive cycling while standing can cause knee damage. It used to be thought that cycling while standing was less energy efficient, but recent research has proven this not to be true. Other than air resistance, there is no wasted energy from cycling while standing if it is done correctly.

Cycling on a stationery cycle is frequently advocated as a suitable exercise for rehabilitation, particularly for lower limb injury due to the low impact that it has on the joints. In particular cycling is commonly used within knee rehabilitation programmes. As a response to the increased global sedentarity and consequent overweight and obesity, one response that has been adopted by many organisations concerned with health and environment is the promotion of active travel, which seeks to promote walking and cycling as safe and attractive alternatives to motorised transport. Given that many journeys are for relatively short distances, there is considerable scope to replace car use with walking or cycling, though in many setting this may require some infrastructure modification.
 

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