How good is cycling?

[robert75]

How good is cycling for 40 minutes a day for health?

[Audax67]

If it makes you sweat, fine.

[meic]

A life saver if the other option is doing nothing at all.

[whoof]

If it makes you sweat, fine.

That depends on how hot it is and how prone you are to sweating.

Does it make you feel somewhat out of breath would be a better measure. The government guidelines recommend 'moderate exercise' which it classes as
Moderate activity will raise your heart rate, and make you breathe faster and feel warmer. One way to tell if you're working at a moderate level is if you can still talk, but you can't sing the words to a song.

[Mick F]

If it makes you sweat, fine.

Not me.
I can ride all day and not sweat much at all. I'm not a sweaty person, and never have been.

A life saver if the other option is doing nothing at all.

Exactly.

40mins will get me maybe as much as ten miles.
Ten miles a day every day is very good indeed IMHO and more than I manage these days, sadly.

I make up for it by riding three or four hours two or three times a week ................ but don't break into a sweat no matter how many Cornish hills I climb.

[ianrobo]

How good is cycling for 40 minutes a day for health?

I guess the question is what is your base and what do you want to achieve ?

40 mins of HIIT every day will make some real good improvements whereas a leisurely cycle for 40 mins will take a long time over a period of time.

[Roadster]

It depends on the terrain as well. Here in the hilly Pennines, some physical exertion is difficult to avoid during a 40-minute bike ride, whereas in (say) East Anglia, it would probably be somewhat easier.
As already said, however, the important thing is that any exercise is better than none at all.

[hamster]

Generally cycling is excellent, however what it lacks is load-bearing. It doesn't help maintain bone density, unlike walking / running etc.

So a valuable part of an active lifestyle. I use it for the bulk of aerobic activity as it doesn't cause much damage to my (already) knackered knees.

[drossall]

... whereas in (say) East Anglia, it would probably be somewhat easier....

Not if the wind's blowing the wrong way. Hills have tops and other sides. 50 miles into the wind with not even a hedge in sight (OK exaggeration) will get you plenty of exercise.

[axel_knutt]

Here's a systematic review of the benefit of exercise in general, with 152 references to follow. The risk of being inactive is roughly the same as smoking. The ACSM (which the NICE guidelines appear to be copied from) recommend 500-1000 METmin/week, there is a law of diminishing returns with more than that.

[horizon]

whereas a leisurely cycle for 40 mins will take a long time over a period of time.

I think we're forgetting that for many people starting out there is no such thing as a leisurely cycle ride - it takes a bit of practice to make it leisurely. And just when you find it leisurely, you decide to up your speed . . .

Forty minutes is a good time to be on a bike. Twice a day even on the flat is pretty good exercise IMV and there will surely be a hill somewhere along the way.

[ianrobo]

whereas a leisurely cycle for 40 mins will take a long time over a period of time.

I think we're forgetting that for many people starting out there is no such thing as a leisurely cycle ride - it takes a bit of practice to make it leisurely. And just when you find it leisurely, you decide to up your speed . . ..

not at all as the OP had so little info that I took a general comment. No reason to think 40 mins for a lot is anything but easy but once you get your fitness to a certain level it can be.

As in all these topics it is very individualist and I find most of the advice you see from say NHS totally forgets this. So for example if it only takes you 20 mins to cycle to work I would ensure that is a HIIT session.

[Roadster]

A big thumbs-up for cycling in today's installment of the BBC's "How To Stay Young" (Series 2, Episode 3): according to recent research, regular cycling reduces the risk of heart disease by 46%, cancer by 45% and premature death by 41%.

[ianrobo]

A big thumbs-up for cycling in today's installment of the BBC's "How To Stay Young" (Series 2, Episode 3): according to recent research, regular cycling reduces the risk of heart disease by 46%, cancer by 45% and premature death by 41%.

no surprise there is it ? all about the aerobic systems etc and no need to worry about load bearing unlike running.

[rmurphy195]

A life saver if the other option is doing nothing at all.

Agreed - as for any sort of exercise. Add to that you can roll downhill, pedal more gently or as hard as you feel. (Joggers can't do that!)

I re-started cycling at about the age of forty (now in my late 60's), by going around the block (in the dark so people couldn't see me!) I live on a hill so some up, some down. Took me about 1/2 hour for less than a mile.

Did this every night for a couple of weeks - about 1/2 hour at a time. Soon was going around the block twice (well, at first that took me 40 minutes). Within a couple of weeks I was going around a bigger circle, a week later a bigger circle yet. Then I started doing it in daylight - no more hiding!

A couple of years later I tackled the Birmingham - Oxford run for the first time, then did it again every year for the next 10 years (missing just one out).

Still do my Sunday morning rides (and weekdays too now retired) - a couple of hours worth each time. Plus some walking. I did have a period of 4 or 5 years when I hardly cycled- my weight went up a bit, and going out walking in the countryside became harder.

I have a few aches and pains, sure, and T2 diabetes - which the exercise keeps in check.

But without exception all of my contemporaries that take very little exercise have a history of heart and lung problems, can't walk more than a few hundred yards, can't even walk the dog, have had heart surgery - all that stuff. Poor quality of life.

For me a bit of knee trouble or the odd aching muscle is far, far less troublesome than that. Just for an hour or two, a couple of times a week, with the odd half day or day trundling along the Tissington trail and suchlike.

How good is cycling - it's very good. (And gets me out of the gardening and decorating, which is a bonus!)