麻豆影院

CU 麻豆影院 research team has found marked health benefits from electric-assist commuter bikes and 鈥榩assive-cycling鈥�; now, the team is studying an under-the-desk cycle that shows similar promise

Desk jobs may be literally killing us, but an emerging area of research suggests that sedentary people can reap big health benefits from even small amounts of physical movement.

The results from studies of electrically assisted commuter bikes and from 鈥減assive cycling,鈥� in which people鈥檚 legs are moved for them, are helping researchers from the 麻豆影院 determine how sedentary folks could improve their health without having to start running marathons.

Long periods of sitting are linked with obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even cancer. Those who are sedentary are at highest risk, and regular exercise might reduce but not eliminate the danger.

Some say 鈥渟itting is the new smoking,鈥� but identifying the problem is easier than finding a solution. Many jobs require hours of sitting at a desk, plus more sitting during a long commute.

The CU 麻豆影院 research team includes James Peterman, a PhD candidate, with Associate Professors Rodger Kram and William Byrnes in the Department of Integrative Physiology.

Last year, the team found that people who regularly rode an electric-assist bicycle attained improved cardiovascular health and better blood-sugar levels. These benefits didn鈥檛 require that participants hit the gym.

In that study, the researchers recruited non-exercising volunteers who commuted by car.听At least three days a week, the volunteers left their cars at home and rode an electric-assist bike, called a 鈥減edelec,鈥� for 40 minutes per day.

The pedelecs鈥� electric motors help move the bikes only when riders spin the pedals. This means riders can鈥檛 just push a button and cruise to work on an electric scooter; they must engage their muscles, which resulted in improvement of selected markers of good health.

Separately, Peterman and his colleagues have studied passive cycling, in which a motor spins the pedals on a cycle situated near a chair. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not volitionally pedaling,鈥� Peterman observed. The pedals move your legs for you.

While most wouldn鈥檛 think of passive cycling as 鈥渆xercise,鈥� Peterman and his colleagues found that passive cycling doubled the research volunteers鈥� energy expenditure as compared with sitting. What鈥檚 more, passive cyclists鈥� energy expenditure while passively cycling was similar to that of light-intensity walking.

Also, passive-cycling volunteers鈥� blood-sugar levels improved to a degree similar to what is seen when people get on exercise bikes and ride at moderate intensity, Peterman said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e thinking it doesn鈥檛 take that much activity or intensity to get some of these improvements,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more of just not sitting.鈥�

Byrnes concurred, noting that the passive-cycling study was the first to demonstrate not only that passive cyclists showed a marked increase in energy expenditure, but also that the energy expended was comparable to what is seen with people using a treadmill desk.

鈥淵ou get to the same levels as this treadmill desk in terms of benefit,鈥� Byrnes said. 鈥淎nd, yes, it鈥檚 not a high-intensity exercise, but the idea is that sitting is the problem, and that you need to activate muscle in order to actually get a protective effect鈥� from extended sitting.

All of this research builds on findings about the benefits of Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), which is low-level activity such as fidgeting, taking the stairs or parking at the far end of a parking lot. The ill effects of extended sitting are particularly pronounced in people who have low levels of NEAT.

Having established benefits from electric-assist bike commuting and passive cycling, the researchers are conducting an experiment to determine if pedaling a DeskCycle鈥攁n under-the-desk bike that can be pedaled so easily that one can still concentrate on work鈥攜ields comparable gains in health.

The experiment is being done with volunteers from CU 麻豆影院 faculty and staff.

鈥淎 number of people have said if you decrease sitting or break up sitting throughout the day, that improves health,鈥� Peterman said, citing the research on NEAT. 鈥淣ot a lot of studies have actually implemented that into the real world.鈥�

The DeskCycle study takes the research into the real world. Peterman, Byrnes and Kram will recruit up to 25 people who will pedal a DeskCycle at least 15 minutes an hour on a low-resistance setting. Before and after four weeks of this routine, researchers will test the volunteers鈥� health.

The research team hopes the DeskCycle could produce positive results similar to those of the pedelec and passive-cycling studies. The DeskCycle is an attractive intervention, Byrnes and Peterman say, in part because it鈥檚 not as bulky or noisy or disruptive to concentration as a treadmill desk.

Because research volunteers have to volitionally move their legs on the DeskCycle, they should expend more energy than those who passively cycled. 鈥淲e would anticipate, since we saw benefits with the passive cycle, that benefits with the DeskCycle would be greater, or the same at least,鈥� Byrnes said.

An increasing body of evidence shows that when people increase their low-level, or NEAT, activity, they have an improvement in health risk factors for chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease, which has significant implications for health-care costs, Byrnes said, emphasizing how a little effort can mean a lot:

鈥淲e鈥檝e established that important health gains are possible in going from slug to something. Yes, going from slug to marathon runner would be better, but that鈥檚 not realistic for many people.鈥�

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