health

Want to improve the planet and better your health? Ride a bike

From Ideastream.com

By Zaria Johnson

I have to admit, I’m not a bike rider. But as the environment reporter at Ideastream Public Media, I’ve learned a lot about the benefits of biking, for the riders and for the planet.

It makes me want to get in the saddle.

I’ve spent a lot of time talking to bicyclists, planners and public policy experts about efforts to make communities welcoming to bicycles.

Cleveland and many other cities are taking special interest in bikeway projects and complete street infrastructure that thinks about how roads can safely accommodate more than cars and trucks.

That’s key to me. With my bicycling inexperience, I’m intimidated by the thought of riding a bike down a city street thick with traffic. I marvel at those who do, but it just doesn’t feel comfortable to me. Safe and protected bike lanes would make me more likely to ditch my car once in a while.

And that’s a good thing. Biking serves as a fun way to exercise on the go while also reducing carbon emissions that contribute to the effects of climate change.

Biking instead of driving can save you money on gas while increasing the life span of our cars and trucks. It will also reduce our carbon footprints and overall impact on the environment.

Driving is a major contributor to carbon emissions in the region. The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency reports that personal vehicles and light-duty trucks account for about 74% of all road-based greenhouse gas emissions across its five-county region.

Large amounts of carbon in the atmosphere, spewed out from gas-burning engines, worsens air quality and contributes to the effects of climate change, like severe and frequent storms, flooding and sea-level rise.

In March, the United Nations released its annual Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. It found that the planet will only continue to get warmer unless we significantly reduce emission levels.

So, any effort we make to reduce our use of personal vehicles, and relying instead on public transit or other modes of transportation (like biking!), is a pedal stroke toward reducing Northeast Ohio’s carbon footprint.

Photo by Philip Myrtorp on Unsplash

 

Read More

in Featured  by Forsyth 0 comments

8 Health Benefits of Riding an Electric Bike

From Evelo.com

Riding an electric bike, whether as you commute or just for fun, can significantly contribute to your health, improving cardiovascular conditioning, improving brain function, and helping you maintain healthy body weight.

Bike riding is one of many kinds of exercise that get you outside, elevate your heart rate, and induce the many benefits of physical activity.

Improve Your Heart Health

Several studies have demonstrated a connection between bicycling and improved heart health.

In 2017, for example, researchers from the University of Glasgow found an association between bicycling to work and a lower risk of premature death after studying 264,337 people for five years. In fact, cycling about 30 miles a week was shown to significantly lower the risk of heart disease.

“Cycling all or part of the way to work was associated with a substantially lower risk of adverse health outcomes. Those who cycled the full length of their commute had an over 40 percent lower risk of heart disease, cancer, and overall mortality over the five years of follow-up,” said Dr. Jason Gill of the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, according to a Cycling Weekly article.

If one assumes regularly riding a bicycle or electric bike (perhaps 30 miles per week) is similar to bike commuting, it will follow that regularly riding — whether to work or not — may help improve heart health specifically and overall health generally.

Finally, UPMC Pinnacle reported that “people who biked regularly had about 15 percent fewer heart attacks than non-cyclists. Even small amounts of time devoted to the activity were linked to lower rates of heart disease.”

Strengthen Your Cardiovascular System

As we have previously reported, “cycling on an electric bike just a few times each week can improve an adult’s cardiorespiratory performance and general health in ways similar to riding a conventional bicycle or taking vigorous walks, according to several clinical studies.”

“One of the most telling studies, released in the May 2018 edition of the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, compared the peak oxygen uptake (VO2 max) of 32, overweight adults before and after four weeks of bicycle commuting.”

Separately, according to Dr. Amar Singal, a cardiologist, “cycling is one of the best cardio exercises for people of all age groups and all body types. It not only helps burn calories and keeps weight under control, but also helps build stamina and increase muscle and bone strength. Being a low impact exercise, it is also soft on the joints and unlike hard gym training sessions, it doesn’t put you at risk of overuse injuries or sprains. This is why it can also be taken up by elderly people who have arthritic joints.”

Photo by Gotrax on Unsplash

Read more

in Featured  by Forsyth 0 comments