Aug 26, 2010 – Women who cycle or briskly walk before menopause are said to gain less weight over the years, compared to those who walk slowly or are sedentary.
This is what researchers at Harvard University discovered1, in the United States, which compared the physical condition of 18,414 women, in their 30s and 40s, during a period of 16 years2.
According to a questionnaire on their lifestyle, half of the participants adopted slow walking (less than 4.8 km / h), and 39% practiced brisk walking. The bicycle had 48% of followers.
Each day, those who walked at a slow pace did so for 7.8 minutes on average, compared to 8.5 minutes for brisk walking and 4.6 minutes for cycling. Barely 1.2% of cyclists cycled 30 minutes or more per day3.
A few more minutes to avoid weight gain
Sixteen years later, most women had reduced their daily physical activity. And they had gained, on average, 9.3 kg.
According to the study’s authors, the results show that doing moderate-intensity physical activity for a few more minutes a day helps prevent weight gain as you age.
As proof, those who increased the daily duration of their physical efforts by 30 minutes were those who gained the least weight. Compared to sedentary people:
- fast walkers gained 1.8 kg less;
- cyclists gained 1.5 kg less;
- the weight of slow walkers has not changed.
In addition, the women who did not ride a bicycle at the start of the study limited their weight gain, simply by cycling for 5 minutes per day: they gained 0.68 kg less than those who did not. not pedaling at all.
Conversely, those who – at the start of the study – cycled 15 minutes or more per day and who reduced their pace, increased their propensity to gain weight.
Overweight or obese women reduced their risk of gaining weight by 56% by cycling 2 or 3 hours per week, or 3.18 kg less compared to sedentary overweight.
Claudia Morissette – HealthPassport.net
1. Lusk AC, et al, Bicycle Riding, Walking, and Weight Gain in Premenopausal Women, Archives of Internal Medicine, flight. 170, no June 12, 28, 2010, 1050-1056.
2. The participants are part of the second survey Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, who has followed 116,608 nurses in the United States since 1989.
3. Current public health recommendations are for 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily for adults.
