Cycling but not walking to work or study is associated with physical fitness, body composition and clustered cardiometabolic risk in young men

Abstract

IntroductionActive commuting is an inexpensive and accessible form of physical activity and may be beneficial to health. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of active commuting and its subcomponents, cycling and walking, with cardiometabolic risk factors, physical fitness and body composition in young men.MethodsParticipants were 776 Finnish young (26±7 years), healthy adult men. Active commuting was measured with self-report. Waist circumference was measured and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Aerobic fitness was measured with bicycle ergometer and muscular fitness with maximal leg and bench press, sit-ups, push-ups and standing long jump. Cardiometabolic risk factors were analysed from blood samples and selected variables (glucose, insulin, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure) were further converted to z-score to form clustered cardiometabolic risk.ResultsA total of 24% used active commuting consisting of 10% of walkers and 14% of cyclists. After adjustments for age, smoking, time of year, leisure-time and occupational physical activities, cycling was inversely associated with the clustered cardiometabolic risk (β=−0.11, 95% CI −0.22 to −0.01), while walking was not (β=−0.04, 95% CI −0.16 to 0.08). However, further adjustment for waist circumference attenuated the associations to non-significant. Moreover, cycling but not walking was inversely associated with BMI, waist circumference and maximal strength, while a positive association was observed with aerobic fitness (p<0.05).ConclusionThis study shows that cycling to work or study has beneficial associations to clustered cardiometabolic risk, body composition and aerobic fitness in young, healthy adult men.

Device-Measured and Self-Reported Active Travel Associations with Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Adults

“…The most recent NHANES analysis of AT trends in the U.S. reported that 14% of adults exceeded 150 min/wk of AT, whereas our study found that 31% and 33% met this criterion by accelerometer/GPS or self-report, respectively [25]. In two studies that similarly assessed AT trips for any purpose, not just for commuting, one-quarter of the sample self-reported some amount of AT, compared to 66% in the current study [27,71]. Though we aimed to maximize variability in walkability surrounding participants' home location, recruiting from urban block groups have led to the selection of a more active sample than the general population and limited our ability to detect small associations with CVD outcomes.…”

“…The blood pressure multivariate models included statins and antihypertensive medications and the glucose models adjusted for insulin, metformin, or glucose-lowering medications. Our final models did not adjust for BMI as it may mediate the relationship between AT and CVD risk factors [ 27 , 31 ], though we compared to models with BMI adjustment to explore this relationship. As 96% of the population had access to a vehicle, we did not include vehicle access in the models, but we did describe differences in device-assessed and self-reported AT by this variable.…”

“…AT is associated not only with increased MVPA [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], but also with reductions in incident CVD and cardiometabolic risk factors in large observational studies. However, the research to date has relied on self-reported AT data [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”

Sociodemographic inequities and active transportation in adults from Latin America: an eight-country observational study

“…This type of physical activity can be easily integrated into everyday life, particularly for those not interested in engaging in other kinds of activities such as sports, training in gyms, etc. [18]. Increasing active transportation is a crucial population-based strategy, which aims to reverse the burden of CVD through decreasing physical inactivity [15,16].…”

Active Transportation and Obesity Indicators in Adults from Latin America: ELANS Multi-Country Study

“…Active transportation has been demonstrated to be an excellent strategy for increasing physical activity level, because it is a daily behavior, an opportunity to create a healthy habit and relatively cheap alternative [ 10 , 11 ]. Besides, it can be integrated into everyday life particularly for those not involved or interested in engaging in leisure time physical activity [ 12 ]. Strong evidence demonstrates that physical activity related to active transportation is a crucial population-based approach, which aims to reverse the health outcomes [ 8 , 9 ].…”