Cycling to office can help reduce stress and improve your work performance.People who did cycling as part of their life generally lived more than 70 years.
Researchers Stephane Brutus, Roshan Javadian and Alexandra Panaccio compared how different modes of commuting – cycling, driving a car and taking public transport – affected stress and mood at work. Its results indicate that cycling to work is a good way to have a good day, says Brutus, the lead author.
“Employees who cycled to work showed significantly lower levels of stress within the first 45 minutes of work than those who travelled by car,” he says. The study did not, however, find any difference in the effect on mood.Cycling has been shown to be a relatively inexpensive mode of transportation and a good form of physical activity.
A 2015 study from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy found that cycling could help reduce CO2 emissions from urban passenger transportation by 11 per cent by 2050. It could also save society US$24 trillion globally between 2015 and 2050.
Brutus points out that 6 per cent of Canadians cycled to work in 2011 and the number is only growing. However, Canada still lags behind many European countries. There is potential for public policy makers to seize on this, he adds.
“With growing concerns about traffic congestion and pollution, governments are increasingly promoting non-motorized alternative modes of transport, such as walking and cycling. I can only hope that further studies will follow our lead and develop more precise and deliberate research into this phenomenon.”
The study was published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management.
