Bicycling helps shedding weight

Just five minutes of riding a bicycle each day can help premenopausal women lose weight.

Researchers studied more than 18,400 healthy American women between 25 and 42 years old who had not yet gone through menopause and had no physical impediments to exercise. The researchers kept track of their weight changes and exercise patterns for 16 years (from 1989 to 2005) by looking at their medical history, body weight patterns, exercise habits and general lifestyle data. On average, the participants gained about 9 kilograms over the 16-year period.

It was found that women who did not used to bicycle at the start of the study but started by 2005 were a quarter less likely to have gained weight, even if they rode for just five minutes a day. Comparatively, women who started out exercising on bikes for more than 15 minutes day in 1989 but who slacked off over time gained weight. Overweight and obese women who were bicycling just two or three hours a week were 55 percent less likely to gain weight. And the longer women biked, the less weight they gained. Women of normal-weight who bicycled more than four hours a week had lower risk of gaining more than 5 percent of their baseline body weight. Brisk walking, but not slower strolling, was also helpful in keeping weight off.

The above findings indicate that bicycling, similar to brisk walking, should be encouraged for premenopausal women, particularly if they are coping with weight issues and fits in with the aim to help people implement physical activity into their lifestyles.