The health benefits of cycling to work!
The grey skies are lifting, the fine days are returning — it's time to get your bike out and enjoy the benefits of cycling. Using a non-motorised two-wheeler for the commute between home and work is becoming increasingly popular. Explore the many health benefits of cycling to work!
Staying fit
After winter, cycling to work is a great way to get back in shape and stay fit. Swapping your car for a bike (hybrid, mountain, or road) does indeed have benefits for both physical and mental health. Cycling to work is in particular a great solution to the increasingly prevalent sedentary lifestyle in our society.
Cycling gives you a daily physical activity and keeps you in shape. This mode of home-to-work travel is equivalent to a gym session without even realising it. Cycling primarily engages the muscles of the legs — more than ten muscles are activated during pedalling. As well as building muscle, it ensures better blood and lymphatic circulation in your legs. The rest of the body is also engaged: to maintain balance and sustain a steady cadence, the core contracts and the arms get to work.
Cycling to work also has benefits for stress management. So gear up and get in the saddle!
Mental health benefits
Regular physical activity such as cycling has genuine benefits for mental wellbeing. It helps release both physical and mental tension. The morning cycling commute is a great way to start the day on the right foot! And the evening ride home is sure to help you release the stress built up during the day.
It is also recommended to incorporate a sporting activity into your daily routine to improve sleep quality and the ability to concentrate on tasks, whether intellectual or manual. Consequently, cycling to work has benefits for workplace productivity. You will feel more focused and therefore more effective, thanks to the positive effects on your mental wellbeing. And if all your colleagues join you, electric or standard cycling can have a positive impact on the whole company! Cycling to work promotes wellbeing and guarantees better health for employees who do it. Did you know that employees who cycle to work see a 12% gain in productivity*?
So with the arrival of spring, get on your bike and head to work. It will lift you out of the winter gloom and give you a sense of freedom. Far from the congestion of public transport or the traffic jams faced by drivers, cycling to work is an answer to the winter blues. And after just a few days of cycling to work, you will quickly feel the benefits on your body and mind. Cycling to work: the guarantee of a healthy mind in a healthy body!
Keeping up with training
For athletes, cycling to work is a great way to keep up with training! Commuting by bike is an opportunity to exercise without even thinking about it. Cycling enthusiasts will be delighted. As for others, such as trail running practitioners, they are well aware of the benefits and advantages of cycling in their training.
In running, cross-training is recommended — that is, not running exclusively. It is important to complement your training week with another sporting activity such as cycling or strength training. Running regularly without doing heavy sessions, while integrating other sporting practices, has health benefits and ensures progressive athletic development.
For everyone — and especially the more experienced riders who enjoy playing with gears — make sure you have the right equipment for urban cycling. Cycling safety is paramount when riding a bike: helmet, good lighting, bell, high-visibility vest, brakes in good working order, lock, etc.
But beyond a sport and an opportunity to keep up with training, cycling helps develop your respiratory capacity.
Breathing better
Pedal your way to better breathing! Good breathing is essential for everyday wellbeing. With cycling commuting, your breath improves. Indeed, respiratory capacity is maintained. Regular cycling contributes to better oxygenation of the muscles. It is a simple and effective way to increase ventilation and airflow in the lungs — the organs responsible for delivering oxygen to cells and muscles.
Cycling helps develop your maximum oxygen consumption used by the muscles during effort (VO2Max) and your maximum aerobic speed (MAS). During effort, the lungs demand significant oxygen uptake and diffusion. At that point, they also expel large quantities of CO2. In endurance sports such as cycling, it pays to know your respiratory capacity. This is what we call VO2Max: expressed in ml.min⁻¹.kg⁻¹ or l.min⁻¹, it is considered a reliable indicator of physical fitness. It can be trained and pushed further through different training methods: base endurance work, interval training, and threshold work. Over time, the body pushes its limits and increases its VO2Max.
Pedal your way to better breathing — a health benefit and a way of life.
Good for you and good for the planet!
Cycling to work is an eco-friendly alternative to commuting by car. You reduce your carbon footprint — a concept that has become essential. Because today, having a positive impact on the planet is everyone's responsibility! With the growing development of cycle paths, children on bicycles can also ride safely from a certain age. As for the parents accompanying them, they lead by example by prioritising durable mobility.
At CIMALP®, the commitment to encouraging low-carbon, sustainable modes of travel is extremely strong. Employees regularly cycle for their daily commute between home and work. Reflection on cycling commuting actually gave rise to the special cycle commuting line, RainProteKt. And since 2017, this Drôme-based company has been part of the ecological transition alongside La Poste, and has obtained carbon neutrality certification for 100% of the parcel services entrusted to the carrier. It offers its customers carbon-neutral deliveries!
Local authorities are also increasingly encouraging the use of cycling in France as a daily mode of transport. Cities and urban areas are among the first institutions to invite citizens to use bicycles, by making city bikes available for self-service hire (Vélib). The Ministry of Ecology has notably taken measures to encourage cycling among the French, by introducing financial support schemes and a conversion bonus for the purchase of an electrically assisted bicycle (VAE).
And remember, what is good for the planet is inevitably good for our health!
