Students planning on hitting the gym today might want to bike instead.
A new study by Australian Epidemiologist Takemi Sugiyama shows that commuting by bike can be healthier than regular exercise.
The four-year, 882-person study found that people who biked to work gained less weight, on average, than those who commuted by car and exercised regularly.
Alex Radulescu is one UF student who bikes to campus.
“I used to do stationary biking and weight lifting but currently not so much,” said the 18-year-old electrical engineering sophomore.
Radulescu said he lives about a half mile from campus, but said he would still bike even if he lived further away.
“It’s a healthy way for people to stay fit,” he said. “Biking is awesome.”
Assistant professor Norman Lewis also bikes to UF every day. He said he lives 2 miles from campus and bikes in the rain or shine.
“I love biking, I always have,” Lewis said. “I have been biking since I was about 7 or 8.”
Lewis and Radulescu aren’t alone. A study conducted in 2003 by UF found that 8 percent of UF faculty, staff and students biked to campus.
Another UF study in 2004 found that about 13 percent of students biked to school.
Lewis said biking can be enjoyable with a lot of benefits, but bicyclists do need to be cautious and safe.
“A bicyclists has to obey the law,” he said. “I stop at all red lights and stop signs.”
Lewis said biking keeps him young.
“I can still run 5 miles. As long as I [bike], I’ll stay young and act young,” he said.
A commuter rides his bike east on Museum Road on Monday afternoon. A new study shows that biking to work can be healthier than regular exercise.
