The British Medical Journal

In light of it being bike month, I thought I'd share some motivating information to get you out of the car and onto some wheels.

Researchers found cycle commuting was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all cause mortality. Walking commuting was associated with a lower risk of CVD independent of major measured confounding factors.


POPULATION-BASED STUDY
The study looked at five years of data from over 260k British participants, using commuting transportation as the exposure variable to determine heart health. This included walking, cycling, mixed mode vs non-active (car or public transport) to and from work on a typical day.

MAGNITUDE OF ASSOCIATION
There's no cause and effect here, but I'd argue it's still a significant finding. Sure, the healthier population might be more likely to commute on their bike, but the study did a good job eliminating other confounding variables (smoking, diet, existing disease) to make sure the conclusion was sound.

AND SOUND IT WAS
During the course of the study, regular cycling cut the risk of death from any cause by 41%, the incidence of cancer by 45% and heart disease by 46%. Solid numbers here.

For some perspective, the cyclists logged an average of 30 miles per week, and the further they cycled the greater the health increase. The benefits for people walking was mostly enjoyed by those who made it more than six miles per week. Totally doable.


Takeaway: Anything that gets you hot and out of breath can help make a difference when it comes to your heart's health. However, if you're concerned about serious heart disease, which you should be, then try an alternative method to get from A to B, like biking or walking or skipping.