Hospital Corner: Bicycles offer healthy, happy commuting

Imagine for a minute our community with more bicycles than cars on the streets — it’s quite picturesque isn’t it? A happy, vibrant place to live, work and play.

In addition to the community benefits of less traffic and pollution, there’s more money in your pocket from saving on fuel — a significant advantage this summer. Yet the most valuable benefit of all is the improvement to your physical health and emotional well-being.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease and stroke are the two leading causes of death in the United States. Moderate physical activity for at least 150 minutes a week lowers your risk for these diseases. Regular physical activity lowers blood pressure and improves cholesterol levels. Being physically active has even been proven to lower the risk of getting common cancers.

While not all of us have the time or money to get to the gym, all of us can make a few adjustments to our daily routines to fit in more exercise by commuting on bike or foot.

Last summer I mapped out possible routes for riding my bike to work. The most direct route would take me on busier streets, so I chose a longer, more scenic route that included less busy residential streets and multi-use paths. It turns out that not only is my commute more pleasant and safe, but the extra 5-10 minutes provided an energy boost, sense of alertness, and feeling of positivity at the beginning of my day. I asked Dr. Doug Muir, a psychiatrist at Logan Health Behavioral Health, if he could explain this feeling.

“Yes, there's actually a growing body of evidence that exercise is excellent for helping with mood issues, anxiety, as well as focus and attention,” explained Muir.

The aerobic exercise from biking 20 minutes to work actually stimulates the growth of nerve cells in my brain. In other words, biking my commute fuels my brain allowing me to be more focused, ready to learn and problem solve at work.

In addition to improved brain function, I also feel good emotionally. Muir explains this as well.

“The other positive with exercise is it allows us to be in the moment and practice mindfulness essentially,” he explained. “We're present in the moment and not the past or future, which often create more anxiety and mood issues at times.”

Biking to work more than doubles my commute time (20 minutes by bike instead of 6-7 minutes by car) however, the health benefits outweigh the time I save. I’m getting in a workout to improve my physical health, while also growing brain cells, and it makes me happy!

Commuting by bike (or foot) to work or school, while running errands, or meeting up with friends helps promote good health and a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, getting outside of our cars encourages citizens to make connections with others, strengthen relationships, and build resilience and a sense of community while improving our health and sense of well-being.

Riley Polumbus writes and manages community relations for Logan Health – Whitefish at rpolumbus@logan.org.