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Biking Can Reduce Inevitable Weight Gain For Women in Their 30s and 40s

Biking Proven to Help Prevent Weight Gain

We have all heard (or even unfortunately experienced) the creeping weight gain that can surprise women in their 30s and 40s. The average weight gain, during a 16-year study following 18,000 women between the ages of 25 and 42, was 20.5 pounds. That is an average of five pounds a year, which may seem innocuous, but then it all adds up. As a fan of cycling, I was happy to hear that the study also found women who biked as little as five minutes a day gained less weight, some even lost a bit, than the nonbiking participants. Those participants who biked 30 minutes daily, the current recommendation for exercise, gained even fewer pounds.

The author of the study, Anne C. Lusk, explained to the New York Times:

"This is not suggesting that if you bicycle for five minutes you will immediately go back to the weight you were when you were 18. If that were true, bicycle sales would go through the roof. But it's highly suggestive that bicycling is highly beneficial in women."

Walking briskly at a pace of at least three miles per hour was also beneficial for staving off weight gain. Unfortunately, many of the study participants fell below that pace, which is not enough to prevent weight gain.

Lusk added, "We need to provide the infrastructure or facilities so that more people could comfortably bicycle. In the U.S., the emphasis has been on the walking environment and not on the bicycling environment." Sing it, sister! I am all for more prominent bike lanes to encourage everyone to commute on two wheels whenever possible.

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jessy777 jessy777 5 years
I miss biking. My bike was stolen last month from outside my apartment. This sounds hopeful because I used to bike to run short errands and for exercise.
Spectra Spectra 5 years
I bike to do errands all the time. I don't even consider it to be exercise when I'm just tooling around town. I go out on the trails with my husband and bike for miles and's great for you! I know a woman who's in her late 60's and she just did a 90 mile race around the lake. She's in fantastic shape, by the way. So yeah, I could see this being totally true.
Francoisehardly Francoisehardly 5 years
I wouldn't mind if this area was more bike friendly and not just in parks.
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