If you’re looking for another reason to skip rush hour traffic or busy public transport – read on.
For those of us who live a reasonable distance from our offices, dust of your two-wheeler because cycling to work has been found to halve your risk of cancer and heart disease.
A study by the University of Glasgow which was published in the British Medical Journal shows that those who cycle have 46% less chance of getting heart disease and 45% lower risk of developing cancer, compared with those who commute by driving or using public transport.
The five-year study of 264,337 UK participants also found that commuter cyclists were 41% less likely to contract any form of life threatening disease.
On average, those who cycled were peddling 30 miles, but the further the commute the more health benefits were seen.
The researchers suggested that the huge benefits of cycling are because a bike allows you to commute longer distances compared to walking, and it’s faster, higher-intensity exercise.
An added bonus of cycling to work – by incorporating your daily exercise into your transport method to and from the office, you don’t have to worry about fitting the gym into your routine.
“If you built cycling into your day it essentially takes willpower out of the equation,” Dr Jason Gill from the study told the BBC.
Two birds with one stone!
