We've heard it all before: the keys to staying healthy are a good diet and plenty of exercise. But just when are we supposed to make time for physical fitness in our busy lives?
Walk to work. Or bike. People who ride a bike or walk to work are more fit, less fat and have healthier triglyceride levels, blood pressure and insulin levels, according to a new study in this week's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studied about 2,300 men and women between 2005 and 2006 and recorded the length of their commute, how they got there and assessed their fitness levels with a treadmill test.
Both men and women who biked or walked performed better on fitness tests but men tended to have even healthier body mass index numbers, and better blood pressure and insulin levels. Researchers weren't sure why women didn't reap all the same benefits as men, but said perhaps women did not exercise as intensely or commuted shorter distances.
Even people with the most hectic of schedules can benefit from just 60 minutes of brisk walking a day, researchers concluded.
Still, for all its supposed benefits, few Americans bother to bike or walk to work -- just 17 percent, the study found. With many cities lacking proper bike lanes and so many people living in far flung suburbs, it's no wonder. The researchers hope the study leads to policies that make neighborhoods safer for biking.
The authors call it "active commuting," but to me it may as well be called the Dutch model. I took a trip to Amsterdam this spring and was amazed at the sheer number of people going about their daily activities on two wheels -- commuting, grocery shopping, in rain or shine. There, biking is ingrained into the culture. Any signs of that happening here? Do you walk or bike to work?
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