I finally bit the bullet and decided to cycle in to work instead of driving. so it’s 1.75 miles to work which takes me 15 minutes , and the same home again. What, if any, health benefits will I get from this?
Unless you were in a right state prior to cycling, it’s probably true to say that 2x15 mins per day is not going to work wonders for your health. The benefits are more collateral / psychological - increasing your activity, even to a small degree, is a positive step. I have the exact same commute and enjoy getting in to work having being ‘woken up’ by the ride. I love cycling, so take a circuitous 10 mile route back home to relax.
Cycling is a really efficient exercise - bottom line is that you’re exercising whilst sitting on your arse - so you really have to put the time in if you’re looking to lose weight, for example. 15 mins on the bike won’t put much of a dent into your calorie count.
30 minutes of activity a day is considered to have significant health benefits, even if not done consecutively.
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/chapter4.htm
“To reduce the risk of chronic disease in adulthood: Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, above usual activity, at work or home on most days of the week.”
“Do it in short bouts. Research shows that moderate-intensity physical activity can be accumulated throughout the day in 10-minute bouts, which can be just as effective as exercising for 30 minutes straight. This can be useful when trying to fit physical activity into a busy schedule.”
Otara
15 minutes one way or for the round trip? The reason I ask is that 15 minutes for 1.75 miles is very slow. Are you getting a little out of breath doing this ride? For it to have some effect you need to work your body a little bit harder than it’s used to.
I think the mst important thing is that you enjoy it. If you enjoy your ride then it’ll be fairly easy to motivate yourself to go for longer rides as you get fitter.
I find that cycling gets me fit quite quickly but I do need to continue to push myself so that I’m out of breath and my legs hurt the next day.
15 minutes one way. Bear in mind that I haven’t been on a bike in 10 years +, I expect that time will come down in the short to medium term. Also I don’t want to work too hard as being sweaty at work all day won’t be much fun.
Well it’s important that you get a little out of breath. Does your work have a shower or something? I bike to work (about 4.0 kms) and have a shower when I get there. Then I try and take a longer ride home.
Maybe as your fitness levels improve you could take it easy going to work so that you’re comfortable for the day and then go longer and harder riding home.
[hijack]I would also like to take up cycling, but have a question - how much weight can the average bicycle take? I’m very heavy and don’t want to spend hundreds on a bike only to have it collapse on me![/hijack]
No showers unfortunately. The best option I have is getting changed in the disabled loo, which has a sink. I can get behind pushing hard on the way home though. I’ll have to investigate alternative routes with added mileage.
I’m about 350lbs and had no problem finding a bike that could support my weight. Unfortunately I haven’t plucked up the courage to cycle it to work.
Were you able to buy just a standard bike from a bike shop or did you have to get a particular model?
Go to a shop and ask. The bike itself should have no problems. It’s the wheels/tires that you need to worry about. They do make beefier tires.
There’s a pretty popular book about a large guy who took off weight cycling. It’s called “Heft on Wheels” by Mike Magnuson. He might have suggestions for buying a bike. I’ve heard it’s an inspiring book, but I haven’t read it.
To the OP: that can’t be giving you very many benefits at all. I’m far from a great athlete, but I jog considerably faster than that.
But, use it as a starting point. Get used to riding the bike, and when you get home from work, change into exercise clothes, and take it out for 45 minutes at a pace that gets you breathing hard. Do longer rides on the weekend.
You’re biking at less than 8 mph. That’s very slow on a bicycle.
Tandems have stronger wheels (more spokes per wheel I think) to accommodate two riders. Also an average weight mountain biker will probably stress wheels at least as much as a heavier rider will on-road.
Given the right bike, especially the right wheels/tires, I don’t think you’ll have any problems.
In the Spring of 2006 I was ~295lbs, and started riding my mountain bike that until then had been collecting dust the garage to work a few times a week. It had fairly conventional 36 spoke 3x wheels that held up fine to potholes and railroad track crossings.
I was down to 230lbs when I got my road bike last fall, with it’s radial spoked (spokes go directly from the hub to the rim without crossing) 20 spoke wheels, and I was quite worried that they would be too flimsy for me. But the folks at my local bike shop said they would work fine, and 5000+ miles later have proved them right.
I’ve read it recently, and while it is inspiring in a way, I don’t recall any recommendations about bikes or bike gear.
He exchanged one set of obsessions (the life of a chain smoking, hard drinking humanities professor) for a new, presumably healthier, one (a hard core age-group bike racer). So in a way, his life was not really turned around, he is still obsessive. But I’m not too critical because I’m going down the same path.
Bike strength should not be a problem. Any steel-frame bike in good shape should be fine, as long as you’re not taking a road bike over curbs/into big potholes or whatever (in which case even a light rider would have problems). Myself, I wouldn’t want extra skinny wheels or tires anyway, since I’m not racing anyone.
What I do highly recommend is learning the basics of riding in traffic safely. The best resource I know is Bicycling Street Smarts
It feels scary at first, riding in the middle of the lane with two-ton monsters behind you, but it really is safer. Just about every time I’ve had a close call in my commuting, I’ve realized afterwards I wasn’t doing a good enough job of taking the lane, making myself visible, or otherwise following good traffic rules.
And, if it’s city riding, I don’t think 15 minutes for 2 miles is necessarily horrible, if there are lights and traffic to deal with.
I have anecdotes, if that counts as an answer.
I have been a year-round bike commuter for a long time. For some periods my trip to work was very short but it has always made a positive difference to my health. The reason I know this is because if for any reason I stop biking for a few days (if I get sick, lazy, frustrated by weather etc), I put on weight and feel like crap.
A friend of mine started biking a few months ago, it sounds like his distance was about comparable to yours (i.e. too short for me to think it would make any difference). Sure enough, tho, he started losing his belly and feeling better. Then his bike was stolen, and he went back to the streetcar, and noticed a (negative) difference in his health right away.
I bet you’ll notice some improvement very quickly. The parts of your trip that make you winded at the beginning will soon pass unnoticed.
If you do it right, you’ll strengthen your knees. Your cadence (revolutions per minute of the crank) should be at least 60, and up to 100 or so is not unreasonable, and probably better.
Alternatively, being in too low a gear will slow the cadence and require excessive pushing through the legs. It may feel like a strength-builder, but it’s a knee-wrecker. Keep the gearing low enough so that the pushing effort is minimized, and both your knees and your legs will get stronger.
Consider walking instead of cycling…It should take only a little longer, but that additional time will increase the health benifit.
From another big cyclist: If you are tall as well as heavy, you need to get the saddle as far forward as you can, as increasing the height moves it rearward, and strains the rear wheel even more. The rear wheel is most critical. Many bikes these days come with 32 spoke wheels. 36 spoke wheels are not uncommon in the US, and 40 spoke rear wheels are common in much of the world. You can have 40 and 48 spoke wheels made up by shops that specialize in tandems. A 36 spoke wheel is pretty strong if you have the spokes tensioned as tight as the wrench doing the work can stand. Google “Sheldon Brown” + wheel + bicycle, and you will learn more than you want to know about what makes a strong wheel.
I question that advice. Saddle placement should be determined by how the bike fits the rider. There are other ways to deal with stress on the rear wheel. Sacrificing comfort and risking unnecessary body strain are not the wisest ways to do it.
Oh, I really thought that riding with a low cadence was vital in order to use the lactic acid system predominantly and build muscle.